Jason Onye returns for a sixth season, injecting major disruption and impact into Notre Dame's defensive line. His late-season surge signals a dominant final year.
Irish Breakdown has confirmed that Notre Dame defensive tackle Jason Onye has been granted a 6th season of eligibility by the NCAA. In a bit of a surprising move, Onye will now be able to play one final season with the Irish, giving the defensive line a huge boost.
Onye had a redshirt season in 2021 but was granted an additional year due to his 2024 season being cut short. The Rhode Island native was off to a strong start that season and was on the verge of a true breakout season before he had to step away from the team for personal reasons.
Notre Dame's defensive line emerged as a strength of the Irish defense in 2025 and Onye was a key part of the interior rotation that led to that success. Onye registered 26 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks but finished the season on a very strong note.
Onye racked up 17 pressures on this season, which was third among the defensive tackles, trailing only Donovan Hinish (27) and Jared Dawson (22), according to Pro Football Focus. He was second among the defensive tackles with 13 run stops, trailing only Elijah Hughes, who also returns next season.
The hope is that Onye can build on what we saw from him down the stretch this season, which looked a lot like how the began the 2024 campaign. Onye had a tremendous spring, but until that fall he had yet to really show off his potential and talent on game days. That changed early in 2024, when Onye had 10 pressures and 1.5 sacks in just five games. He had just two pressures in the first six games of the 2025 season as he shook off the rust of his time away from the program, but when he got hot he was outstanding.
Of Onye's 17 pressures, 15 of them came in the final six games of the regular season, and he had at least two in all but the Syracuse game. Nine of his 13 run stops also came in the final six games, showing that Onye had come into his own as a disruptive force.
Getting Onye back, keeping Armel Mukam and Hughes, and adding transfer defensive tackles Francis Brewu (Pittsburgh) and Tionne Gray (Oregon) gives Notre Dame a chance to have an elite interior of the line. Notre Dame also has talented young players like Christopher Burgess and Cole Mullins, as well as incoming freshmen Tiki Hola and Elijah Golden ready to make their mark. A position that seemed like a concern heading into the offseason after the loss of Dawson, Hinish and Gabriel Rubio now looks like it could be a strength of the defense.
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