Notre Dame Football Recruiting: Landen Bartleson is no longer a member of the program — so now what?

On Saturday, Brian Kelly and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish released a statement regarding Landen Bartleson and his status with the program. Bartleson was recently arrested for allegedly breaking into a store, stealing guns, and stealing a car.

“After reviewing all of the facts available to us and speaking with the Bartleson family, we informed them that Landen will no longer be welcomed as a member of our football program. This incident is very much out of character for the man we have come to know and we wish Landen and his family well.”

Because Bartleson is still a senior in high school, the action itself is little more than releasing Landen from his national letter of intent.

So what now?

For the Irish, there may not be any new moves made with the 2020 class.

Notre Dame needed a strong defensive back class to help make up for some hole in previous years, and with the 2020 class, early signing day saw the Irish sign four cornerbacks (Landen Bartleson was one of those four). It was a strong enough group to at least have confidence in a much deeper unit for fall camp. Bartleson’s departure from this group somewhat weakens the overall strength — but will probably have little to no effect on 2020.

Notre Dame is still trying very hard to flip Cameron Martinez from the Ohio State Buckeyes, but with their recent hire of Kerry Coombs and no visit still set for Martinez — that is looking more and more less likely (although not altogether dead).

Many wondered why the Irish didn’t look to the transfer portal a few months ago (and maybe they did and we didn’t know it). Would Brian Kelly and Notre Dame be more inclined to kick the tire there? The cornerback listing in the transfer portal is LONG and it has a fair amount of talent, but what would Notre Dame be looking for in a potential transfer? Would a graduate transfer with immediate eligibility make more or less sense than a player with multiple years left — but a year that he would be forced to sit?

This whole ordeal forces the question, but I’m not certain of any clear answers at this point. In my opinion, if Notre Dame can flip Martinez — they can probably just stand pat. If not, they should absolutely look to the transfer portal for something. There’s flexibility on the roster right now, so a transfer doesn’t HAVE to be a corner at this point.

We’re in “wait and see” mode once again.