Notre Dame Football: Sheppard Leaves, Carlisle Eligible and What It All Means

Do you want the good news first or the bad news?

Normally everybody wants to hear the bad news first, hoping that it's not as bad as the person is making it sound. Well, the bad news for Irish fans is that 5-star cornerback Tee Shepard is no longer enrolled at Notre Dame and will be looking to play football elsewhere.

“Tee is a special person and it’s unfortunate it didn’t work out here,” Head coach Brian Kelly said in the statement. “Everyone at Notre Dame wishes him all the best in the future.”

Now of course comes the good news, and that includes running back Amir Carlisle is eligible to play for Notre Dame as early as this season. It was expected that the sophomore and 4-star running back would have a one-year incubation period, but that was recently waived by the NCAA.

Is the good news really better than the bad?

What this means for the Irish

Anytime you lose a 5-star recruit, it's never a good thing for any team. But it hurts even more considering the Irish just lost three members from last year's secondary. Shepard was not only a key member for the future, but would have competed this spring for serious playing time this season.

He was one of the top corners in this year's class, and at 6'0", 175 pounds, he had the size to possibly shift over to the safety position if needed. This now means that there is even less depth in the defensive backfield, and players will really have to step it up throughout the spring. Notre Dame's secondary was ranked 38th in the country last season, this loss doesn't exactly help them at all moving forward.

As for Carlisle, this is great news for Irish fans to help balance out the disappointment they may be feeling right now. He's a former 4-star recruit from the 2011 class, and rushed for 118 yards on 19 carries last season before injury issues slowed him down throughout the year.

He's a smaller back at 5'10", 180 pounds, and is a playmaker. With his speed he is a threat to take it the distance every time he touches the football. Get him in the open field and there's a great chance he'll be changing the scoreboard. He also has fantastic hands for a running back, as he caught seven passes in limited action last year.

There wasn't much depth at running back behind Cierre Wood, especially with Jonas Gray no longer on the roster. Carlisle not only adds depth to the position, he also adds speed, which the Irish have really lacked over the years. Getting somebody who can really pick up huge chunks of yards and add another dimension to this offense, really changes things for the Irish this season.