Notre Dame football will get another year from D-tackle Jason Onye
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SOUTH BEND —Notre Dame football received more good news on its defensive line with Jason Onye’s successful petition for a sixth year of eligibility.
A source confirmed on Tuesday evening, Jan. 20, an On3.com report that the 6-foot-5, 302-pound defensive tackle had been granted a redshirt waiver for his five-game season in 2024.
Onye played in the first five games that year but stepped away for a sabbatical that kept him off the field for the final 11 games. At the time, Irish coach Marcus Freeman cited Onye’s mental health as the reason behind his absence.
A North Providence, R.I., product, Onye returned in 2025 and averaged 29.4 defensive snaps across 12 games (nine starts). He finished the year with 26 tackles, 17 quarterback hurries, 1.5 sacks and a 78.2 overall rating from Pro Football Focus.
Among Irish interior defensive lineman, that trailed only Louisville grad transfer Jared Dawson for the Irish.
Thirteen of those hurries came in Onye’s final five starts of 2025. He also posted an 87.6 PFF grade against USC on Oct. 18 while tying a season high with 38 snaps.
Onye joins fourth-year junior Armel Mukam, who reversed his decision to enter the transfer portal, as a top returnee up the middle.
With the retirement of Donovan Hinish and the expired eligibility of Gabriel Rubio, Notre Dame also added Pittsburgh transfer Francis Brewu and Oregon transfer Tionne Gray in recent weeks.
Brewu has two years of remaining eligibility, while Gray has three.
Enrolled in a graduate program at Notre Dame, Onye said in October he would return for 2026 without hesitation if his appeal was granted. His sister Lauren is a Notre Dame junior.
“My other rock,” Onye said before his Nov. 1 homecoming trip to Boston College. “When I didn’t have football, I was able to talk to her and have a good relationship with her.”
Former Irish captain Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, recently promoted to director of player development, is another former teammate Onye credited as part of the extended Notre Dame family that aided his comeback.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football defensive tackle Jason Onye to return in 2026
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