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Notre Dame football received some huge transfer portal news this weekend, and it isn’t over

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Ryan Roberts | Last updated Jan 12, 2025 11:27 AM ET

Notre Dame football has chosen to keep things pretty quiet on the transfer portal front, periodically anyway. With the Fighting Irish on a national championship run, the want was to keep the main thing the main thing. That perspective is certainly very understandable.

Coming into the weekend, Notre Dame held four transfer portal commitments from wide receivers Malachi Fields (Virginia) and Will Pauling (Wisconsin), tight end Ty Washington (Arkansas), and defensive back DeVonta Smith (Alabama). On Saturday, the number of commitments nearly doubled, adding three more talented players.

That included former Louisville defensive tackle Jared Dawson, USC defensive tackle Elijah Hughes, and North Carolina placekicker Noah Burnette. There is also another transfer portal addition that is expected to be announced very soon, and one that has some NFL bloodlines.

Until that addition is announced, here is some insight into the three most recent additions for the Irish.

DT Jared Dawson (Louisville)

The Tennessee native has been a productive rotational piece for Louisville the last few seasons. Dawson had his most productive season for the team in 2024, finishing with 19 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, and four sacks. At 6-2 and 305 pounds, Dawson played mostly at three technique for Louisville, but has the natural leverage, and penetration skills to play several alignments.

Former Louisville DT Jared Dawson (#93) is one of the better values in the transfer portal on the defensive line for a prospective team. 6-2 and 300 pounds with experience playing from multiple alignments.

7 TFLs and 4 sacks in 10 games this past season. pic.twitter.com/Mf3piRbMeN
— Ryan Roberts (@RiseNDraft) December 31, 2024

DT Elijah Hughes (USC)

Originally a member of the 2023 recruiting class, Hughes is the rare undergraduate transfer to come to Notre Dame. Hughes hasn’t played a ton over the last two seasons for the Trojans, appearing in just 14 career games. During that stretch, the 6-3, 290-pound defensive tackle has recorded 12 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks. With such a limited sample size, nobody really knows what to expect from Hughes. The Virginia native is the ultimate wildcard pickup in this class.

K Noah Burnette (North Carolina)

For the fourth straight year, the Irish are bringing in a graduate transfer kicker. This time it’s former North Carolina standout Noah Burnette, who was an All-ACC level player while with the Tar Heels. Burnette’s best season came in 2023, where he made 19 of his 20 field goal attempts. In total, Burnette made 37 of 49 attempts with a long of 52. The 5-10, 175-pound placekicker was also the team’s main kickoff guy in 2022, notching 28 touchbacks during that campaign.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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