Outside of adding a transcendent quarterback, the foundation of most top-tier college football programs is to consistently build a menacing defensive line, with most serious playoff contenders possessing both.
With the commitment of Warwick (R.I.) Bishop Hendricken School strong-side defensive end Jason Onye on Thursday, Notre Dame and defensive line coach Mike Elston added the latest piece to the all-important defensive line puzzle.
While the last two defensive line hauls have been impressive with seven four-star prospects and a total of nine commits, Elston clearly came into the 2021 recruiting cycle with a certain trait in mind: length.
Listed at 6-5 and nearly 250 pounds, Onye joins two other massive recruits in defensive end David Abiara and Rivals100 defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio. Still technically juniors in high school, all three are at least 6-4 and 240 pounds (with Rubio really tipping the scale at more than 280 pounds).
The average height of the last two defensive line classes combined was 6-3, with vyper Jordan Botelho plus defensive tackles Jacob Lacey and Howard Cross III all measuring at 6-2 or shorter.
But Onye signifies much more than just another player with above average size and length for his position.
With a 5.6 Rivals recruiting ranking, Onye isn’t the flashiest 2021 commit, but this is another great get for Notre Dame, which I can say in full confidence, in part, because Elston is the one who led the charge in his recruitment.
Elston’s Understanding Of A Program Fit
Early in his Notre Dame career, Elston helped head coach Brian Kelly sign defensive line classes that would make even the likes of Ohio State, Clemson and Alabama giddy.
Between 2011 and 2013, the Fighting Irish signed four defensive linemen ranked No. 28 or higher according to Rivals: Stephon Tuitt, Eddie Vanderdoes, Ishaq Williams and Aaron Lynch.
Of the four, only Tuitt left Notre Dame unblemished. Both Lynch and Vanderdoes transferred early in their careers (with Vanderdoes leaving before ever actually taking a class at Notre Dame). Williams, who played outside linebacker, never lived up to the five-star hype and was suspended prior to the 2014 season due to an investigation into academic dishonesty. He never used his final year of collegiate eligibility.
Elston learned from the program’s early mistakes and now has a much better idea of what he is looking for when it comes to a prospect’s talent and program fit.
“In year 10 here at Notre Dame, we’re starting to figure this thing out and get the right guys here for this challenge,” Elston said in 2019.
Onye has gone as far also to say that he is reminded of his own high school when talking to the Fighting Irish coaching staff.
“I quickly fell in love with Bishop Hendricken,” Onye said on ABC6 in Providence. “How it’s a Catholic school, the brotherhood, the community. I saw all those values and characteristics in Notre Dame.”
So while Onye may not be a highly touted five-star prospect like the players Ohio State, Florida and Alabama typically sign, he is still a player Elston and the Notre Dame staff identified, targeted and heavily pursued. It is not guaranteed that he will have 5.5 sacks as a freshman like Lynch did in 2011 (Onye is pretty much a lock to receive a redshirt), but there is a good chance he will add more to the program over the course of a four or five-year Notre Dame career.
Starting that Onye will redshirt not to say he’s a slouch — he is far from that. But after playing against inferior competition in Rhode Island, the least populated state in the U.S., he will need time to adjust to the college game. After all, he has only played at the high school level for two years.
Additionally, the depth Elston has built at the defensive end position over the last several classes will allow him to be patient as Onye develops. He won’t need to set foot on the field until he is ready, which wasn’t the case for most three-star Notre Dame defensive end recruits even four or five years ago.
Onye Will Be Developed As A Man
One aspect most recruits and their parents find appealing when it comes to Elston is that he is a true family man, which includes a loving nature that extends to all of his players.
Most of us have seen the Tweets referencing the cookies his wife bakes for the linemen, the at-home dinners or how the majority of the position group went to watch Elston’s daughter compete at her swim meet.
These are all examples of how as soon as a defensive lineman gets on campus, they're part of his family, and Elston is there to make sure that all of his players are prepared for the emotional and academic pressure that comes with being a football player at Notre Dame.
When Romeo Okwara’s mother, Melda, dropped him off in South Bend in early June 2012, she took him to Elston's house where a birthday cake was already waiting for him. Even as a college freshman, Romeo was about to turn 17 at the time, but Melda immediately knew her young college student was in good hands.
Years later, this also helped make Notre Dame the obvious destination for her youngest son, Julian.
“He has always been a positive figure, family and somebody that [Romeo and Julian] can go to and have a conversation with outside of him just being their coach,” Melda said.
She knows that if one of her sons or another player is having a hard time or feeling overwhelmed by the pressure, they can lean on Elston and confide in him.
At the same time, this family-like bond helps the players be receptive to critical feedback, especially if they're not putting in the effort required to be successful.
Additionally, when a player feels like a member of the defensive line family, they’re less likely to get homesick or transfer to be closer to their girlfriend.
All of this should be true for Onye.
Proven Player Development
At the end of the 2019 season, Ade Ogundeji, a one-time Western Michigan commit and developmental project, was forced to step his game up due to the season-ending injuries Julian Okwara and Daelin Hayes suffered during the year.
As a rotational player early in the year, Ogundeji’s play exploded and in the last three games of the season, he had 4.5 quarterback sacks and is now getting some buzz as a future NFL Draft pick.
Ogundeji is just one of the many prospects Elston has molded into a high-end college football player.
Elston also took defensive tackle Jerry Tillery, a one-time offensive line pledge, and turned him into a first-round pick.
Julian Okwara, also a developmental prospect in the class of 2016, spent three years playing under Elston and likely would have been selected in the first or second round if not for the aforementioned injury.
Ogundeji enrolled at Notre Dame extremely underweight at 220 pounds, so a major part of his development was adding 30 to 40 pounds in a healthy and progressive manner.
This won't be the case for Onye at 248 pounds. Sure, he'll have to reshape his body in the weight room and add more muscle, as all freshmen do, but as soon as he sets foot on campus, his sole focus on the football field with Elston will be to develop the technique and on-the-field mentality he will need to succeed.
Even better, Onye naturally has all of the raw tools — size, strength, speed and twitch — necessary for Elston to turn him into a future NFL Draft pick.
All this isn’t to say that Onye would fail under any other defensive line coach, but there aren’t many others with the track record of uncovering diamonds in the rough. Outside of Kofi Wardlow, almost every player Elston has recruited in recent years has at least find a way to one day contribute at Notre Dame (and the jury is technically still out on Wardlow).
For the second time in three days, Notre Dame accepted a commitment from a prospect that has never been on campus.
This is, of course, a sign of the times, but it should also be abundantly clear that Elston wouldn’t take a player that he didn’t believe had it in him to contribute to, perhaps, Notre Dame’s most important and successful position group.
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