It was big surprise when defensive back Houston Griffith put his name into the transfer portal and was looking to finish his career somewhere other than South Bend. According to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports, Griffith had a change of heart and will finish his career with Notre Dame.
Sources: Houston Griffith is removing his name from the transfer portal and returning to Notre Dame. New DC Marcus Freeman and Brian Kelly were key to convincing him to return. He’ll graduate from ND this spring.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 22, 2021
Recruiting isn’t just about the high school athletes, often coaching staffs have to convince players to stay in the programs when the NFL or other opportunities arise. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side and it seems like Brian Kelly and Marcus Freeman did a great job at rerecruiting Griffith.
The transfer portal doesn’t always yield great results for every prospect who enters. By getting Griffith to return to South Bend, it makes Freeman’s job that much easier. He will have a player who has plenty of experience and should be able to quickly grasp the new defensive scheme. Griffith was surely welcomed back with open arms.