A lot depends on how confident the coaches are at OG. I think they are "fairly" confident that they found one starter in the spring, but the other...well, that remains to be seen. I know some people hate transfers, but that is the college game now. If you don't want to participate, maybe the Ivy League is looking to expand. I think there should be stricter and more uniform rules on transferring and NIL, but coaches like Nick Saben and ESPN don't want any of that. The free for all, no holds barred way of changing roster is what we are looking at today. I think the Deion Sanders model is what networks like ESPN want.

I doubt anyone on this board has ever been against grad transfers, or I would at least hope not.

...some have expressed disdain for one or two year rentals. I am not, but I have stated my ideas on the subject before, and I will leave it at that.

They obviously have film on the guy. We also have a hole at guard, where only one player has the requisite size to hold up against high level defensive tackles. That player is Spindler, who struggles in pass protection. He does not move well laterally and is slow to recognize stunts and blitzes.

I'm sure Freeman remembers how Ohio State's Michael Hall shut down our running ggame by dominating Josh Lugg, Zeke Correll and an injured Jared Patterson last year. He undoubtedly does not want a repeat in September.

Regarding the disdain of some for signing transfers in general, that ship has sailed for now and ND has chosen to participate in the process. The only remedy is the longer term proposition of changing the rules. If ND's administration provided leadership in this area, it could lead the charge to reform the sport. Unfortunately, criticisms of the status quo are coming from the likes of Nick Saban and other SEC members, so my expectations for a good outcome are not high.

I would have to search diligently to find any kind of positive posts ascribed to you on this forum. You have no problem denigrating young atheletes that you probably only are aware of due to some form of social media. Even if you are some kind of a professional athletic evaluator, I'd expect a more cogent synopsis of an individual than a half-assed "Pass" reply.

them the opportunity.

Hard pass on any additional free agent(s) to the roster.

EDIT to add: I did not review the player credentials, etc. that jt linked a tweet about. My response was to the concept in general.

W/in the rules and the academic/character standards of the university. A scholarship is not a guarantee of playing time or that a better player won’t walk through the door.

for free agents, especially if those free agents aren’t serious about the academic side of things at ND.

And stop pulling commits’ scholarships, an equally icky practice and apparently a trend now.

I would suspect that young Mr. Miller could qualify as being "...serious about the academic side of things at ND", since he somehow managed to earn a Mechanical Engineering degree from Stanford.

I posted about looking into Barrett knowing that we had roster space already. Nobody would need to be cut.

I'm obviously not in favor of roster management; this would be a good old fashioned case of there is room at the Inn and there is a potential need. I don't even know if either side would be interested.

ND gained this "room at the inn" status by kicking kids off the team. I'm glad Aidan K. was able to survive this initiative.

and advise our alums interested in pork bellies to buy at sixty-four.

I “pass” on that shady behavior and the practice of pulling recruits’ scholarship offers.

with 2 years of eligibility left. He would not be a mercenary type of pick up.

I’m not as bad as mre but jack coan’s lack of studies still sit wrong with me

Please note my "pass" comment must be taken in a broader context. I didn't even look at his credentials, certainly not his film, when I took that stance.

Seems like a great fit for ND.

The issue is more on the route ND took to get to the point of bringing him in.

just like a message board is supposed to do.

Either adapt to the new way of football or we may as well just cancel the program. I want to win a championship just like everyone else but I'm not going to play the "high and mighty" card and then wonder why we can't break inside the top 10 or 15 teams. Sports is a meritocracy...if this guy is way better than what we've got, we need to get him into the program and the person who lost their spot can either work hard and get better or transfer to a lower-level school where he'll get the opportunity to play.

Options that don't often get a lot of play on fan message boards:

1) We do it differently than the other football factories...deal with struggles for a year - or even more - as Buchner, et al. may not be as good as rental mercenaries we can bring in via free agency. Deal with NIL chipping away a bit at our ability to recruit top-shelf talent. In a way, reset expectations in this new world order and deal with losses such as Caleb Williams-led USC (the one loss from 2022 that fits the it's-not-fair argument)...until/and:

2) We hire an elite HC who hires an elite staff that attracts top shelf talent, and the reliance on Jack Welch-ing our roster dissipates.

UGA and Bama load up in recruiting and even they still take “mercenary” transfers. Dabo is the only championship caliber coach who has shied away from the transfer portal but that will likely change as his program has taken a step back. The best recruiters can afford to be more selective in the portal but any program that elects to forego it entirely is dead in the water. Like it or not, that is the current system.

...Saben is the absolute master of roster pruning and forcing players out. The current transfer portal is taylor made for his style.

Bemenderfer is the first one I remember. Certainly have no issue with adding transfers where there is room, and when not forcing current good-standing players off the team.

Alohi Gilman, et al. welcome aboard.

Credit to Swinney to sticking to his guns so far.

And of course you have proof of that.

...and not just for a year or two. You fail to realize that college football is changes whether we like it or not. You either find a way to adapt or you become irrelevant. You can put all the hate on transfers you want, but it isn't going to stop everyone else from taking them. You can build from the bottom up all you want, but it isn't going to stop players from transferring out or other schools from poaching your players. You may not like it, but your roster will be perpetually depleted and you will have holes in your roster. That's the way it is now. "We do it differently" is fine but it sure isn't going to fill roster holes.

Bad recruiting?
Bad development?
Pushing players out?
Which ND players have left for big money elsewhere?

Reading your post, it appears there are two solutions (other than patience or hiring an elite HC):

1) Pay recruits and current players fair market value (I might get behind that, but would prefer a structured system rather than the rogue system in which ND and others are participating today).

2) Churn the bottom 10% of the ND roster, oversign, push committed recruits out of the class for better prospects - in essence, getting current with the times.

He’s had to adapt and accept transfers. He’s as good a coach as there is not named Saban. The jury is still out on Freeman but I won’t blame him for taking a graduate transfer from Stanford if he’s a credit to the team and the university. I really admire your posts and fully admit you’re more informed than I am when it comes to ND football but I disagree with you in this case.

QB. This year it appears Tyson is a depth replacement for losing DJ U.

Last year it looks like Clemson lost QB Taisun Phommachanh in the portal to Ga Tech, and he is now at UMass.

Swinney is leaking out numbers as guys are leaving Clemson with eligibility remaining (11 so far this year).

I'm not sure if he is pushing them out, or if they are leaving on their own accord. He obviously doesn't have the new-coach loophole to leverage.

I'd find it impressive if Swinney was not pushing them out (sad commentary on big time CFB, IMO), and would not blame him for bringing in transfers to help round out his numbers.

But my understanding is that he’s not been pushing them out. Instead, he’s been stubbornly trying to keep his promises to the players he recruited by not taking transfers to recruit over them (more to plug holes left by transfers). He’s learning the hard way that his approach will yield a quick slide out of the top ten.

What alternate reality do you live in? Do you really think every player will turn out based on how many star they were rated in high school? Do you really think no one else recruits good players or that players actually want to go to another school because they actually like that school? Do you actually think that players will never transfer out and leave a hole in the roster? In the late 80s and early 90s, ND had an excellent coaching staff and guess what? Players transferred out. Some highly rated players didn't pan out. Some HS players went to places like Miami and FSU because they liked it there.

(Though I very much do share his disdain for persuading kids to leave in order to make room for them.) I think we should've brought in a transfer QB last year. I think it was a no-brainer to do so this year. And, so long as there is legitimately room, I would use the portal to upgrade our roster.

But his fundamental critique of the state of Notre Dame recruiting is unimpeachable. We have historically not recruited to a level necessary to compete for a championship. We're scratching and clawing to get into the back end of the Top 10. The holes that are left when our guys transfer are larger than the holes when elite teams have transfers.

Yes, players transferred out under Holtz. But not at nearly the same rate, and Holtz had elite recruiting classes every year. The rosters were loaded and could generally absorb that. Now, rarely did a player transfer out who was expected to start or be in the regular rotation. That's not the same as today. Increasingly, if a spot isn't guaranteed a role, they will transfer before summer camp. So that puts the onus on making sure you have enough talented guys to upgrade the level of the position battles that are happening. Of course, all highly rated players don't pan out. That's why you need to regularly sign enough that one of them will.

And I don't see any way that ND can outperform teams in acquiring transfers. So it is going to need to significantly upgrade recruiting. long-term.

I do have an aversion to how this particular season/off-season is panning out, and that context is important.

I have no issue with Micah Shrewsberry's current roster building.

Im curious who this better than NIL coach and staff is.

And he did not hire an elite staff.

I don’t know why you whistle Dixie.

The idea that if a coach were good enough, they could build a perfect roster with no transfers and only 85 scholarships is pure wishcasting.

The best living coach does not meet that standard.

Michigan put on the field in this year’s CFP?

And yes, I’m aware those schools are adding transfers at a higher clip this year.

Your own post acknowledges that the best teams in college football are all adding transfers, because that makes them better.

I am glad you raised Michigan. Without the transfer of offensive lineman (the same position discussed in the original post) Olusegun Oluwatimi, they likely neither win the Joe Moore Award, nor make the College Football Playoffs.

That university has had a LOT of players leave for various reasons under their current coach, a coach that has taken a lot of transfers. Most of his QBs have been transfers.

make room for him? I honestly don't know. They took 3 transfers last year, in fact. So same question - did they force out kids to create the space?

Edit add: And further, I'd rather ND fall a bit short and not do the above.

Notre Dame is at 83 scholarship. Those two scholarship are either going to a walk-on or somebody who can play for this team.

roster management at ND under Freeman.

I do like the walk-on idea, even though the path to get there is less than ideal.

and he is learning on the job, and will take some time to grow into being the elite HC we have always required.