Notre Dame 99-to-0: No. 95 Tyson Ford, sophomore defensive tackle, up 30 pounds from a year ago

Listed measurements: 6-foot-3 ⅞, 292 pounds 2023-24 year, eligibility: A sophomore, Ford has all four seasons of eligibility remaining since he did not take the field in 2022. Depth Chart: Ford impressed enough in spring practices to lessen Notre Dame’s concerns at defensive tackle. He and junior Jason Onye will combine to be the fourth defensive tackle behind fifth-year Howard Cross, senior Rylie Mills and junior Gabe Rubio. Strictly speaking, Ford and Onye should relieve Cross while Rubio supplements Mills. Recruiting: If Ford becomes an on-field success story by the end of his time in South Bend, his recruiting origins will be better remembered. For the sake of the story alone, that may be an Irish preference. Ford was considered the No. 6 defensive end in the class, per rivals.com, when the December of 2021 signing period passed. He had moved up to No. 51 in the overall rankings of the class and was on the verge of committing to Oklahoma.

Then Notre Dame hired Marcus Freeman as defensive coordinator. To hear Ford tell it back then, Freeman was the singular force that swayed him from that near Sooners pledge. While Georgia and Florida were chasing him as finalists when he announced a decision in January of 2021, it came down to Freeman’s influence against Oklahoma.

CAREER TO DATE Ford did not play as a freshman, logical given the Irish had such defensive tackle depth that Mills spent chunks of the season working at defensive end. Furthermore, Ford was recruited as a defensive end and it was the clear and continued growth of his body that moved him to defensive tackle as soon as he arrived on campus. A year spent learning the new role was then expected.

And that year started to show results this spring.