Notre Dame football ends transfer portal drought with three pickups
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SOUTH BEND — And on the 11th day of the transfer portal window, Notre Dame football finally had some good news for its fan base.
Colorado transfer cornerback DJ McKinney committed to Notre Dame on Monday, Jan. 12. Multiple reports initially had McKinney as a done deal on Friday, but it took a few extra days to complete the process.
Shortly after McKinney announced, Notre Dame added Ohio State wide receiver Quincy Porter and Alabama defensive end Keon Keeley via the transfer portal.
While Porter struggled to carve out a niche in his freshman year at Ohio State, he’s just a year removed from five-star prospect status out of Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, N.J.
At 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Porter reportedly boasts a 6-foot-9 wingspan that make him an inviting downfield target and a contested-catch threat in general. A high school track standout who ran an 11.12-second 100-meter dash as a junior, he finished 2025 with just four catches for 59 yards after posting 38 touchdowns in 37 varsity high school games.
He was in for just 81 total snaps in five games, including 24 on special teams. Thanks to a pair of punt return reps in a 34-16 win at Illinois on Oct. 11, Porter narrowly missed leaving with four years of remaining eligibility.
Official: #NotreDame football adds Ohio State WR transfer Quincy Porter @QuincyPorter18#NDFootball@OhioStateFBpic.twitter.com/jly6yXyCP3
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) January 12, 2026
Breaking down DJ McKinney
McKinney, a fifth-year senior, visited Notre Dame on Friday after taking previous trips to Ohio State and Texas Tech.
A 6-foot-2, 180-pounder from Colleyville, Texas, McKinney was a three-star recruit out of high school. He was named honorable mention all-conference in 2024 by Big 12 coaches as a junior, when he ranked fourth in the league with nine pass breakups.
Go Irish🍀#natty🏆 pic.twitter.com/GtAMjsC5qn
— Dylahn (DJ) McKinney (@DjMcKinney22) January 12, 2026
An unspecified injury cost him the final three games of Colorado’s disappointing season, which finished with a 3-9 record, but he still amassed 35 tackles, an interception and four pass breakups.
He played 670 total snaps, including 73 on special teams.
Primarily used as an outside cornerback at Colorado, he also played 91 snaps at nickelback or box safety. His four career interceptions came in a five-game span, including the 2025 season-opening loss to Georgia Tech.
In 2024 he played in all 13 games for the Deion Sanders-coached Buffaloes, totaling 877 defensive snaps, 62 tackles and three interceptions. McKinney has missed just 21 tackles in three seasons across 2,093 snaps, a 13.2% missed tackle rate.
DJ is short for Dylahn Jordan. He has one remaining year of eligibility.
McKinney played his first two college seasons (2022-23) at Oklahoma State, including a redshirt season when he would have teamed with former Irish starting nickelback Thomas Harper. McKinney started all 22 games in which he played during his Colorado career, plus the Texas Bowl win over Texas A&M in his Cowboys’ finale in 2023.
McKinney is expected to compete for the starting nickelback job held by former Alabama transfer DeVonta Smith in 2025. Smith is headed to the NFL, leaving sophomore Dallas Golden as the top candidate in the slot.
Familiar faces for Quincy Porter
Familiarity was in Notre Dame’s corner in its portal pursuit of Porter. He took two visits to Penn State before signing with the Buckeyes, including an unofficial trip less than a month before the early signing date.
Notre Dame reportedly added a pair of former Penn State recruiting assets, Kenny Sanders and D.J. Bryant, to support roles in general manager Mike Martin’s department. Irish associate head coach/running backs Ja’Juan Seider arrived from Penn State last March.
Sanders served as Penn State’s player personnel director from 2022-25 under former coach James Franklin, now at Virginia Tech. Sanders previously served as Oregon’s recruiting director.
Bryant, 35, joined Penn State’s recruiting staff in early 2023 after three seasons at Colorado. His title in Happy Valley was recruiting coordinator for personnel and recruitment.
A former James Madison defensive end, where he earned second-team All-America honors, he later spent time in the NFL with five franchises: Texans, Buccaneers, Colts, Jets and Ravens. He was a practice squad player for the Ravens’ Super Bowl-winning team in 2013, but he retired due to knee injuries in 2014.
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 adds McKinney, Porter, Keeley in transfer portal
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