Notre Dame 2014 news

Multiple outlets are reporting that Austin Collinsworth, Christian Lombard, Kendall Moore and Justin Utupo will return for a fifth season. Credit Pete Sampson at Irish Illustrated for breaking the news on Utupo, seemingly the last decision made by Kelly and his defensive staff.

Notre Dame has confirmed the upcoming transfer of defensive back Cody Riggs. Riggs adds some versatility to the Notre Dame defensive secondary after playing both safety and defensive back at Florida.

“Cody Riggs is an outstanding player,” said Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly in a release shared by the university. “He played a ton of football at Florida having started at both safety and corner back. Cody definitely brings veteran leadership and versatility to our team and defense.”

Because Riggs is graduating from Florida this spring, he will be eligible to play for Notre Dame this fall under NCAA transfer rules. He is expected to join the Irish over the summer, in June.

“I am very thankful for this opportunity,” said Riggs. “I fully intend to make the most of this opportunity by not only giving my absolute best effort, but also leading by example both on and off the field.

In 40 career games at Florida Riggs started 26 games and was apart of a Florida defense that ranked second in opponent passer rating in 2012 and eighth in 2013. Notre Dame ranked 39th in opponent passer rating in 2013, about 13 points higher than Florida allowed.

Riggs will likely fill in a spot in the secondary left vacant by a graduating Bennett Jackson.

Position moves: they include a minor move — pushing starting safety (and converted wide receiver) Matthias Farley outside to cornerback. They also include a major move — taking rising sophomore James Onwualu from offense to defense, even after he started four games as a freshman receiver

He was not shot through the heart, but Notre Dame walk-on cornerback Jesse Bongiovi suffered a torn ACL and will be out for the 2014 season, according to head coach Brian Kelly. Bongiovi is the son of rock legend Jon Bon Jovi. The news was reported by Matt Fortuna of ESPN.com via Twitter.

The sophomore should be able to use a redshirt year for 2014 and will keep the faith as he aims to return in 2015 for the Fighting Irish.

Brian Kelly announced that rising sophomore cornerback Rashad Kinlaw has been dismissed from the Irish football program.

Wide receiver DaVaris Daniels has been given another chance at Notre Dame. The previously suspended receiver has been readmitted to the university.

Daniels were suspended for academic reasons, although the details of the suspensions have not been made public.

Will Mahone will be spending some time away from his Notre Dame teammates this summer.

The Irish announced via Twitter that the wide receiver has been indefinitely suspended by head coach Brian Kelly.

Notre Dame DL forced to retire with back injury

Notre Dame could use a little luck of the Irish in order to play into the College Football Playoff discussion this fall, but on Friday the bad news may have outweighed the good as fall camp got underway.The same cannot be said about senior defensive lineman Tony Springmann, whose career is now over due to a back issue.

Springmann just could not catch a break at Notre Dame. Last year it was a torn ACL that held Springmann back at first, but it was a back issue that developed that would ultimately sideline him for the 2013 season in South Bend. The back issue has continued to linger and now is to blame for bringing a premature end to Springmann’s career with two years of eligibility remaining

In news that should surprise absolutely no one, Brian Kelly pulled the trigger on the expected Wednesday and named Everett Golson as the Irish’s starting quarterback. Golson had been involved in what was technically described as a quarterback competition with redshirt freshman Malik Zaire.

Notre Dame defensive back KeiVarae Russell has received his notification from the Notre Dame honor committee regarding his status for the 2014 season. Russell will not play this season but does intend to return to the Irish in 2015

For the second and third times in a week, members of Notre Dame’s so-called “Frozen Five” have learned their respective fates. For one, though, said fate doesn’t involve being in South Bend next season.

According to a tweet from Phillip Daniels, father of DaVaris Daniels, “[f]inally after over 4 months my son got an answer” on the Irish wide receiver’s status for 2014. Simply put, the former NFL defensive lineman stated, “[h]e is done at Notre Dame.”

The father added his son will now “weigh his options for the future.” Based on a tweet posted to the player’s own Twitter account, that apparently won’t include playing at the collegiate level in 2015.

Notre Dame linebacker Kendall Moore has made his fate public. In an Instagram post Tuesday evening Moore announced he is leaving Notre Dame following the ruling from his hearing having an unfortunate outcome.

Moore already has a degree from Notre Dame and was hoping to play with one final year of eligibility this season. That will no longer be the case, and Moore will now move on from football it would seem.

Notre Dame safety Eilar Hardy was cleared by the NCAA on Friday following an investigation into academic violations.