Kahanu Kia to return to Notre Dame football roster in 2024 after mission trip
In a time when roster reinforcements are common in college football via the transfer portal and recruiting class signings, Notre Dame is getting one next month from a much more unique prior destination.
A Mormon mission trip.
Fighting Irish redshirt freshman Kahanu Kia will be back in South Bend in January for the first time in two years. He announced in January of 2022 that he’d be gone for his two-year trip. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said Saturday he can’t wait for Kia to be a part of the Irish defense once again.
“I’m excited,” Freeman said. “I loved my one year with Kahanu. He played linebacker for part of the year and then moved to Vyper part of the year. But to get him back in this program, the energy, the production, the physicality that he plays with, I’m excited to see.
“He hasn’t played football in a year and a half, two years, so we understand that. But that was an agreement we had when he told us he was going to go on this mission. I bet you we get a more mature individual. I’m excited to see what he does when he gets back.”
Kia arrived at Notre Dame in 2021 out of Hawaiian powerhouse preps program Punahou High School as a three-star recruit and the No. 57 linebacker prospect in the country according to the On3 Industry Ranking. Per Pro Football Focus, Kia played 11 defensive snaps in two appearances as a true freshman.
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The Notre Dame roster had Kia listed at 6-1 3/8 and 217 pounds in 2021. As Freeman mentioned, Kia likely has a long way to go in getting to whatever playing weight he thinks will best suit him as an elder redshirt freshman. It’s going to be an important offseason of winter programs and spring conditioning for Kia. Summer workouts and fall camp will prove just as imperative.
The Irish linebacker corps is stocked with young talent even with Marist Liufau and JD Bertrand — who has not yet announced his decision to enter the 2024 NFL Draft but is expected to do so soon — vacating their starting spots. Jack Kiser will also be back as a sixth-year senior.
Kia’s best path to playing time might be at defensive end. Notre Dame did not get enough production from Jordan Botelho, Junior Tuihalamaka and Josh Burnham at Vyper. That said, it will still be difficult for Kia to usurp that trio on the depth chart after spending two years away from the game entirely.
At the very least, though, defensive coordinator Al Golden has another inexperienced yet talented option with four years of eligibility remaining he can mold into a contributor.
