USC locked down its first spring transfer portal commitment on Saturday morning with the addition of former Notre Dame safety Kennedy Urlacher, the son of NFL legend Brian Urlacher.
Ex-Notre Dame safety Kennedy Urlacher is in fact set to transfer to USC, sources tell @CBSSports/@247Sports.
Urlacher, the son of NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher, had 12 tackles as a freshman at Notre Dame last season.https://t.co/10Sz3YwNKg https://t.co/hq35VhOaMq pic.twitter.com/vNlr5jwaW3
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) April 19, 2025
The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Urlacher played one season at Notre Dame, and he appeared in 14 games primarily on special teams. The safety played in six games on defense earning double-digit defensive snaps in three contests.
In total, Urlacher tallied 12 tackles with one fumble recovery and one pass breakup in his true freshman season.
WHO ELSE WAS IN THE MIX FOR KENNEDY URLACHER?
Urlacher’s transfer recruitment moved quickly. He entered the portal the first day it opened and was immediately linked to USC. Urlacher was a three-star prospect in the 2024 class out of Chandler (Arizona). He held 20 offers from schools across the country including Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Miami, Nebraska, Penn State, Washington and Wisconsin.
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WHERE KENNEDY URLACHER FITS WITH USC
USC doesn’t have much depth at safety and even less at nickel, so the versatile Urlacher will come in and fill an immediate need. Kamari Ramsey, Christian Pierce and Bishop Fitzgerald are at the top of the USC depth chart at safety, and that isn’t likely to change with the addition of Urlacher. Urlacher could certainly compete for snaps at nickel in his first year though.
Ramsey and Prophet Brown have been taking nickel reps during the media viewing period of practice this spring. If the USC staff likes Urlacher at nickel, he may factor into that position battle right away with Ramsey having more experience at safety and Brown having more experience at corner. If Urlacher is viewed as more of a safety, he should have a leg up on the less experienced Marquis Gallegos Jarvis Boatwright Jr., Steve Miller and Kendarius Reddick in the room during fall camp due to playing last season. It’s possible Urlacher breaks into the safety rotation like Zion Branch did a year ago.
Ramsey will likely be off to the NFL after this season and depending on how junior college years are counted moving forward, Fitzgerald could be out of eligibility for 2026. Unless Urlacher emerges as USC’s starting nickel, expect him to be a rotational piece in 2025 and a potential starter in 2026.
WHERE KENNEDY URLACHER RANKS AS A RECRUIT
Urlacher is the No. 411 ranked prospect in the 247Sports transfer portal recruiting rankings and the No. 19 safety. As a high school prospect, Urlacher was a three-star recruit and the No. 641 ranked prospect nationally. He was the No. 61 overall safety.
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