It’s no secret that Notre Dame’s wide receiver production must improve this year if the Fighting Irish are to truly become a College Football Playoff contender. Tight end Mitchell Evans led all Irish pass catchers with 29 receptions for 422 yards last season, and he only played eight games. It represented the fourth consecutive season that a tight end has finished as the team’s receptions leader.
To remedy the situation, head coach Marcus Freeman and his staff hit the transfer portal hard to add veteran presence and production to the Irish receivers room. The first to commit was Florida International receiver Kris Mitchell.
"Once they found out I was entering the portal, (Notre Dame Director of Recruiting) Chad Bowden hit me up,” Mitchell recently recalled. "He was telling me to come for a visit, they really liked me a lot. Coach Freeman directly texted me and said he was really interested in me. It felt really genuine and when I came up and connected with some of the players here and the coaching staff, it just felt like home off the bat.”
Mitchell also made an early connection with then-Irish offensive coordinator Gerad Parker before he left Notre Dame to become Troy’s head coach.
“I felt like he really loved me and had a plan for me on how to help this offense get to the next level,” Mitchell remarked. “But he left but I’m really excited about Coach (Mike) Denbrock.”
The transient nature of college football is not limited to Notre Dame. Mitchell played for FIU from 2020-2023. His college career started with Butch Davis as his head coach and finished in south Florida with Mike Macintyre in that position. So, he never wavered when Parker left Notre Dame for his own head coaching opportunity.
"It was 100-percent all the way,” Mitchell said when asked if he thought about changing his mind after Parker’s departure. "I called Riley Leonard to see where his head was at with all that. He said it might be good for us. I feel like it was honestly good for us to bring in Coach Denbrock.”
Mitchell led the Panthers with 64 receptions for 1,118 yards and 6 touchdowns last season. The 6-1 grad student comes to the Fighting Irish with the mindset that he can be his new team’s No. 1 receiver in 2024.
"Yes, sir, that’s the plan,” Mitchell said of his intentions for 2024. “Just build on whatever they have going on already. If my place is to be the one or a two, just being whatever they need me to be to make plays in order to win games, that’s the goal. Whatever can take this team to the next level and being a national championship contender.”
The Jacksonville, Fla. native has speed and confidence to burn. He says he ran a 4.3 40 the last time he was timed and has a goal of getting that down to a 4.2 by the time he leaves Notre Dame.
"I would say I’m a speedster,” Mitchell said of his game. "I can take the top off. Whether (defenses are) in press or off, I feel like I can run by any DB that lines up in front of me. I feel like I have great hands. Maybe I can work on my out of frame catches more. That’s what I’m doing this off-season.
"I’m a leader, I lead by example," continued Mitchell. "I’m on time, I’m a great teammate, I encourage my guys. I encourage them to be better than me.”
Mitchell has shown himself to be a precise route runner, but he sees room for improvement in that department as well.
"Actually, route running wasn’t always one of my main focuses to get better,” Mitchell explained. "It was always a natural talent of mine. I want to get that better. I feel like I can take that to another level of my game. I think I can expand on that. I just feel like my frame, I can run at any weight. I’m not really a little guy. I’m more of an intermediate, medium-sized guy. I feel like I can play in the slot, outside, wherever coach wants me to play and I can excel at it.”
Notre Dame added two other receivers via the transfer portal this offseason as well. Clemson’s Beaux Collins is finishing his degree at Clemson and will join the team this summer. Jayden Harrison from Marshall is currently enrolled at Notre Dame. His impact is likely to most be felt as a kick return man. He earned FWAA All-American honors in that role for Marshall in 2023.
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