Former Notre Dame QB Brandon Wimbush announces transfer to UCF

Former Notre Dame quarterback Brandon Wimbush will depart from South Bend to transfer to UCF. He announced the decision with a post to his Instagram account Tuesday morning.

“I am excited to announce that UCF has granted me an awesome opportunity to play my last year of collegiate football for their great university,” Wimbush said in the post. “Thank you to Coach Heupel, and Coach Lebby for this incredible opportunity. Looking forward to winning ’em all!”

The addition of Wimbush is a win for UCF coach Josh Heupel, who needed more security at quarterback after star junior McKenzie Milton suffered a major injury near the end of a successful 2018 season.

Wimbush was the Fighting Irish’s primary quarterback for the 2017 season, which ended with a 10-3 record after a 21-17 win over LSU in the Citrus Bowl. As a dual threat under center, he did damage with 1,870 passing yards, 804 rushing yards and a combined 30 touchdowns between the air and ground. However, he only completed 49.5 percent of his passes, and lost his starting job to Ian Book for the Citrus Bowl win.

The 2018 season went even worse for Wimbush as Book took hold of the starting QB job midway through the season and never gave it back while leading the Irish to the College Football Playoff. Wimbush finished finished with just 719 passing yards, four touchdowns and six interceptions in six appearances. He also wasn’t effective on the ground with 256 rushing yards and one touchdown.

In late December, Wimbush’s intention to transfer from Notre Dame was first reported, although he continued to serve as Book’s backup through the team’s Playoff loss to eventual national champion Clemson. Now he’ll get to finish his career at a program that’s posted a 25-1 record over the last two seasons.