Transfer Destination Set for Former Nittany Lion Safety C.J. Holmes
One of the few offseason departures for Penn State football this spring, safety C.J. Holmes, has found a new program.
Announcing his decision via Twitter, the former Notre Dame running back and four-star Rivals prospect said he'll finish his career at Kent State.
Holmes appeared in eight games with the Nittany Lions last season after a mandatory redshirt in 2018 due to his transfer. He largely appeared as a special teams contributor, tallying a total of 40 snaps with a season-high of 17 in Penn State's win against Maryland. Later in the season, Holmes was named the program's Developmental Squad Offensive Player of the Week leading into its November date at Minnesota.
Holmes was tabbed by fellow safety Lamont Wade this spring as a possible breakout ahead of the 2020 season.
"I feel like CJ Holmes, the transfer from Notre Dame. He's been through a lot of setbacks, but he's a hard worker and he's just as athletic as anybody on our defense," Holmes said. "I feel like he should be someone that's about to rise up."
With Holmes' announced destination now revealed, and the Golden Flashes on the Nittany Lions' schedule for Saturday, September 5, the question becomes what Penn State will do in preparation for the matchup.
Given the recent history that saw former Nittany Lion John Petrishen transfer to Pitt ahead of the 2019 season, head coach James Franklin described the process that would then take place ahead of Penn State's showdown with the Panthers the third week schedule.
"We have a young man that was part of our program for four years, John Petrishen, who is now at Pitt," Franklin said. "So when that happened, we knew that we were going to have to make some changes at that point. So, we have changed [signals]. We didn't wait until this week to do it. We did it right when that was announced, but obviously, we had to change all of our signals, you know, especially on defense and on offense, as well, but especially on defense, because he knows all of our signals and those types of things. That was something we had to do right away."
Holmes will have two years of eligibility remaining at Kent State.
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