Reworked Body, Improved Technique Helped Jason Onye Shine This Spring

Defensive tackle Jason Onye might be the biggest surprise to come out of Notre Dame’s month-long spring practice season. The rising junior was buried on the depth chart in his first two years at Notre Dame, but he emerged as a highly likely candidate to land on the two-deep when the Fighting Irish open the season in August.

There is an expression in sports that goes like this, "the light went on," and that is certainly applicable to Onye this spring.

"One hundred percent,” Onye said recently when asked how different this spring was compared to his first spring. "I can play faster. Like once I see the call, I know exactly where I'm at, I know what I'm doing, I know why we're calling the call. I just feel like I understand the game at a way faster level and it just helps me play better.”

Football was still relatively new to Onye when he arrived at Notre Dame. He didn't start playing until his sophomore season, and his senior season was wiped away by Covid-19. That meant he had just two years of football experience under his belt when he arrived at Notre Dame.

His number one objective when he arrived on campus two years ago was less about competing on the field and more about comprehending the game he was here to play.

"When I first came in here, I just wanted to understand football,” Onye explained. "I know a bunch of y'all say I came from a real small state, I came from Rhode Island, played two years of football. It's true, I just wanted to come here, understand and adjust to everything. I came in first playing end, then I gained weight, so I was at 3-tech, and then I'm playing nose. So, I just wanted to understand the whole entire game and now that I understand the game fully and I understand each position specifically. It's just like now I can actually go in on the field and actually not think about too much and just play.”

His first two years were spent mostly with the scout team, but Onye met with Irish defensive line coach Al Washington after last season to discuss the future. Onye told his position coach he wanted to contribute more and Washington told him to start with his weight.

Onye has since undergone a physical makeover that has contributed to his spring emergence. He weighed 289 pounds with 27% body fat when he arrived at Notre Dame. He says he was down to 275 pounds by the end of last season, but the 6-4½ defender with long arms now weighs in at 292 pounds with just 12% body fat.

The experience he's gained the last two years and the physical transformation has allowed Onye's impressive physical tools to finally shine. Although he was a consensus three-star recruit coming out of Bishop Hendricken, Onye did earn a 4.5-star upside grade from Irish Breakdown. That means although he was raw, if he ever figured it out he had the physical tools to become a really good football player.

He's getting much closer to being that kind of player.

"We’re counting on him to be at his best,” Washington said of Onye after the Blue-Gold Game. "And to his credit, he’s working towards it. He’s got to keep working, though. Our conversations are really focused on the things where he’s got to improve, and I think he likes that. (He is) a very bright kid too. He’s very sharp as a razor. So anytime he’s in a situation you have to trust as a coach he can solve that problem. I can’t say enough good things about Jason, and I’m proud of him.”

Onye has found a home as a nose guard, working behind incumbent starter Howard Cross III. It’s not necessarily the position he thought he would be playing two years ago, but he excelled there this spring.

"I like it a lot,” Onye said of playing the new position. "I just love how you can really make an impact. Everyone's like, 'Oh, you're playing nose, you're probably not going to make many plays', but if you're a good nose you can do some stuff, it's crazy because no one's expecting any pressure from the nose. Like a QB seeing the nose come in their face, it's just crazy. It's just cool, unexpected. Especially me, because I came in as an edge. I used to always do the running stuff and stuff, so I can run. So, me being able to run and move at the interior, I feel like a mismatch for most guys, for O-linemen and stuff.”

Strength has never been an issue for Onye. It was a matter of honing his strength with proper technique. His pad level and how he uses his hands have both improved.

"As a D-lineman, I feel like it's important to use your hands and pad level and all that kind of stuff,” Onye said. “I feel like coming from like ... I really didn't practice pad level like staying low, leverage, using your hands. I would just usually run. So, I feel like talking to Coach Wash, getting some drills from him helped me improve using my hands and my pad level, mentally.

"I think I've been a pretty strong person,” Onye continued. "So, the main thing was just learning how to use it. So, by staying low and by making sure your hands are in the right spots, and all those kinds of things, that's why I can do it faster now.”

If Onye can build on his breakout spring and carry it into the fall the Irish interior line has a chance to be a strength of the 2023 defense.