Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly announced in a press conference Monday that junior running back Jahmir Smith would be leaving the football team. This conference was held ahead of Notre Dame’s matchup with the University of Pittsburgh this weekend.
Smith chose Notre Dame over several other scholarship offers, enrolling at the University in January 2018 following an undefeated regular season his senior year of high school. At that time, he was ranked as the No. 26 running back in the country by 247Sports.
As a member of the Fighting Irish football team, Smith carried the ball six times for 28 yards and had a reception against Stanford his freshman year, playing in two games. During his 10 games on the field his sophomore year, he rushed 42 times for 180 yards and scored twice. In this year’s season opener against Duke, Smith rushed five times for a total of 15 yards. He did not play in any other game this season.
This year there are several running backs on the roster, with sophomore Kyren Williams, freshman Chris Tyree, junior C’Bo Flemister, senior Jafar Armstrong and sophomore Kendall Abdur-Rahman also being listed at the position. In Saturday’s game against Louisville, only Williams and Tyree saw the field. The crowded backfield paired with the talent of his teammates may have prompted Smith’s decision to leave, as he was not receiving as much playing time.
At the press conference, Kelly was asked why Smith did not appear on the team’s weekly depth chart.
“Jahmir Smith has left the team,” Kelly said in response. “He has decided that he is not going to play football. We’ll have some further conversations about what his plans are moving forward, but he has decided at this time that he is not going to be playing football.”
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