Ty Washington adds muscle and sharpens blocking, aiming for a significantly bigger offensive role in his second year with the Irish.
Notre Dame's tight end room is in an interesting spot heading into 2026 spring training. Cooper Flanagan is back from injury, James Flanigan is headed into his sophomore year, redshirt junior Jack Larsen looks to make a push and there's a really talented true freshman coming in this summer. But amongst those players is also a former Arkansas transfer, Ty Washington, who looks to make a push his second year in the offense.
"I definitely put on more muscle," Washington answered when asked what growth he's seen since arriving to Notre Dame. "I've put on more weight, so I'm able to be more physical. That has got to happen with my game. If I’m going into another role, I’ve got to be more physical. I've got to be able to catch the hard passes and be able to do everything within the offense."
Washington was Notre Dame's tight end No. 2 last season but only caught five passes for 34 yards and a touchdown. He was used predominantly as a blocking tight end last season which is something he takes a lot of pride in. Washington's abilities as a run blocker have improved significantly since his arrival on campus.
"There were some things I needed to fix last year like keeping my hands inside other technical things like that." Washington explained. "Those are things that I have focused on because it can help me a lot. If you let a defender get his hands inside, it’s game over most of the time, especially in this league playing these guys like Boubacar [Traore] and Bryce [Young]. You’ve just got to make sure you stay inside."
There are other areas where the Georgia native is looking to improve. He has the opportunity to take on a bigger role in this year's offense. After all, this is Washington's first spring with the Irish since he wasn't an early enrollee in 2025. His game has another level to it.
"All-around blocking and running routes," Washington said when asked where he wants to improve the most. "Everything can improve; nothing's perfect. It's always something you could tweak. I think I'm a great route runner, but it can always get a notch higher. It's always something to improve on. Blocking is always something to improve on."
Washington was a member of the 2025 team that was snubbed from the playoffs. He's keeping that pain, as is the rest of the 2026 football team, as a reminder to leave no doubt. When asked about what that means for this season, Washington didn't hesitate to answer.
"We're very motivated," Washington stated. "We're going by this motto 'Leave No Doubt' and everybody is ready to get back out there. I feel sorry for the competition to be honest."
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