- Notre Dame safeties coach Terry Joseph has been in contact recently with Florida State graduate transfer safety Jaiden Woodbey. The 6-1, 225-pounder was a freshman All-American in 2018, played in four games before suffering a season-ending injury in 2019 and played in eight games this season before deciding to opt out of the rest of the season and enter the transfer portal. Woodbey will leave Florida State with his bachelors and should have three years of eligibility remaining.
- The Irish staff doesn't typically dive too deep into the regular transfer market as those players are typically very difficult to get into Notre Dame, but the graduate transfer market is much better for them as we've seen in recent years. Woodbey entered the transfer portal Dec. 2 so this is still pretty new, and the Irish's contact with him is in its early stages. Washington is among the other schools in pursuit of Woodbey.
- I was working late last night and I got a notification on my phone that Notre Dame CB target Ceyair Wright went live on his Instagram page. So I pulled it up and watched for a minute, and he threw on a Notre Dame hat and said that it's the only hat he owns. Whether or not this is something, I don't know. But it can't be bad that he picked up a nifty Notre Dame hat likely from the bookstore while he was on campus this past weekend.
- Oxnard (Calif.) Pacifica defensive end Devin Aupiu flipped from UCLA to Notre Dame yesterday. He had made up his mind several days ago that he wanted to commit to the Irish but didn't get his application in until Sunday. Once he got the thumbs up from Notre Dame that he'd be good to go academically, he went ahead and announced his commitment. I've seen a couple of comments on here that Aupiu is a good replacement for David Abiara. But that's not actually the case. Will Schweitzer was virtually the replacement for Abiara, while this fourth defensive line spot was a best-available take. Gilliam stuck with OU and the staff then went after Aupiu.
- Rivals.com's Adam Gorney posted an update this morning on four-star running back Byron Cardwell, who the Irish will target hard if it does not sign two backs next Wednesday. Here are the notable quotes from Cardwell:
“There were some big-time offers to come late,” Cardwell said. “I’ve been talking to both schools (Notre Dame and Oregon) for a while so to get those offers even though it’s late it was still kind of a finality feeling.
“I’m still talking with both schools, both are very good programs. With Notre Dame just the history they’ve had, the running backs they’ve had and the coaching. With Oregon, the success they’ve had and with the fans and how everything is, I like those things about both schools.”
“It’s kind of hard to say who sticks out and who doesn’t because each school has something different to offer and something I value so it’s kind of hard to say,” Cardwell said. “I’d say they’re all frontrunners.”
- The Irish staff doesn't typically dive too deep into the regular transfer market as those players are typically very difficult to get into Notre Dame, but the graduate transfer market is much better for them as we've seen in recent years. Woodbey entered the transfer portal Dec. 2 so this is still pretty new, and the Irish's contact with him is in its early stages. Washington is among the other schools in pursuit of Woodbey.
- I was working late last night and I got a notification on my phone that Notre Dame CB target Ceyair Wright went live on his Instagram page. So I pulled it up and watched for a minute, and he threw on a Notre Dame hat and said that it's the only hat he owns. Whether or not this is something, I don't know. But it can't be bad that he picked up a nifty Notre Dame hat likely from the bookstore while he was on campus this past weekend.
- Oxnard (Calif.) Pacifica defensive end Devin Aupiu flipped from UCLA to Notre Dame yesterday. He had made up his mind several days ago that he wanted to commit to the Irish but didn't get his application in until Sunday. Once he got the thumbs up from Notre Dame that he'd be good to go academically, he went ahead and announced his commitment. I've seen a couple of comments on here that Aupiu is a good replacement for David Abiara. But that's not actually the case. Will Schweitzer was virtually the replacement for Abiara, while this fourth defensive line spot was a best-available take. Gilliam stuck with OU and the staff then went after Aupiu.
- Rivals.com's Adam Gorney posted an update this morning on four-star running back Byron Cardwell, who the Irish will target hard if it does not sign two backs next Wednesday. Here are the notable quotes from Cardwell:
“There were some big-time offers to come late,” Cardwell said. “I’ve been talking to both schools (Notre Dame and Oregon) for a while so to get those offers even though it’s late it was still kind of a finality feeling.
“I’m still talking with both schools, both are very good programs. With Notre Dame just the history they’ve had, the running backs they’ve had and the coaching. With Oregon, the success they’ve had and with the fans and how everything is, I like those things about both schools.”
“It’s kind of hard to say who sticks out and who doesn’t because each school has something different to offer and something I value so it’s kind of hard to say,” Cardwell said. “I’d say they’re all frontrunners.”
