SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame football is on the board with a transfer portal signing.
After coming up empty in a series of visits and offers at a variety of positions, the Irish reportedly secured a commitment on Friday Jan. 9 from former Colorado defensive back DJ McKinney.
According to On3.com, McKinney visited Notre Dame on Friday after taking previous trips to Ohio State and Texas Tech.
A 6-foot-2, 180-pounder from Colleyville, Texas in the Dallas area, McKinney was a three-star recruit out of high school. He was named honorable mention all-conference by Big 12 coaches in 2024, when he ranked fourth in the league with nine pass breakups.
An unspecified injury cost him the final three games of Colorado’s disappointing 2025 season, but he still finished with 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, covering the end of the 2024 season and the season-opening loss to Georgia Tech in 2025.
DJ is short for Dylahn Jordan. He has one remaining year of eligibiilty.
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.
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 figures to compete for the starting nickelback job held by former Alabama transfer DeVonta Smith in 2025. Smith has moved on to NFL Combine preparations, leaving sophomore Dallas Golden as the top candidate in the slot.
McKinney’s outside corner talents offer more depth should injuries again visit Notre Dame’s starting duo of Leonard Moore and Christian Gray. Rising sophomore Mark Zackery IV also returns after making three starts and playing 307 defensive snaps in his debut season.
Notre Dame has lost six defensive backs in the transfer portal. Karson Hobbs landed at Florida State on Friday, following Cree Thomas (Colorado) and safety JaDon Blair (Missouri) to new opportunties.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
