Notre Dame football secures Alabama DE Keon Keeley on its second try

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SOUTH BEND — Who says you can’t go home again?

Alabama transfer Keon Keeley has returned to Notre Dame football via the portal process, roughly 41 months after canceling his commitment as the prized member of the 2023 recruiting class. Keeley confirmed the long-rumored transaction via Instagram on Monday Jan. 12.

“It all comes full circle,” he posted. “Go Irish.”

Keeley reportedly was already enrolled in spring classes, which started on Monday.

At 6-foot-5 and 282 pounds, Keeley is an athletic defensive end who has flashed his immense potential only briefly to this point in college. A high school teammate of Irish linebacker analyst Tre Reader, Keeley has two years of remaining eligibility.

Keeley’s standout showing in Alabama’s first-round win over Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff came against another former Irish de-commit, Sooners safety Peyton Bowen.

Keeley had four tackles, one sack and a pass breakup in the comeback road win. In a blowout loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship, Keeley had three tackles and half a sack.

A consensus Top 10 national recruit out of Tampa’s Berkeley Prep, Keeley backed away from his Irish commitment in August of 2022. By December he had committed to the Tide, who moved him to outside linebacker while he redshirted in 2023.

On the move: Notre Dame football ends transfer portal drought with three pickups

Keeley moved back to defensive end in 2024 but played just 24 defensive snaps in five games, making two tackles. He reemerged this fall in his second year with defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, averaging 14 snaps in his 12 games.

Keeley played a combined 60 defensive snaps in Tide’s first two postseason games but was limited to 11 snaps in a Rose Bowl loss to Indiana.

With this decision, Keeley evokes comparisons to the U-turn Tyler Buchner executed after transferring to Alabama in the spring of 2023 and then returning to Notre Dame as a walk-on receiver and lacrosse player one year later.

This marks the second straight offseason Notre Dame has poached an Alabama transfer. Defensive back DeVonta Smith left the Tide a year ago and wound up as the primary nickelback for the Irish, who went 10-2 and narrowly missed out on a second straight trip to the College Football Playoff.

Smith battled hamstring and calf injuries to appear in eight games in 2025, making five starts.

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football reels in Alabama transfer end Keon Keeley

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