The Gold Standard: What They’re Saying About Notre Dame’s New Commits

Notre Dame landed a commitment from Warwick (R.I.) Bishop Hendricken defensive end Jason Onye last Thursday. Onye began his football career as a sophomore in 2018. His head coach, Keith Croft, discusses Onye below.

On Onye as a player:

“He’s got a tremendous amount of upside and athleticism. He’s a big, tall, athletic kid, and he plays basketball. He definitely looks like a basketball player. He’s filled out a lot more now and has gotten bigger and stronger. He’s a defensive end who likes to get after the quarterback.

“He has a lot of similar attributes to what Kwitty Paye had, who is at Michigan now [from Hendricken]. They’re different types of players; Kwitty came in more polished and had played more football. Jason is still young to the game; he has a lot of upside. Similar to Kwitty, he’s just a really good kid — strong academically and really high character and a really good teammate.”

On Onye as a young man:

“He’s a really, really good kid. He gets along with everyone on the team. I try not to throw this term around loosely, but there’s no red flags with Jason. He’s a high character kid; he’s polite, hard-working. Sometimes you have to tell him to be ‘The Guy’ and to take over this game and to want success.

“He’s very humble; he allows his teammates to go first. I think he’s going to be a great fit for Notre Dame. You enjoy coaching a kid like that. He’s got the star power, but his attitude is all about the team. He’s not a ‘me’ guy. I’m sure he gets that from his parents.”