According to Irish Illustrated sources, Notre Dame defensive back Houston Griffith is expected to return to South Bend and play for the Fighting Irish once again next season. This was first reported by Bryan Driskell of Irish Breakdown.
On Jan. 4, Irish Illustrated reported that Griffith was entering the Transfer Portal and would leave South Bend. The 5-11, 205-pounder officially entered his name on the list within 48 hours. However, Griffith is expected to remove his name from the portal shortly. As of 10:45 am ET, Griffith is now officially out of the Transfer Portal.
Irish Illustrated also reported last week that the expectation was Griffith would return due to the fact that there was a new defensive coaching staff in the secondary at Notre Dame. Defensive coordinator Clark Lea has since become the head coach at Vanderbilt and safeties coach Terry Joseph left to coach defensive backs at Texas.
According to sources, conversations went very well between Notre Dame and Griffith have gone well. We’re told head coach Brian Kelly has done a terrific job of personally recruiting him and making it clear how important Griffith is to next year’s team. That, mixed with the recruiting efforts of new defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman, has helped the Irish greatly.
The 5-11, 205-pounder arrived at Notre Dame as part of the 2018 class. The Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy standout, originally from the Chicago area, chose the Fighting Irish over scholarship offers from Florida State, Alabama, Duke, Florida, Georgia, Iowa State, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma and many others across the country. The Under Armour All-American was highly-touted out of high school and ranked as a Top100 prospect per the 247Sports Composite Rankings. He was the No. 11 cornerback that cycle. 247Sports had him rated slightly lower as the No. 148 overall recruit in 2018. He recorded 28 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack as a senior at IMG.
As a true freshman at Notre Dame, Griffith played in 11 games and even started the matchup against Wake Forest. He totaled 14 tackles and two pass breakups that year. He played in 13 games the following year, while totaling five tackles and a pass breakup. In 2020, Griffith played in 12 games played, to of which he started, totaling 14 tackles and a tackle for loss.