In this day and age of college football, the transfer portal is a necessary evil that is now a part of the game. Improvements will still have to be made to the process, but there are players who make choices for the right seasons. When Ohio State wide receiver Mylan Graham entered the portal, the options were endless for where he could have played football in 2026. After some meaningful thought and consideration, South Bend became the obviously choice for the Indiana native.
"With Notre Dame, I felt it was home," Graham stated. "I knew them in high school and then in the portal. The love Coach [Marcus] Freeman showed me, Coach [Mike] Brown, the strength coach and Coach [Mike] Denbrock showed me made it the choice for me. Having a close friend like Tae [Johnson] from Fort Wayne helped me after seeing his success as a redshirt freshman."
Both Johnson and Graham are natives to Fort Wayne, Indiana. The two trained with Dre Muhammad who has been known for producing top-level collegiate wide receivers during his time as a trainer. That relationship helped seal the deal to bring the former Top 60 recruit to South Bend after entering the portal.
"It was definitely part of it," Graham explained. "Seeing the success Tae had last year as a red-shirt freshman and how the coaching staff put the trust in him to let him go out there an play ball was great. Being a Fort Wayne guy, it really helped me watching him."
Johnson wasn't the only player who played a part in getting Graham to South Bend. For the first time since 2020, Notre Dame will have a returning starter under center. As a redshirt freshman, CJ Carr burst onto the national scene and has gained a lot of national attention this offseason as a preseason Heisman hopeful. The 6-1, 189-pound receiver factored that into his decision as well.
"Definitely," Graham answered when asked if Carr's performance played a factor in his decision. "That’s a really big part of the decision, the quarterback situation. I’ve known CJ back from high school when he recruited me a little bit here. The success he had last year as a red-shirt, that helped a lot."
Graham has a lot of experience around future and previous first-round NFL talent, and he intends on bringing some of that experience with him to South Bend. The receiver position has had it's fair share of ups and downs over the last couple of seasons. Graham's addition to the unit is leaving many, myself included, that this unit will finally be what we believe it can be in 2026.
"I', going to approach it the same way I will at Ohio State by being a professional," Graham explained. "Obviously being at Ohio State I learned from good amount of first round picks so I'm just approaching it with that professional mindset every day in practice."
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