Junior safety on USC's 2026 roster.
5′11″ · 200 lb · Chandler, AZ · Chandler HS / Notre Dame
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
Recruiting
S recruit
No. 643 nationally · Signed with Notre Dame
Last played in 2026.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Junior safety on USC's 2026 roster.
Kennedy Urlacher
Moves between deep coverage and the slot. Across three seasons and two programs, two head coaches: Marcus Freeman and Lincoln Riley. The receipt: 4 tackles against Rutgers — Week 3, 2026.
11 TACKLES · 2 SACKS
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
His career
He was on the field for 3 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.
Career arc
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
1 coachPlayed his entire career under Lincoln Riley.
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | USC | 11 | 10 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
| 2025 | USC | 27 | 23 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | -- |
| 2024 | Notre Dame | 12 | 7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
| Career | 50 | 40 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 3 | 1 | -- |
Game by game
Point color shows the opponent's defensive strength that week (red = weaker defense, blue = stronger) — dashed line is this player's own season average.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 4 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 42-26vs San José State | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 1 | W 39-0vs Fresno State | 3 | 3 | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 2 | W 49-30vs Louisiana | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 42-35@ Rutgers | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | Season-high 4 tackles |
| Total | 11 | 10 | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | 1 |
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2026
W 39–0
vs Fresno State
Since week 2: +1 pass breakup, +4 tackles.
Season context · Team result + system
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Elite: sacks (96th percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (80th percentile). Concern: tackles (22nd percentile).
Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 4 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 |
| Road1g | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-74g | 2.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Lincoln Riley
Pass share
47.3%
129 pass / 144 run
Plays / game
68.2
4 games
Team sack rate
2.2%
137 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2025
Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.
Recognition
Production · CFB Index Score
Three-star recruit. Now #315 at the position.
2026 outlook
In the mix for All-Big Ten
Based on 2025: #9 of 15 Big Ten Ss
35% estimated, 95% confidence interval 31–38%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
CFB Index positional classification
Player DNA
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Ashton Whitner’s 2024 season.
Matches Ashton on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Israel Boyce's sophomore season at West Virginia (2025).
Matches Israel on
Player DNA
2026: Urlacher will compete for playing time at safety as a junior in 2026. 2025: Urlacher, who transferred from Notre Dame in the summer of 2025, saw action in all 13 games with 3 starts (Oregon, UCLA and the Alamo Bowl against TCU) at safety as a sophomore in 2025. He recorded 26 tackles,…
17 more on the roster · USC team page