Safety C.J. Holmes Enters NCAA Transfer Portal

Penn State safety C.J. Holmes has entered the NCAA transfer portal this morning, according to Rivals.

After committing to Notre Dame as a running back in 2017, Holmes played eight games with the Irish before taking a transfer as a walk-on in the summer of 2018. Taking a redshirt due to the transfer restrictions for the 2018 season, but playing at running back on the scout team, Holmes then switched to safety in the summer of 2019.

He appeared as a safety and special teams player during the 2019 season with the Nittany Lions, playing in eight games and taking 36 of his 40 snaps on special teams last season.

Holmes' scholarship status was not reflected by the Penn State football program, per policy, but he was understood to be a walk-on for each of the past two seasons. His transfer would not impact Penn State's current scholarship roster.

According to fellow safety Lamont Wade, Holmes was predicted to make more of an impact with Penn State's secondary in the 2020 season.

"Besides me, Brisker and Sutherland, I feel like CJ Holmes, the transfer from Notre Dame," Wade said. "He's been through a lot of setbacks, but he's a hard worker and he's just as athletic as anybody on our defense. I feel like he should be someone that's about to rise up."

In our Fast-Forward series, however, Holmes was listed out as fourth on the depth chart at the boundary safety position this spring, leaving him looking up at Jaquan Brisker, Jonathan Sutherland, and January enrollee true freshman Enzo Jennings.

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