Notre Dame defensive end Nana Osafo-Mensah to enter transfer portal
Transfer portal season is upon us. Even though the portal does not officially open until Dec. 4, this will be a popular week for players to announce their intentions hop in there. Notre Dame was hit with the first such instance Monday.
Defensive end Nana Osafo-Mensah will spend his final year of collegiate eligibility elsewhere. He announced his decision to move on from Notre Dame after five seasons in South Bend on social media. He penned his announcement as a letter addressed to Notre Dame.
“I can’t thank you enough for guiding me and molding me into the person I am now,” Osafo-Mensah wrote. “The appreciation and love I have for the coaching staff, support staff and all of my teammates will never fade, as I will always embrace being a part of the Irish Family. It has been an absolute honor to represent this team throughout my time here in the Blue and Gold.”
Osafo-Mensah was spotted walking off the field at Notre Dame Stadium with tears in his eyes following the Irish’s 45-7 Senior Day victory over Wake Forest on Nov. 18. The writing was on the wall then that he probably played his final game in South Bend.
A graduate student from Fort Worth, Texas, Osafo-Mensah played all 25 games for the Irish over the last two seasons, mostly as a reserve strong-side defensive end. He started this year’s season opener against Navy in Dublin, Ireland.
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Osafo-Mensah was a sidekick of sorts for Ohio State transfer Javontae Jean-Baptiste at SDE. Jean-Baptiste played 496 snaps in 12 regular season games. Osafo-Mensah played 252, down from the 279 he was on the field for in 13 games in 2023. He hit the 200 mark in each of the last three seasons after missing all of 2020 with an injury, though. He came to Notre Dame as the No. 17 edge rusher in the class of 2019 according to the On3 Consensus Recruiting Rankings.
Osafo-Mensah played in 39 games across five seasons at Notre Dame. He finished his career with 48 total tackles, including nine tackles for loss. He also had a forced fumble and five sacks.
Wherever Osafo-Mensah goes next, he’ll take two Notre Dame degrees with him. Head coach Marcus Freeman always says he has no problem with players choosing to use the transfer portal for their own gain on the football field as long as they leave Notre Dame with a degree in hand. Osafo-Mensah made good on Freeman’s agenda by doubling up and earning two.
