Things are starting to heat up for Notre Dame football in the transfer portal. On Monday, head coach Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish signed a flurry of portal commitments. That includes wide receiver Quincy Porter (Ohio State), defensive end Keon Keeley (Alabama), and cornerbacks DJ McKinney (Colorado), and Jayden Sanders (Michigan). 

With some needs now met, Notre Dame turns their full attention toward the biggest position of need on the roster – defensive tackle. The Irish staff is pushing hard for Francis Brewu (Pitt), who is the top name on their defensive tackle board right now. Luckily for the program, Notre Dame did also just get some great news over the weekend when Armel Mukam opted to return to the team after entering the portal himself this offseason. 

Could more good news be on the horizon? 

There is also some good news that Notre Dame is hoping for sometime in the near future. Irish defensive tackle Jason Onye submitted an appeal after the 2025 college football season for an additional year of eligibility. There is no exact timetable on that decision from the NCAA, but some believe that it could be coming sometime over the next week or so. At least, that is the hope. 

While I wasn’t optimistic about that extra year being granted initially, I have grown more and more confident about it over the last couple of weeks. The NCAA, however, is anything but reliable so getting your hopes up probably isn’t wise, at least not right now. With some optimism on Onye’s side, it would be massive to get the 6-5, 302-pound defensive tackle back next season, quite literally. 

Whether it happens or not, we should know the next steps in the near future. From there, the team and Onye will understand where to go from here individually. The team would love to have the talented defender back, and the feeling appears mutual on Onye’s side as well. 

Onye’s potential impact in 2026 

After beginning his career as a defensive end for Notre Dame, Onye has slowly built into an impressive defensive tackle prospect in recent years. He has been a part of the rotation each of the last years, but really showed tremendous signs of growth this past season. Onye ended the year with 26 total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks. 

Down the stretch of the 2025 season, Onye was playing his best football, which creates more optimism for the future. With just Elijah Hughes returning from last season who was a part of the man rotation, Onye would add a veteran boost. He’s a talented football player, who could also be the team’s best interior player if he is granted that final year.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish News

There’s a massive new transfer portal addition that Notre Dame football and Marcus Freeman need to make a strong push for

Another talented defensive tackle just entered the transfer portal; that Notre Dame should have a lot of interest in.

Ryan Roberts