After losing nearly its entire interior rotation, Notre Dame reloads with high-impact transfers and rising homegrown talent to solidify a massive new-look defensive front for 2024.
Notre Dame had to completely remake its defensive tackle room after losing the vast majority of the interior rotation from the last two seasons. Gone are Rylie Mills, Howard Cross, Donovan Hinish, Gabriel Rubio and Jared Dawson. Only two regulars from the interior rotation from the last two seasons is still around, but a strong offseason and the emergence of some unproven talent has increased optimism in the room.
Let's take a look at the post-spring depth chart for the Notre Dame defensive tackles.
RETURNING PRODUCTION
Francis Brewu (Pittsburgh) - 36 tackles, 7.0 TFL, 1.0 sack, 1 forced fumble
Jason Onye - 26 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 1 break up
Elijah Hughes - 21 tackles, 3.0 TFL, 1.0 sacks
Tionne Gray (Oregon) - 18 tackles, 2.0 TFL
Armel Mukam - 5 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 1 forced fumble
Cole Mullins - 4 tackles, 0.5 TFL, 0.5 sack, 1 break up
Christopher Burgess Jr. - 2 tackles
Gordy Sulfsted - 1 tackle
Sean Sevillano - 1 tackle
STARTING ROTATION
I don't know if this will continue in the fall, but during the Blue-Gold Game, Notre Dame had their defensive tackles playing left and right instead of nose and three-technique. That means the left tackle would line up over the guard or center, depending on the call.
The depth at the top of the depth chart and the way Notre Dame ran its rotation last season likely means who starts doesn't matter as much as who is in the top level rotation. Jason Onye led the Notre Dame defensive tackles in snaps last season, and as long as he stays healthy I could see him doing that again in 2026. Pittsburgh transfer Francis Brewu played 484 snaps last season, including five games with over 40 snaps. At Notre Dame there's a chance that a deeper depth chart will allow him to take a little bit of that work load off, which should allow Brewu to remain more fresh. But there's no doubt that Brewu's power and run stuffing skills will be a major part of the Irish rotation, regardless of who starts.
It was Oregon transfer Tionne Gray and redshirt junior Armel Mukam that started the Blue-Gold Game, and both will have a chance to either start in the fall, or be part of the top rotation that plays starter snaps. Gray was a standout for much of the spring and his size (6-6, 330) and run stopping skill is something the staff coveted in the portal. Mukam is still a bit inconsistent, but his good moments were impressive. Senior Elijah Hughes was a steady player for the Irish interior last season and I expect that to continue in 2026.
STRONG DEPTH
One of the positives that came out of the spring was the impressive depth of the interior. Veterans Cole Mullins and Sean Sevillano Jr. had some quality moments this spring. They are very different players, with Mullins being an undersized but quick, high motor interior playmaker. Sevillano, on the other hand, brings impressive size and power to the interior of the rotation.
YOUNG TALENT
Notre Dame has quality young talent as well. Redshirt freshman Christopher Burgess Jr. moved inside this spring and he showed a lot of promise. He still has plenty to learn about the technical aspects of the position but he has loads of talent. The same is true for true freshman Elijah Golden, who had plenty of impressive moments this spring. Redshirt freshman Davion Dixon finished the spring off on a strong note in the Blue-Gold Game. Notre Dame should also get true freshman Tiki Hola back in the fall. Redshirt freshman Gordy Sulfsted has impressed when healthy, but staying healthy has been an issue so far at Notre Dame.
PAST DEPTH CHARTS
———————
Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!