Marshall transfer WR/KR Jayden Harrison heads to Notre Dame football off All-America selection

SOUTH BEND — Jayden Harrison knows what it’s like to win at Notre Dame Stadium.

As a Marshall wide receiver in 2022, Harrison made three catches for 38 yards in a 26-21 upset victory for the Thundering Herd. On Tuesday afternoon, Harrison announced he was headed to Notre Dame football as a transfer.

A product of Antioch, Tenn., in suburban Nashville, Harrison transferred to Marshall after playing the 2020 season at Vanderbilt. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Harrison has one remaining season of eligibility due to the COVID-19 bonus year.

After finishing second nationally with a 30.7-yard average and two kickoff return touchdowns for Marshall in 2023, Harrison was named a first-team All-America kick returner by two of the five primary national voting bodies (FWAA and Walter Camp Football Foundation).

Analysis: Challenge in 2024 for Notre Dame football: Not just progress but be in title contention

He took a kickoff 98 yards against James Madison and later added a 94-yard return for a score against Georgia Southern. Harrison also had a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown at Florida Atlantic in 2021.

Harrison has 70 career receptions for 778 yards and four touchdowns. That includes a career-best 27 catches for 409 yards and a score in 2023, which saw Marshall go 6-7 with a loss to Texas-San Antonio in the Frisco Bowl.

Harrison led the Herd with six catches for 132 yards in the Dec. 19 contest.

The addition of Harrison gives new wideouts coach Mike Brown another weapon to go along with fellow transfers Kris Mitchell (Florida International) and Beaux Collins (Clemson). Even after losing four wideouts to the transfer portal since the end of the regular season – Chris Tyree (Virginia), Rico Flores Jr. (UCLA), Tobias Merriweather (California) and Braylon James (Texas Christian) – Notre Dame projects to have 11 scholarship wideouts in 2024.

That includes a trio of incoming freshmen (Cam Williams, Micah Gilbert and Logan Saldate) and five scholarship returnees: Jayden Thomas, Deion Colzie, Jaden Greathouse, KK Smith and Sun Bowl MVP Jordan Faison.

Redshirt freshman running back Jadarian Price averaged 34.4 yards on 10 kickoff returns in 2023, including a 99-yard return for a touchdown against USC. Price’s 106-yard breakout performance, on just 13 carries, in the Sun Bowl increased the likelihood that he and Jeremiyah Love would be most valuable splitting carries in 2024 while letting someone else handle kickoff returns.

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for NDInsider.com and is on social media @MikeBerardino.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football adds All-America returner in Marshall transfer Jayden Harrison