FIU grad transfer brings swagger, speed to Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND — Former Southeastern Conference cornerback Dwight McGlothern knows speed, having split his four-year college career between LSU and Arkansas.
At the recent NFL Scouting Combine, McGlothern ran the 40-yard dash in 4.47 seconds. At that same eval-fest, one of his former LSU teammates, wideout Brian Thomas Jr., ran the 40 in 4.33 seconds, tied for third-fastest of all participants.
When McGlothern was asked in Indianapolis what he remembered about Notre Dame football wideout Kris Mitchell from their meeting last November, the ex-Hog didn’t need much prodding.
“His speed has been elite,” McGlothern said of the Florida International graduate transfer. “We knew he was the main receiver. Once we got out there, he showed us what he could do.”
While Arkansas shook off a slow start and rolled to a 44-20 win over the Panthers, Mitchell was a problem all night. The 6-foot, 184-pounder from Jacksonville finished with six receptions for 157 yards against an Arkansas team that stayed within one score in road losses to LSU, Alabama and Ole Miss.
“He’s fast,” said McGlothern, whose Pro Football Focus coverage grade ranked first among all Power Five cornerbacks last season. “I didn’t get to guard him much, but I wanted to. He deserved to be on a better team. I’m glad he moved up.”
Like Arkansas, FIU finished with a 4-8 record, but Mitchell earned all-conference honors with a breakout season that saw him total 64 receptions for 1,118 yards and six touchdowns. It’s one thing to put up nine catches for 201 yards and two scores against FCS-level Maine, but Mitchell’s production against Arkansas helped convince the Irish coaching staff
his skills could translate to the game’s highest level.
Arkansas finished 94th in pass efficiency defense last season, but the Hogs represented the only Power Five opponent Mitchell faced in 34 career games at FIU.
He also held offers from Colorado State, Connecticut, South Florida and UAB after helping current Georgia quarterback Carson Beck and current New England Patriots receiver Demario Douglas lead Mandarin High School to its first Class 8A state title in 2018.
“He’s a pretty great player,” McGlothern said of Mitchell. “Seeing what he did to us, honestly, and now where he’s at, I wish the best for him. Tell him, ‘Keep going.’ He’s going to do busy work at Notre Dame.”
Kris Mitchell brings a deep threat to Notre Dame football
Marcus Freeman smiled last week after the first spring practice session. The question to the Irish coach was about Mitchell and his fellow grad transfer at wideout, former Marshall receiver Jayden Harrison.
“They can run, right?” Freeman said. “I think I saw more deep balls caught in this practice than I’ve seen in a long time. The speed, the ability to throw the ball downfield, is going to be great for offense, but it’s going to be a great challenge for our (defensive backs).”
While early enrolled freshman wideout Cam Williams has multiple verified times of 4.4 seconds in the 40, Mitchell’s precise speed remains mysterious.
“The last time I ran a 40, I ran a 4.3,” Mitchell said last month. “But the goal is to run a 4.2 by the end of next year.”
He cited a GPS reading of 22 mph in practice while at FIU, which plays in Conference USA, but he resisted wearing the telemetry strap in games.
“I felt it was a distraction, so I never wore it,” Mitchell said. “And in practice, I was never really running.”
Reams of daily data collection await Mitchell this spring across 15 supervised practices. NFL scouts should get a better idea of his true speed when Notre Dame holds its Pro Day on March 21.
Yet, from the visual to the anecdotal, there’s little reason to doubt Mitchell can be a gamebreaker this fall.
“We want to continue to enhance our speed on the outside on both sides of the ball,” Freeman said on early signing day in December. “With Kris, we were looking for speed, speed. And that’s what, to me, stuck out on film. And he has a lot of production. His production is through the roof, but the speed that he truly has and could add to our team is what attracted us.”
‘I can stretch the field,’ Kris Mitchell promises
If people want to focus on Mitchell’s quickness, that’s fine with him.
Brimming with confidence in classic “alpha” receiver fashion, he calls himself a “speedster” and says he can “take the top off ” any defense at any time, regardless of who’s covering him.
“If he’s press or off, I feel like I can run by any DB that lines up in front of me,” Mitchell said. “I can stretch the field. I can catch a slant and take it for 70 (yards). I can make the big play when it’s there. Fourth downs, overtime catches, I can make the plays.”
His speed has always come naturally. “I’ve run track my whole life,” Mitchell said. “That’s why my stride is long. I used to work on that as a kid, all the time, every day at practice.”
Mitchell hopes to add strength and sharpen his route precision —“a natural talent of mine” — in his sixth and final college football season.
“I can run at any weight,” he said. “I’m not really a little guy. I’m more of an intermediate, medium-sized guy. I could play in the slot or the outside. Wherever coach wants me to play, I can excel at it.”
While an older brother, Justin, played defensive line at Harvard through 2021, where he teamed with former Notre Dame punter Jon Sot and defensive tackle Chris Smith; two other Mitchell brothers are at Power Five programs.
Nic Mitchell is a fourth-year linebacker at Mississippi State, and Jon Mitchell, a four-star cornerback recruit, signed in December with Penn State.
Having three competitive siblings helped Kris Mitchell improve in a variety of ways. Most notably, concentration.
“With my little brothers, it’s always been competition with them, day in and day out,” Mitchell said. “Pushing each other around, play-fighting or whatever. Even if it didn’t have to do with sports, we always had many distractions inside the house where I had to just stay focused.”
While Mitchell had three drops and three fumbles last season, he also came down with 12 contested catches out of 25 opportunities. Just 20 players nationally made more contested catches last year, and Mitchell takes pride in that aspect of his highlight-reel game.
“I have great hands,” he said. “I can make any type of catch. Maybe I could work on my out-of-frame catches some more. (Make) even more crazy, contested catches than I have.”
The key?
“It’s just eye coordination,” he said. “Working with tennis balls, having your teammates put hands in your face while the ball is being thrown to you, pushing you around, guys tugging on you in practice.”
Another shrug. Another smile. “Little stuff like that,” Mitchell said, “makes a total difference in your game when it comes to Saturdays.”