The Notre Dame football team is always thinking about reloading rather than rebuilding, and it would like to reload with the addition of one defensive lineman with a ton of talent in Jason Onye.
Just how that will work out, and whether it will work out is still very much up in the air. Onye has been “out” for several months now. Few details are known to those outside the program beyond the fact that the defensive lineman is dealing with some personal issues. There are at least positive signs that the Fighting Irish think he could return this spring, or at least this fall.
Onye was listed on the republish of the Notre Dame football roster earlier this week. That’s a bigger sign than some might realize. But there is talk that there still quite a bit of work to do in order to really get him back. Most believe it’s still touch and go whether he’ll suit up for the Blue and Gold in 2025.
Notre Dame football sends positive sign for Jason Onye’s return
Onye played in the first five games of this past season, then according to the South Bend Tribune, he returned home to Rhode Island. While he physically left the team, he didn’t leave the program, or Notre Dame. His teammates said back in October that he was staying in contact and staying on top of his course work from afar.
Marcus Freeman isn’t new to this kind of situation. He went through it with another defensive lineman in Gabriel Rubio. Rubio took a leave of absence and then officially joined the team in May of 2024.
That would certainly look like a path that is open for Jason Onye since the Notre Dame football team certainly hasn’t given up on his rejoining the team. It just hasn’t happened yet and doesn’t appear it will happen all that soon, if ever.