Notre Dame football 2023 scholarship chart
The second transfer portal window opened with a departure from Notre Dame’s roster. But it was not a portal entrant.
Wide receiver Kaleb Smith, a grad transfer from Virginia Tech who enrolled in January, announced he is retiring from football. The would-be sixth-year player participated in about half of Notre Dame’s spring practices before deciding to step away.
Smith’s exit left Notre Dame with 86 scholarship players, just one spot away from the 85-man limit. If a transfer out will get them to 85, that player likely has to leave in the portal window that opened April 15 and runs through April 30. Grad transfers are the exception and can enter anytime they want. The spring portal window was originally set for May 1-15, but the NCAA decided earlier in April to move it up two weeks.
The Irish’s spring practice schedule ends with the April 22 Blue-Gold Game.
Notre Dame had five players enter the portal in the winter window that ran from Dec. 5 to Jan. 18. They took five transfers in that span, including Smith.
Notre Dame announced the bulk of its roster trimming on the first day of spring practice. All told, six players departed the team and were not on the spring roster: quarterback Ron Powlus III (medical retirement), offensive tackle Caleb Johnson (no longer with program), linebacker Will Schweitzer (medical), safety Justin Walters (medical), cornerback Philip Riley (no longer with program) and kicker Josh Bryan (no longer with program).
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Riley, Bryan and Johnson had to wait for the portal window to open if they want to explore other college football options. Medically retired players can enter the portal, but need to gain clearance from another school’s doctors to play.
Other medical or non-medical retirements are also an avenue for possible attrition between now and August. Last year, Notre Dame sat at 86 scholarships from the end of spring until it announced on the first day of camp that offensive lineman Joey Tanona was retiring due to a lingering head injury originally suffered in a car crash.
Because of the COVID-19 bonus season, Notre Dame only has seven players who exhausted their eligibility in 2022. Those “super seniors” counted against the 85-player scholarship limit for the 2022 season. Anyone who returns using the COVID-19 waiver will also count against it in 2023. Super seniors did not count toward it in 2021.
Notre Dame has seven super seniors on its 2023 roster. Four of them are the transfers they recruited in December and January: quarterback Sam Hartman, defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste, defensive back Thomas Harper and kicker Spencer Shrader. Three players from the 2022 team returned for a sixth and final season as a super senior: receiver Matt Salerno, safety DJ Brown and long snapper Michael Vinson.
Here’s a look at the Notre Dame scholarship distribution for 2023.
Notre Dame scholarship chart key:
(*) – player who has redshirted.
(^) – player who is using the COVID-19 waiver to play a “super senior” season.
Anyone whose name is in italics has the COVID-19 bonus year available in 2024 or later.
