Notre Dame reserve DE Kofi Wardlow enters the transfer portal

Notre Dame reserve defensive end Kofi Wardlow has entered the transfer portal, the junior announced via Twitter on Tuesday.

Irish Sports Daily first reported the news. An ND source confirmed Wardlow is no longer practicing with the Irish.

Wardlow mentioned in his tweet that he will receive his undergraduate degree from Notre Dame this fall. The 6-foot-2, 250-pound Wardlow played just three games and tallied one tackle in four seasons. He signed to Notre Dame’s 2017 class as a three-star recruit from St. John’s College High in Washington, D.C.

247Sports ranked Wardlow as its No. 79 weakside defensive end and No. 1,760 overall player in the 2017 class, while Rivals pegged him No. 47 at his position.

Wardlow was verbally pledged to Maryland’s recruiting class before decommitting in December 2016. Notre Dame offered Wardlow a scholarship and hosted him for an official visit one month later. He committed and signed with the Irish on National Signing Day on Feb. 1, 2017.

Then Wardlow struggled to see the field as a strongside defensive end at Notre Dame. He did not appear in a game as a freshman in 2017. He made his debut against Virginia Tech in 2018 before playing two games last season and recording an assisted tackle against New Mexico. He never received high-leverage snaps.

Khalid Kareem was a two-year starter with the Irish at strongside defensive end before being drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Graduate senior Adetokunbo Ogundeji also has significantly contributed at the position since 2018 and became a starter this season. Junior Justin Ademilola and sophomore Isaiah Foskey have received considerable playing time as well.

Where Wardlow will land remains to be seen. He is permitted to withdraw his name from the transfer portal, but Notre Dame would not be obligated to keep him on scholarship.

The No. 4 Irish (6-0, 5-0 ACC) will host top-ranked Clemson (7-0, 6-0) on Saturday (7:30 p.m. EST on NBC) at Notre Dame Stadium.

Notre Dame’s football program provided another COVID-19 update on Monday. Of the 240 COVID-19 tests administered from last Tuesday through Sunday, one football player tested positive. That player did not travel to the Georgia Tech game last week. As of Monday, two players were in isolation while another was in quarantine due to contact tracing.

— Staff writer Tyler James contributed to the reporting in this story.