Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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10 JUNE/JULY 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Notre Dame Lands Graduate Transfer Cornerback Nick McCloud Notre Dame has received some needed secondary help, and it is coming from a former opponent with plenty of experience. The Fighting Irish landed a com‑ mitment from graduate transfer cornerback Nick McCloud, who comes from North Carolina State with one year of eligibility left. He made 18 starts at corner for the Wolfpack from 2016‑18 be‑ fore missing most of 2019 due to injury. In four years at North Carolina State, McCloud compiled 105 tack‑ les, 20 passes broken up and three interceptions. He was a six‑game starter in 2017 and made 11 starts in 2018. In both seasons, the Wolf‑ pack went 9‑4 and appeared in the top 25. They finished No. 23 in the final Associated Press poll of 2017. McCloud and the Wolfpack played the Fighting Irish in 2017. He made four tackles and broke up one pass in Notre Dame's 35‑14 win. The 6‑1, 190‑pound McCloud is expected to be in the mix to start at corner. Junior TaRiq Bracy, who had a team‑best seven passes broken up in 2017, is a frontrunner for a starting job as well. Shaun Crawford started eight games in 2019 and is returning for a sixth year, which was granted to him after he missed three seasons (2015, 2016 and 2018) due to major injuries. Ohio State, Virginia and Pittsburgh, among others, recruited McCloud during his transfer process. He entered the transfer portal Jan. 15. McCloud did not visit Notre Dame prior to committing, continuing a trend necessitated by COVID‑19. McCloud's best season came in 2018, when he set career highs in tackles (51), passes defended (eight) and interceptions (two). Pro Football Focus gave him a 70.1 coverage grade, 71.2 run defense grade and 89.4 tackling grade, all career bests. He was credited with allowing 49 catches on 80 targets with one touchdown. Opponents had an NFL passer rating of 79.6 when throwing at him in 2018, per PFF. McCloud was a three‑star recruit in the 2016 class from Rock Hill, S.C., and ranked the No. 54 safety in the country. He chose North Carolina State over Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt and UCLA. He started the Independence Bowl against Vanderbilt as a true freshman, building momentum for his starting role the next two years. A knee injury in the 2019 season opener against East Carolina sidelined McCloud for two months. He returned in the loss to Clemson Nov. 9, but did not play again that season. Because he played in fewer than four games and had not used a redshirt in his career, he gained another year of eligibility and chose to use it as a graduate transfer. He had seven tackles and two passes broken up in 2019. — Patrick Engel BRIAN KELLY CONTRACT TALKS ONGOING The university's announced pay cuts and COVID‑19 are not putting a pause on Notre Dame's contract negotiations with Brian Kelly. Director of athletics Jack Swarbrick said discussions are continuing with Kelly, who last signed a contract extension in January 2016 that runs through 2021. They were in motion well before the pandemic necessitated budget cuts and heightened fiscal awareness. "I view the two as separate," Swarbrick said. "You have to make decisions to retain great faculty, great administrators, great educators and coaches regardless of the circumstances. The discussion with Brian has been ongoing, and as soon as we have the opportunity to not meet by Zoom, I look forward to making an announcement about it." Kelly told Yahoo Sports in 2019 that he was hoping to get two more years added onto his deal. — Patrick Engel Notre Dame Lands Another Walk-On Notre Dame added a seventh preferred walk‑on for the 2020 season. Brennan Wicks, an offensive lineman from Forestville (Md.) Bishop McNamara, committed to Notre Dame May 6. He held an offer from Football Championship Subdivision member San Diego, as well as a few Division II and Division III programs. Maryland also extended him a preferred walk‑on opportunity. Wicks, who is 6‑5 and 280 pounds, is the second walk‑on offensive lineman in the class. — Patrick Engel NIL DISCUSSIONS MOVING FORWARD The NCAA is moving forward with granting college athletes the ability to profit off their name, image and likeness (NIL). The Board of Governors announced April 29 it supports the issue, which will be voted on no later than January 2021 and could go into effect for the 2021‑22 academic year. "At its meeting this week, the Board of Governors supported rule changes to allow student‑athletes to receive compensation for third‑party endorsements both related to and separate from athletics," the NCAA released in a statement. "It also supports compensation for other student‑athlete opportunities, such as social media, businesses they have started and personal appearances." The deadline to write legislation is October 2020. Between now and then, there is much to figure out. The concept of "guardrails" that would limit the areas in which athletes could earn NIL profits is still loosely defined. The NCAA said it is not capping the amount ath‑ letes can earn, but wants to make sure any endorsement deals they sign are in line with fair market value. Notre Dame director of ath‑ letics Jack Swarbrick supports the idea. "Our focus is going to be very much that any opportunities are true market‑based opportuni‑ ties," Swarbrick said. "We don't have the answer to how we'll make those decisions, but we'll have a process in place. I agree with the NCAA's emphasis on full disclosure, so it's my anticipa‑ tion that each opportunity would be presented to us in advance of it being acted upon and we'd have some opportunity to measure it against comparable market opportunities." The NCAA said it could establish a third party that decides if NIL opportunities offered to athletes are in line with the market value. — Patrick Engel BRENNAN WICKS McCloud started 18 games from 2016-18, and made 105 tack- les, broke up 20 passes and had three interceptions in his four years at North Carolina State. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN