(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.