Football-wise, another Navy football player has abandoned ship.
In late January, cornerback Michael McMorris placed his name into the NCAA transfer database, the first step in a potential move away from the Navy football team. Earlier this month, one of McMorris’ teammates, linebacker Jacob Springer, entered the transfer portal as well.
As pointed out by our friends at Rotoworld, safety Chelen Garnes is now listed by 247Sports.com in its transfer portal tracker. At this point, it’s unclear exactly when Garnes entered the database.
As we’ve stated myriad times in the past, a player can remove his name from the portal and remain at the same school. Or, service academy in this case. At this point, though, other programs are permitted to contact Garnes without receiving permission from the Naval Academy.
NCAA bylaws also permit schools to pull a portal entrant’s scholarship at the end of the semester in which he entered it.
Garnes graduated from a Maryland high school in 2018. The 5-11, 200-pound defensive back spent the 2018-19 academic year at the Naval Academy Prep School.
During his first on-field season with the Navy football team, Garnes appeared in all 13 games in 2019. Garnes’ two interceptions tied for the team lead. He was also credited with 11 tackles, one pass breakup and one quarterback hit.
Barring something unexpected, Garnes will have to sit out the 2020 season if he moves on to another FBS program. That would then leave him with three years of eligibility beginning in 2021.
Navy football is coming off an 11-2 2019 campaign, the first time it reached double-digit wins since 2015. It was also just the fifth such season in the service academy’s history.
Included in that program-record-tying 11-win season was snapping a three-game losing streak to rival Army and a Liberty Bowl win over Kansas State.