Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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8 MARCH 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Strategy Is Built For 2026 — And Beyond By Eric Hansen The safe thing for both Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman and the school's administration to do at transfer portal time was default to the status quo. That is, plug some holes with eight grad transfers, arriving with no academic risk and minimal downside on the field. But in some cases, that also tends to come with a hard ceiling. So, during the frenetic 15-day free-for-all in January for some of the nation's elite college talent — largely proven tal- ent — Freeman and first-year general manager Mike Martin decided to dream big instead. And the Notre Dame brass supported that dream with a more open-minded approach to transferring and how transfer credits are processed. The latter is a game-changer, because it exponentially ex- pands the talent pool for Notre Dame in future portal cycles. What makes it a game-changer in this cycle is the level of potential walking in the door, with seven of the eight trans- fers possessing multiple years of college eligibility and upside most grad transfers couldn't match. Otherwise, most of them would be in the 2026 NFL Draft pool. Two of them, Alabama transfer defensive end Keon Keeley and Ohio State wide receiver import Quincy Porter, are the first former five-star recruits the Irish have ever signed as transfers. But it does come with more risk. There's less proven production and more development that needs to be done. Why it's less risky at Notre Dame in the Freeman era, in particular, is the investment in teachers and developers that Freeman has assembled on his coaching staff. Not just recruiters, but true dual threats. So, Freeman and his staff bet on themselves. The 2026 schedule cooper- ates in that it's not front-end-loaded. Notre Dame's most difficult games on paper — BYU, Miami and SMU — all fall in the second half of the season. So, the growing pains should have subsided by then. And in 2027, the grow- ing gains will even be stronger. Potential Over Production Comes With Risk By Jack Soble I don't necessarily disagree with Eric or Notre Dame in this matter. The Irish undoubtedly raised their ceiling on both sides of the ball. You could also ar- gue that some of the available graduate transfers weren't as exciting as the options Notre Dame chose to target. It's not like they didn't take any proven production, either; players like Pitt defensive tackle Francis Brewu and Colorado corner- back DJ McKinney come with scores of it. It's also worth noting that for Keeley, Porter and fellow Ohio State transfer wideout Mylan Graham, the Irish weren't blindly following recruiting rankings. They had intimate knowledge of those three as recruits, so it's easy to trust their judgment if they think they'll blossom with a change of scenery. However, as reporters, our jobs involve looking at the downside risk in a strategy with so much upside. And there is downside risk in filling needs with players who haven't accomplished much at the college level, especially as many others adopt the "production over potential" mantra. One of them, Indiana, just won the national championship. In a "win now" year, with likely one season left of quar- terback CJ Carr and a veteran core on defense, it's curious that the Irish went the other way. Notre Dame has seen the difference fifth- and sixth-year players can make in January, and right now, it stands to only feature five of those on the 2026 roster. Plus, you're now counting on unproven players at key positions. Take defen- sive end, where the Irish have a stud in Boubacar Traore and a super-talented but still relatively raw counterpart in Bryce Young. With Young's upside in place, would it have been wiser to take a transfer with 1,000 career snaps over Keeley's 200? Maybe. Or maybe Keeley fulfills his five-star potential and this conversa- tion is moot. But with its transfer portal strategy, Notre Dame opened itself up to uncertainty. Point ✦ Counterpoint: DO YOU AGREE WITH NOTRE DAME'S TRANSFER PORTAL STRATEGY? It's been six months since Kevin Bauman had football taken away from him. Entering what would have been his sixth season, Bauman suffered his fourth major knee injury in five years, abruptly ending his career. That was difficult for Bauman, but life after football — with two Notre Dame degrees in hand — is treating him well. He did this interview with Blue & Gold Il- lustrated from Milan, Italy, at the 2026 Winter Olympics. He was there to support his girlfriend, former Notre Dame track and field star Jadin O'Brien, who is now a bobsledder competing for the United States. BGI: How have you been since you had to medically retire in August? Bauman: "I'm hanging in there. This hasn't been easy, I'll say that, but I'm doing well. I have a second surgery coming up in mid-March, and I'm excited to get that done, get the ACL back in there, and hopefully get a little bit of closure from that. "I'm doing a lot of job searching and have some good opportunities coming up. Everything has a start date after the surgery, so that's kind of been in the way a little. At the same time, it's given me opportunities to do some cool things, travel and be there to support Jadin, which wouldn't have been possible otherwise." BGI: Which job opportunities are you looking at right now? Bauman: "I'm looking a lot in medical device sales. Some good opportunities came up in the Midwest area and the South Bend area. I'm just exploring a lot of options. I'm very grateful for the Notre Dame network. I feel very blessed to have used my time there wisely and made good connections. I'm reaping those benefits from that now. "I'm looking at some corporate security-type things, too. Kind of all over the place, but those are the big ones." BGI: How did you process the reality of foot- ball being over? Bauman: "To be honest, I don't know that I have fully processed it yet. That was a tough time back in August. I had a lot of mixed emo- tions, a lot of different feelings, a lot of big decisions to be made. I'm still in the process of getting over it, moving on and coming to that reality. It didn't end the way I wanted it to." BGI: How did Jadin support you? Bauman: "She was the reason I was able to get through that tough time, and no matter how much I thank her, it will never be enough for being there for me through that. … "Despite everything she had going on, she was there every second. She was the first person I talked to after surgery. … She had no business being able to give as much as she did, and she did it anyway. She was able to perform at push championships and in Lake Placid, while also being a literal angel." BGI: Aside from supporting Jadin, what have you done so far in Milan? Bauman: "I got to go to curling yesterday for three hours, and the luge relays last night. Just being in this town and in the mountains, it is absolutely stunning. "Living the European lifestyle, it's fun. It's different, and it's a good change of pace. The food's incredible. The wine is incredible. The people are nice." — Jack Soble Five Questions With … FORMER NOTRE DAME TIGHT END KEVIN BAUMAN Bauman's football career was abruptly ended last fall when he injured his knee for the fourth time. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS Seven of the eight transfers general manager Mike Martin and the Irish landed possess multiple years of eligibility as well as the type of upside most graduate transfers do not. PHOTO BY KYLE KELLY