Notre Dame Football: Defensive Tackle Jacob Lacey is in the transfer portal

On Thursday, Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive tackle Jacob Lacey announced that he will enter the transfer portal.

This means that Lacey will no longer be a part of the football program, and will take a redshirt for the year so he’ll have this year of eligibility available at his next destination. Wherever he lands, he will have two years of eligibility to use now with this season and the COVID exemption for 2020.

Marcus Freeman was brief with his comments about Lacey during his Thursday presser.

“He’s no longer a part of the team. He will look to transfer probably at the end of the season after the semester is over. That’s about it.”

In the four games played this year, Lacey has 5 tackles with 2 sacks — both sacks came against the Cal Bears. For his career, Lacey has played in 36 games and accumulated 35 tackles and 2.5 sacks.

Lacey was a 4-Star prospect in the 2019 recruiting class, and a Top 200 recruit nationally. Besides Notre Dame, he held notable offers from the Clemson Tigers, Kentucky, Wildcats, and Cincinnati Bearcats.

Lacey was 2nd on the depth chart all season for the Irish. Not only should we expect more snaps from Chris Smith, but likely more formations with Rylie Mills moving inside. Freshman Tyson Ford is another name to watch as he could see increased playing time on a line that does a lot of rotation.

Good luck to Jacob with his future path.