Notre Dame starting corner to leave school for personal reasons

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Notre Dame cornerback Darrin Walls will not enroll for the fall semester and will head home after summer school for personal reasons, the school announced Friday.

Walls, a junior, was a likely starter at the cornerback position opposite fifth-year senior Terrail Lambert. Walls started 11 of Notre Dame's 12 games last season and had 32 tackles and one interception, which he returned 73 yards for a touchdown against Penn State.

"We won't have Darrin with us this season but I hope to have him return for the spring semester," Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said. "Fortunately, cornerback is a position of strength on our team and this will provide opportunities for increased playing time for our corners."

Likely candidates to replace Walls include junior Raeshon McNeil, sophomore Gary Gray and freshman Robert Blanton.

Notre Dame also announced that senior receiver D.J. Hord will transfer to a Division I Football Championship Subdivision school. He will be able to immediately play in the fall.

Hord, a senior from Lee Summit, Mo., played in six games and recorded two catches for seven yards last season. He missed all of the 2006 season with an Achilles injury. Hord will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Graham Watson covers college football for ESPN.com. She can be reached at gwatson.espn@gmail.com.

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Watson joined ESPN.com in 2008 after four seasons covering the Missouri Tigers and the Big 12 Conference for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She also covered college football recruiting for the Dallas Morning News.