Marcus Freeman said early Monday afternoon that he would spend his afternoon meeting with his Notre Dame team and beginning to discuss with players their possible plans for the Irish bowl game, wherever it may be against whomever it may be.
By mid-afternoon, the first Notre Dame name to enter the transfer portal was fifth-year defensive end Nana Osafo-Mensah, announcing he will head elsewhere for his sixth season of college football.
“To Notre Dame, I can’t thank you enough for guiding me and molding me into the person I am now,” Osafo-Mensah posted on Twitter. “... It has been an absolute honor to represent this team throughout my time here in the Blue and Gold.”
Osafo-Mensah finishes the 2023 season with 20 tackles, including 5.5 for loss with three sacks and two more quarterback hurries. He began the season in a timeshare with Ohio State transfer Javontae Jean-Baptiste, a split that increasingly tilted toward Jean-Baptiste as the season progressed.
In his career, Osafo-Mensah made 48 tackles with five sacks, playing in 39 games with two starts.
A high-profile Texas recruit in the class of 2019, Osafo-Mensah surprised some by choosing the Irish in the summer of 2018, particularly given Longhorns’ interest.
He then preserved a year of eligibility as a freshman before a meniscus injury cost him 2020. His 2024 eligiblity exists because of the 2020 universal pandemic eligibility waiver.
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Without both him and Jean-Baptiste, the Irish will turn to a handful of current underclassmen at defensive end next year, as well as probably try to bring in another older transfer. Current sophomores Aiden Gobaira, Tyson Ford, Junior Tuihalamaka and Joshua Burnham will lead the way for now, with the former two built more in the mold of “Big” end, a la Osafo-Mensah and Jean-Baptiste.
Freshman Brenan Vernon may also develop into a contributing role at Big end.
Love Thee☘️ pic.twitter.com/UpWu9noS8g
— NaNa Osafo-Mensah (@NaNaOsafo2) November 27, 2023
If Osafo-Mensah was competing with a group of sophomores for playing time in 2024, why transfer, especially if he would have been penciled in as a starter again entering the spring? He has earned two degrees from Notre Dame and may simply want a change of scenery for his sixth year of college, an understandable and human want.
