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Notre Dame sophomore safety Kennedy Urlacher to enter NCAA transfer portal

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•04/16/25•

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Notre Dame freshman safety Kennedy Urlacher. (Photo by Mike Miller)

The future of Notre Dame safety play is so intriguing because there are so many young players the Fighting Irish have at the position who seem poised to factor in at that spot in 2025 and beyond. For a while, the Irish got to boast the son of a College and Pro Football Hall of Famer in that regard.

Not anymore. Sophomore Kennedy Urlacher is entering the transfer portal.

The son of Chicago Bears legend Brian Urlacher, the 2000 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and 2005 NFL Defensive Player of the Year in addition to being a four-time First Team All-Pro, Urlacher arrived at Notre Dame as a three-star recruit and the No. 75 safety in the class of 2024 according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He was a First Team All-State defensive back out of Chandler (Ariz.) High School.

The elder Urlacher saw a bright future for his son under the guidance of Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. He said on ESPN Chicago in January that Kennedy looked up to Freeman and that there wasn’t much better of a collegiate direction than becoming a “Notre Dame kid.”

“They’re different,” he said. “They’re super smart. They speak different. It’s like talking to a person from an Ivy League. They’re just smart individuals…What a great tradition.”

Urlacher played in 14 of Notre Dame’s 16 games during his freshman season, including all four College Football Playoff matchups. He turned himself into a special teams staple, unsurprising to anyone who followed him during his time in Chandler. He was his high school’s special teams player of the year as a sophomore. As a first-year player at Notre Dame, he logged the 11th-most special teams appearances of anyone on the roster. Only two players appeared more than Urlacher on Notre Dame’s kickoff unit.

As far as fitting into the Notre Dame defense goes, though, Urlacher seemingly had a ceiling of No. 2 on the depth chart. He might have even been limited to the third guy in line at either of the safety spots, too. Incumbent starter Adon Shuler has one of them on lockdown, and the other is being competed for primarily by Virginia Tech transfer Jalen Stroman, junior Luke Talich and sophomore Tae Johnson. Whoever is the third wheel there could very well back up Shuler and kick Urlacher down to No. 3 at that particular position.

Urlacher logged 65 defensive snaps in six games for Notre Dame in 2024. He only got to double digits three times. Notre Dame won all of those games in runaway fashion. Urlacher’s best defensive moments came in the second half of a 66-7 rout of Purdue in Week 3. He was on the field for 23 plays, and he came away with a Pro Football Focus game grade of 86.8. Only one Notre Dame player, defensive end Loghan Thomas, recorded a better grade. His was 87.7.

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