Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman brought in seven transfers during the January portal window. Strategically signing each, Freeman has revealed he'd like to see each continue the winning habits they formed at other schools.
Per The Athletic's Pete Sampson, "Marcus Freeman said he's open to transfers bringing new ideas to the program, meaning things that worked at their old spots like Ohio State, Pitt, Oregon, etc. 'Challenge everything.'"
Notre Dame brought in one transfer each from the Oregon Ducks (4-star DL Tionne Gray), Pitt Panthers (4-star DL Francis Brewu), Alabama Crimson Tide (4-star DL Keon Keeley), Colorado Buffaloes (4-star CB DJ McKinney), and TTUN (4-star CB Jayden Sanders).
It must say a lot that he grabbed two Ohio State Buckeyes from the portal, receivers Quincy Porter and Mylan Graham. As much as Freeman has taken his shots at his alma mater since taking the Fighting Irish job, he sure does seem to want to emulate the Ohio State University as much as possible.
Mylan Graham admits Ohio State trait he's not taking with him to Notre Dame
Going from Ohio's premier state university to a private catholic university in northwestern Indiana necessitates changing up some habits. Graham revealed a major trait he isn't taking with him to Notre Dame from Ohio State: staying home from class.
“Not too different," Graham said when asked about the differences between his old school and new school. "You just have to actually go in person and stuff like that. At Notre Dame, obviously, everybody knows how it is with academics, so just being able to lock in with stuff like that."
Clearly, Freeman was talking about football when he talked about cultural imports from other schools to South Bend. We'll see how Graham's game is affected by strict in-person attendance at class. He wasn't much of a factor in Ohio State's offense the past two years, but perhaps Mike Denbrock's system will let him flourish.
Of course, two years in Columbus will be owed some credit if it works out for Graham in a Fighting Irish uniform.