It didn’t take long after Notre Dame’s Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State for two players to announce their future plans. One part is surprising, the other not so much. A tweet from Matt Zenitz of On3 indicated that Irish punter Jay Bramblett and linebacker Paul Moala will enter the transfer portal:
Two Notre Dame players have entered the transfer portal, starting punter Jay Bramblett and linebacker Paul Moala, @on3sports has learned
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 2, 2022
Bramblett, of course, has been the Irish’s punter for the past three years. In 13 games this season, he had 58 punts for an average of 42.6 yards. He was pressed into action plenty of times during the Fiesta Bowl with seven punts for an average of 36 yards.
Moala played in the Irish’s season opener at Florida State but suffered a season-ending Achilles injury for the second year in a row. The 12 games he played in 2019 were more than he played during his other three seasons with the Irish combined. A change in scenery most definitely would do him some good.