Arizona State defensive back Jordan Clark transfers to Notre Dame, likely Irish starting nickel back in 2024

Washington State v Arizona State

The transfer portal flows both ways, though it always features the outgoing players first. Notre Dame landed its first incoming transfer on Monday evening with the commitment of Arizona State graduate transfer defensive back Jordan Clark.

Next season will be Clark’s sixth, a luxury granted by the universal pandemic eligibility waiver. The 2024-25 offseason will be the final year any players still linger in college football with that added eligibility.

Clark has appeared in 40 games in his career, including 11 last season with 50 tackles and nine passes broken up. He has 139 career tackles and 17 passes broken up with three interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown in 2022.

The Sun Devils’ passing defense struggled mightily in 2023, through little fault of Clark’s. The entire program is struggling after Herm Edwards left only turmoil in his wake, a five-year tenure that amounted to a 28-27 record and ongoing sanctions.

For context, Arizona State ranked No. 113 in the country in pass rating against, while Notre Dame ranked No. 1.

“I’m going to play in an NFL defense surrounded by some of the best players in the country,” Clark said to On3Sports.com. “Being coached by guys whose attention-to-detail is second-to-none in a building where everybody is dead set on not just getting to the Playoff, but winning.”

An underrated piece of the Irish pass defense under coordinator Al Golden this season was nickel back Thomas Harper, a graduate transfer from Oklahoma State.

Harper had 41 games of playing experience across the previous four seasons when he arrived in South Bend last winter with 132 career tackles and two interceptions. He is listed at 5-foot-10 ⅝ and 195 pounds last winter.

To repeat some earlier numbers in order to put them in direct comparison to Harper, Clark…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/arizona-state-defensive-back-jordan-110000249.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2023-12-05 11:00:00

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