Notre Dame Faces First Major Transfer Portal Loss After National Championship Game

Notre Dame loses an offensive lineman who started 7 games this season

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman coaches offensive lineman Sam Pendleton (72) after Pendleton received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during a NCAA college football game against Florida State at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Notre Dame has lost its first player to the transfer portal following Monday's national championship defeat to Ohio State as offensive lineman Sam Pendleton has entered.

Pendleton spent two years at Notre Dame, starting the first seven games of this season at guard. His career at Notre Dame will probably be best remembered for the game at Texas A&M to start 2024 season, where he was among the majority of starters on the line with no starting experience>

Due to a variety of injuries on Notre Dame's offensive line, Pendleton was replaced as a starter by Billy Schruath at left guard. Notre Dame then opted to keep Rocco Spindler in the starting lineup at right guard, bumping Pendleton down the depth chart.

Pendleton marked himself as "do not contact" in the portal, meaning he seems to already know where he is headed.

In addition to making seven starts at guard, Pendleton was a regular on Notre Dame's special teams units in 2024 as well.

Pendleton is listed at 6-4, 310-pounds and calls Lawsonville, North Carolina home. The Reagan High School standout was rated as a consensus four-star recruit in the 2023 class by 247 Sports, On3 and Rivals.

Pendleton will have three years of eligibility left at his next program.

Notre Dame's Loaded Offensive Line

Notre Dame offensive line coach Joe Rudolph, second from right, talks to offensive lineman Aamil Wagner (59) during a Notre Dame football practice at Irish Athletic Center on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK

Pendelton entering the transfer portal speaks to Notre Dame simply not having enough rooms at the inn. Only five offensive lineman can start and the way things have fallen, Pendleton appears to be the odd man out.

That's not a knock on him or his skill level. I would guess Pendleton ends up going and earning immediate playing time at a big-time college football program. It's just with the experience and youth of much of Notre Dame's offensive line, the path to the top of the depth chart would appear to be a very difficult one for Pendleton at this point.

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