Pine-Richland graduate and Notre Dame backup quarterback Phil Jurkovec has placed his name in the NCAA transfer portal and will look to leave the Irish this year, according to a source close to the situation.

Placing his name in the portal does not guarantee he will leave Notre Dame, but it indicates Jurkovec wishes to find a school that offers him a better opportunity for playing time.

At Pine-Richland, he had scholarship offers from Alabama, Penn State, Pitt, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin and several others. Given that was only two years ago, Jurkovec’s appearance in the portal already has generated plenty of interest.

Jurkovec (6-5, 227 pounds) just completed his redshirt freshman season at Notre Dame. He appeared in six games in mopup duty, completing 12 of 16 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 130.

Former four-star recruit. Was rated as the fourth-best dual threat QB and 83rd-best overall player in the 2018 recruiting class according to the 247 Composite rankings.

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 8, 2020

He was a backup to Notre Dame starting quarterback Ian Book, who recently announced he will return for a fifth year in 2020 after leading Notre Dame to an 11-2 record. If he stays with the Irish, Jurkovec will be one of four quarterbacks on the roster.

During the season, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said Jurkovec was continuing to improve.

“I think that Phil has gotten better and will continue to get better,” he said in a story posted by 247Sports.com. “He’s challenging Ian every single day, even if you guys (reporters) don’t see it.

“Just because he’s ‘2’ doesn’t mean he’s not challenging Ian and making him better every day in practice. We think that he is better as a football player and a quarterback than when camp started.

“We just hope that that continues to move in the right direction and we’re pretty confident that it will.”

Jurkovec was ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 2 high school player in Pennsylvania in 2018, behind Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons of Harrisburg. He threw for 8,202 career yards and 71 touchdowns while rushing for 2,942 yards. He was the 87th overall prospect in the nation and the fifth dual-threat quarterback, according to Rivals.

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