Indiana football went nearly four hours without a transfer portal commitment Sunday evening after landing six transfers in the previous seven and a half hours.
Although it appeared the Hoosiers finished securing pledges for the day, they hadn’t. Former University of Notre Dame defensive lineman Joshua Burnham committed to the Cream and Crimson on Sunday night, he announced in an Instagram post, after visiting Bloomington throughout the weekend.
Burnham spent the past four seasons with the Fighting Irish and has one season of eligibility remaining. He announced his intention to enter the portal Dec. 30. The Traverse City, Michigan, native is ranked as the 12th-best edge rusher in the portal at the time of his commitment, per 247Sports.
Burnham originally arrived in South Bend as a four-star recruit who was ranked the 76th-best player in the 2022 high school recruiting class. He played in just one game in 2022, as he redshirted his freshman season.
The 6-foot-4, 260-pound Burnham played in 13 games in 2023, making 18 total tackles, four tackles for loss and one sack. Then, in 2024, he started 10 of the 14 games he played in. Throughout Notre Dame’s run to becoming national championship runners-up, Burnham accumulated 30 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, two sacks and forced fumble.
In the Fighting Irish’s College Football Playoff first-round victory over Indiana in 2024, Burnham posted two total tackles and a TFL on the Hoosiers’ first play from scrimmage.
Burnham started four of Notre Dame’s 12 games in 2025, racking up 16 tackles, six TFLs and three sacks.
Burnham joins former Kansas State University defensive lineman Tobi Osunsanmi as defensive line reinforcements, with numerous players set to graduate.
Burnham’s commitment marks the second consecutive offseason Indiana landed a former Notre Dame player, joining Pat Coogan — the Rose Bowl offensive MVP. Burnham has gone from one of college football’s most historic programs to one that’s set all sorts of records over the last two seasons under head coach Curt Cignetti.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
