Report: After Kansas, Notre Dame QB Crist Eyes Delaware, Wisconsin

This season, Russell Wilson, a transfer from N.C. State, lead Wisconsin to the Rose Bowl. Joe Flacco transferred from Pittsburgh to Delaware then ended up a 1st-Round draft pick in the NFL. Can Dayne Crist be the next to find success?


Dayne Crist spent the weekend at Kansas, reconnecting with his first college coach and examining the first of his possible landing spots after he leaves Notre Dame for good.


But the soon-to-be ex-Irish quarterback is still browsing.


Crist is visiting Delaware on Monday and Tuesday and is expected to visit Wisconsin by the end of the week, multiple sources told the Tribune on Monday.


Delaware, in fact, was the first program to visit Crist in South Bend, Ind., after the erstwhile Irish starter received his release from coach Brian Kelly on Dec. 2, according a source familiar with the situation.

The Blue Hens, a longtime Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) power, have been down the road of absorbing post-graduate Notre Dame players before. Former Irish players like Ronald Talley, Leo Ferrine and Junior Jabbie finished their careers at Delaware after not returning for fifth seasons in South Bend.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin long has been expected to be an option for Crist and that interest appears to be materializing.

The exact itinerary of Crist's visit is unclear, but the road map was laid this year after Russell Wilson transferred in from N.C. State for a post-graduate year and led the Badgers to the Rose Bowl while winning league quarterback of the year honors and earning first-team All-Big Ten plaudits.

Badgers coach Bret Bielema told the Tribune earlier this month that three quarterbacks inquired about transferring into his program, though he did not name names.

And then there's Kansas, where former Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis now serves as head coach and offers Crist a fairly soft landing: a coach that recruited him from high school, that trusts him and runs an offense with which he is thoroughly familiar.

Crist visited Lawrence, Kan., last weekend, just as Weis was introduced as Jayhawks coach, taking in the Kansas-Ohio State basketball game among other stops.

Crist started nine games in 2010 for Notre Dame before suffering a season-ending knee injury and then started the 2011 opener before being benched at halftime. He then met with Kelly on Dec. 2 to ask for his release and was green-lighted to contact other schools.