SOUTH BEND — DJ McKinney’s Notre Dame football debut saw him find the end zone on a 55-yard interception return to key the second-half surge against Wisconsin.
How’s that for a Colorado transfer announcing his arrival?
“Man, it’s amazing,” the fifth-year cornerback said after practice on Wednesday Sept. 9. “Amazing feeling, especially doing it in front of our fans and everything. It’s different from in practice.”
Even though Badgers quarterback Colton Joseph threw the ball directly to McKinney as if it were a practice drill?
“I made them pay for it,” McKinney said with a grin.
After singing the Alma Mater, he joined dozens of his new teammates in a Lambeau Leap into the student section in Green Bay.
“That was fun,” he said. “We all talked about it before when we knew we were going to play at Lambeau Field. I’m not a Packers fan. I don’t really watch them, but I was told that’s what they do. And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s cool. Maybe once we win, we can do that.’”
The Texan from Colleyville, just west of the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, said he “definitely would have” done the Lambeau Leap on his pick-six if not for all the red on that end of the field.
“That was the Wisconsin side,” he said. “I didn’t want to risk anything.”
McKinney ended up playing 43 defensive snaps in the opener, second only to Leonard Moore among Irish cornerbacks. Michigan transfer Jayden Sanders rotated in for a couple of series in the first half, but when Sanders gave up a 28-yard touchdown to Malachi Coleman, the Irish went with McKinney the rest of the way.
All is forgiven, it seems, between McKinney and his new position coach, Aaron Henry.
Before McKinney, 22, made the switch from Oklahoma State to Deion Sanders’ Colorado in January 2024, he was texting with Henry, then running the Illinois defense.
“I still have his text thread,” Henry said during training camp. “I said, ‘Dude, you left me on read!’ And I show him it all the time. He just starts laughing.”
The kicker, Henry said, is that he’s from Immokalee in southwest Florida, not far from Sanders’ roots in North Fort Myers.
“I said, ‘You left me for Coach Prime! You left me for a Hall of Famer, dude!’” Henry said in August. “(McKinney) made a pretty good decision. But I’m giving him a hard time about that.”
Asked about ghosting Henry two stops ago, McKinney pleaded ignorance.
“I never saw his message,” the player said. “I think that’s what he thought I did. I don’t remember seeing his message.”
Henry is having no trouble delivering his messages to McKinney now.
“It’s amazing,” McKinney said. “I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been here, and it’s my fifth year. You can learn something each day and just continue to build.”
After wearing No. 8 at his previous stops, McKinney opted for No. 2 with the Irish. That just so happens to be the same number Sanders wore at Florida State 40 years ago.
It was Sanders, after McKinney ended his 2024 season with three picks in four games, who suggested publicly his latest cornerback prodigy had everything it takes to be an eventual NFL first-round pick.
“Man, it meant a lot, especially coming from Coach Prime, one of the greatest at his position to do the job,” McKinney said. “It certainly built my confidence.”
After recording his second career pick-6 in the prime-time win over Wisconsin, McKinney didn’t receive a congratulatory text from Sanders, but he’s pretty sure his old coach was aware.
“I feel like he’s always just watching, making sure that he stays in contact,” McKinney said. “He’s always there if I need him, you know?”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football cornerback DJ McKinney reflects on ‘amazing’ debut
