Notre Dame defensive end Preston Zinter to enter NCAA transfer portal

Notre Dame defensive end Preston Zinter has entered the transfer portal, On3’s Pete Nakos reported Tuesday. Zinter has two years of eligibility remaining.

Zinter became a special teams staple for the Irish, leading the team in special teams snaps with 211 in 10 games. He also had the highest PFF special teams grade on Notre Dame at 79.0, across kickoff return, kickoff coverage, punt return, punt coverage and field goal.

However, Zinter — who began his career as a linebacker — could not make headway in a position group that included Jaylen Sneed, Drayk Bowen, Jaiden Ausberry and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa. He switched to defensive end for his redshirt sophomore season and again played sparingly on defense, totaling just 18 snaps in three games.

There was a path for Zinter to contribute at defensive end in 2026, with Notre Dame losing Jordan Botelho and Junior Tuihalamaka to expiring eligibility and Joshua Burnham to the transfer portal. However, the Irish have made it clear that they intend to bring in a transfer defensive end of their own.

Former Michigan State defensive end Jalen Thompson and former Utah defensive end John Henry Daley — the latter being arguably the best defensive player in the portal — are currently visiting Notre Dame, with their visits expected to end Wednesday.

Former Notre Dame linebackers coach Max Bullough, now the LBs coach and co-defensive coordinator at Michigan State, has been high on Zinter in the past. Bullough has praised him for his work ethic throughout his three seasons in South Bend, two of which he spent in the linebacker room.

“Zin is someone you can count on every day to be the same,” Bullough said. “He’s gonna be the same guy every day. He’s gonna come, he’s gonna work. He’s gonna know what’s going on. He’s gonna help the young guy get lined up.

“I can’t say enough about Z. He’s a core special teamer. He does it the right way. He’s here for the right reasons. He’s one of the core pieces of our room.”

The North Andover (Mass.) native finishes his Notre Dame career with 9 tackles. A three-star recruit out of Lawrence (Mass.) Central Catholic, Zinter chose the Irish on Feb. 11, 2022 over Boston College, Michigan, Penn State and Wisconsin.

With Zinter’s impact on special teams and defensive versatility, it’s easy to see a low-end Power Four team or a high-end Group of Five program show interest in the transfer portal.