Former Pitt DT Francis Brewu plans transfer portal visit to Notre Dame

Notre Dame football’s need for defensive tackle reinforcements and the coaching past of new defensive line coach Charlie Partridge have converged to help create a transfer portal opportunity for the Irish.

Francis Brewu, a former Pitt defensive tackle who completed his sophomore season this past fall, will be giving the coach who recruited him out of high school a chance to recruit him out of the portal. Brewu announced his transfer portal entrance plans Tuesday and has already scheduled a visit to Notre Dame.

The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman and others reported late Tuesday night Brewu’s upcoming itinerary. He’s expected to visit Tennessee on Wednesday, spend time at Notre Dame on Thursday and Friday and visit Indiana this weekend. He also has a visit with Miami scheduled for next week and is interested in visiting Ohio State as well, per Feldman.

The 6-foot-1, 280-pound Brewu played in 25 the past two seasons at Pitt. He tallied 15 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and six quarterback hurries in 12 games as a freshman in 2024. Brewu added 36 tackles, seven tackles for loss, one sacks and two quarterback hurries in 13 games, including 12 starts, in 2025. He registered three tackles, including one tackle for loss, in Pitt’s 37-15 loss to Notre Dame in November.

Partridge has yet to be formally announced as Notre Dame’s new defensive line coach, but Blue & Gold confirmed Friday the expectation for Partridge to leave his defensive line coaching role with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts for the same title at Notre Dame. Partridge joined the Colts after spending 26 seasons coaching in college football. The previous seven seasons before his NFL departure were spent at Pitt.

Partridge recruited Brewu out of Columbus (Ohio) Thomas Worthington in the 2024 class. Brewu verbally committed to the Panthers in March 2023 but never got a chance to play for Partridge. The Rivals Industry Ranking pegged Brewu as a three-star recruit, the No. 46 defensive lineman and No. 470 overall in the 2024 class. Brewu did not receive a scholarship offer from Notre Dame in high school.

The Irish started hosting transfer portal prospects this week with the first group of five visitors on campus Tuesday. One of those visitors is former Penn State defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam, who has three seasons of eligibility remaining.

The Irish could justify adding multiple defensive tackles from the transfer portal this offseason given the departures of four veteran defensive linemen following the 2025 season: Jared Dawson, Gabriel Rubio, Jason Onye and Donovan Hinish. Dawson, Rubio and Onye exhausted their eligibility, but Onye has asked the NCAA for an eligibility waiver for a sixth season. Hinish retired from the sport.

Feldman put Brewu at No. 24 on his preseason Freaks List in August for squatting 685 pounds, bench pressing 475 pounds and vertically jumping 33 inches. Sophomore defensive end Bryce Young received Notre Dame’s highest placement on the list at No. 44.