Breaking: Safety Mykelti Williams Transferring

Sophomore safety Mykelti Williams is no longer with the program and is expected to transfer according to several Irish media outlets. Brian Kelly confirmed after this morning's practice that Williams is no longer with the team but declined to elaborate further.

Full Story: S Mykelti WIlliams transferring from #NotreDame (Free) https://t.co/ljaUHUU5v0

— Irish Sports Daily (@ISDUpdate) March 23, 2016

Williams was expected to be a major factor at a thin safety position group this spring. The Indianapolis native committed to the Irish late in the 2015 class and redshirted his freshman season. Williams was an all-state standout at Warren Central High School and appeared to be a favorite to at least crack the two-deep at one of the safety positions, and had received praise late in 2015 for his practice performance while redshirting.

The Irish staff will try to jumble together a spring depth chart at safety now from the following pieces:

• Max Redfield, who in his final season is hopefully more Maurice Stovall than Steve Filer
• Drue Tranquill, recovering from two season-ending injuries
• Avery Sebastian, who hasn't played in over a year and is also recovering from a foot injury
• Early enrollees Devin Studstill and Spencer Perry (who may be a better long-term fit at linebacker)

It's all guesswork right now as to who will emerge as the starters, especially with Studstill already seeing first team reps in spring ball ahead of Redfield at free safety (motivational tactic, perhaps?). The Irish have also accepted graduate transfers  in the secondary the past two seasons in Cody Riggs and Sebastian, and that would seem to be an option worth investigating given the combination of inexperience and players recovering from injury currently available at safety.