Notre Dame and Ohio State built rosters the old-fashioned way, mixing in a few high-impact transfers

Ohio State and Notre Dame have reached the same destination with rosters built much the same way.

The teams set to play in the College Football Playoff championship game in Atlanta sign elite high school recruiting classes year after year. That has been and continues to be their foundations.

While many teams relentlessly mine the transfer portal in hopes of finding gems, Ohio State and Notre Dame have used the portal judiciously, equally and with great success while putting together their current teams.

Both are college football royalty and can offer NIL riches to go with the exposure and coaching enhancing a player’s chance of winning a championship and getting to the next level.

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard said he had mixed feelings about going into the portal after three years at Duke. But he wouldn’t be in the position he’s in right now if he hadn’t made the move.

“You don’t really understand the magnitude of going to a big-time school until you kind of live it, and I tried to prepare myself for every situation possible, but you’ve just got to go through it to understand what it’s like to play quarterback at a blue blood school,” he said.

According to Associated Press research using 247Sports data, the Buckeyes and Irish both have signed 26 scholarship players from the portal since 2022, Marcus Freeman’s first year as Notre Dame head coach. That’s an average of 6.5 per year, among the lowest in the Bowl Subdivision.

The Buckeyes and Irish can be selective when dipping into the portal, and they’ve predictably had a high success rate with the few players they’ve taken.

Five of the 22 Ohio State starters in its semifinal win over Texas were transfers, and all have played major roles.

Will Howard (Kansas State) has completed 73.8% of his passes for 919 yards and six touchdowns over the…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/notre-dame-ohio-state-built-214131438.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2025-01-16 21:41:00

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