Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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24 AUGUST 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY JACK SOBLE T his offseason, rolling the tape was difficult for Notre Dame senior defensive tackle Jason Onye. Onye burst onto fans' radar with a standout spring after playing in only one game throughout his first two years with the Irish. He exited fall camp expecting to play heavy rotational reps. But the season did not go according to expectations. In the meat of Notre Dame's 2023 campaign, Weeks 4-10, Onye averaged only 5.5 snaps per game. The coaching staff didn't fully trust him, nor did they need to with the play of starters Howard Cross III and Rylie Mills. When Onye watched film — and he watched a lot — he analyzed everything. The Warwick (R.I.) Bishop Hendricken graduate broke down every missed step, every inch of hand placement or pad level, every split-second of his get-off. Onye put in the work to fix his mis- takes. Entering the 2024 season, the Irish have noticed. "I think a year ago, we talked about Jason and some of the things that we wanted to see from him," Notre Dame defensive line coach Al Washington said after the Blue-Gold Game on April 20. "And he's doing them." The 2 sacks Onye tallied in that game showed the progress he'd made. He did his best work on the field goal block unit last year, swatting 2 kicks: One in Week 2 against Tennessee State and an- other in Week 13 against Stanford, which defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste ran back for a touchdown. On defense, though, Onye totaled only 3 pressures and 6 tackles after Week 3. If the Irish are cor- rect, that should change in his senior sea- son (though they certainly wouldn't mind if he blocked 2 kicks again). Onye is playing lower, according to Washington. He's reaching another level in his development. An unheralded recruit in the 2021 class — only the No. 709 player in the On3 Industry Ranking — Onye appears to have made real strides. "I just talked to Jason Onye five min- utes ago [June 6] and said to him, 'Man, I'm so proud of you, how hard you work with your techniques and your body,'" Irish defensive coordinator Al Golden told Blue & Gold Illustrated. "I was com- plimenting him on that journey to trust." He earned that trust by being his own biggest critic off the field and believing in himself on it. Onye's frame is both a blessing and a curse. At 6-foot-5, 289 pounds and built like a Greek god, Onye looks like former Notre Dame All-American de- fensive tackle and NFL Hall of Famer Bryant Young, according to Golden. The issue, Washington explained, is that Onye is "high-hipped." Functionally, that means staying low and maintaining leverage are more difficult for him than most. If you can't do that, you can't play defensive tackle, and that's where Onye struggled last season. But both he and the Irish felt a shift in the spring. "It's always going to be a little bit more of an investment for him," Washington said in late March. "But he's improved in that, and just getting comfortable with all the things we asked him to do." "Just being very critical of myself and what I'm doing to make sure those little nuances don't show up in a game when all eyes are on you," Onye said. "By doing the small stuff and checking in with Coach Wash, making sure that I'm on the same page, I just feel like it's going to elevate my game to another level to be that guy." Onye is a plus athlete, but that mat- ters very little if he can't fire off the ball quickly. He saw that on tape, too. Washington sent him clips from last season of various get-off speeds, which did improve from Week 1 to the Sun Bowl against Oregon State. Still, Onye knew he was too slow, too often. He fought to change that. "My focus this spring is taking off and improving on the little I didn't do well last year," Onye said. "Right now after practice, I'm getting in get-offs and making sure I'm the first one off the ball on every rep, competing with [junior de- fensive tackle Donovan Hinish]. He's a fast, twitchy kid, so me and him go at it." With the effort he's put forth on the practice field, Onye believes he'll be more confident when he faces a real test. He thought he dwelled on each mis- take in the moment too much, instead of correcting them later on. Every missed rep in the past compounded into an- other, to the point where the Irish couldn't play Onye more than a few reps per game. "The plays that I missed last season, I feel like, 'OK, why did I miss them?'" Onye said. "I was probably in my head too much." Now, Onye said, he props himself up. "That journey that he was on — which is really mind, body and spirit — is get ting to the point where you're playing with confidence and more trusting," said Golden. Cross and Mills still block Onye's path to a starting job. Mills is the primary ob- stacle, as he also plays three-technique position. Onye won't unseat them anytime soon, but they're both out of eligibility after the 2024 season. He has at least 12 and likely more games to prove to Notre Dame that it won't need a transfer defensive tackle for 2025. And he could be a significant contributor on a potential College Foot- ball Playoff team while he's at it. The way Notre Dame's coaches have talked about him this offseason, Onye is on that path. All he has to do is prove it. "I have the full confidence and full desire to go out there and do it," Onye said. "I'm excited for this season. I've been working in all the practices before that to get there." ✦ JOURNEY TO TRUST Unheralded throughout his career, senior defensive tackle Jason Onye is making progress and waves entering 2024 Onye managed just 3 pressures and 6 tackles after Week 3 last season, but his 2-sack performance in this year's Blue-Gold Game was a sign he's ready to elevate his game in 2024. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER