Notre Dame needed size in a big way after Gabriel Rubio headed to the NFL Draft, and it found it in Tionne Gray.
Gray arrives from Oregon with a frame that already tops Rubio by 10 pounds, giving the Irish another massive body to work into the defensive tackle mix. The transfer from Hazelwood Central High School in St.
Louis, Missouri, spent two seasons with the Ducks and appeared in 13 games last fall, including three starts. He finished with 18 tackles, including 2.0 for loss.
He also flashed in Oregon’s College Football Playoff opener against James Madison, where he logged a blocked field goal attempt, a shared tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry.
“Once the playoffs came, everything is worth more. Let's go.
Let's go dominate,” Gray said. “I really showed myself when I played freely how dominant I can really be.
I would play freely, but sometimes I'd be a little hesitant. I made sure I stayed in my gap, controlled my gap, but also I just realized just how big I am.
“Now go and dominate, and I'm going to make the play.”
That understanding of his own size is part of what makes Gray such an intriguing fit. When he arrived at Notre Dame in January, one of his first goals was to trim down and move better.
“Right now I'm 335,” Gray said in February. “I plan to drop down to 315, 320.
Just be more mobile and just feel better when I'm playing. That's something I wanted.
They didn't encourage it. I told them what I wanted to do, and we set up a meal plan and everything.”
Notre Dame isn’t forcing the issue, either. New defensive line coach Charlie Partridge said the focus is on the right kind of weight, not just the number on the scale.
“Here's my belief on that. Again, you've got weight target goals,” Notre Dame's new defensive line coach Charlie Partridge said.
“For me it's a little bit about lean body mass, right? And there's a million studies out there that the more you can have lean body mass as opposed to not, your risk of injury goes dramatically down.
“So, obviously, movement skills, as long as he loses the right 10 pounds.”
Gray was a regular with Notre Dame’s first-team defensive line during spring work and looks positioned to be a meaningful part of the rotation this fall. He’s also the focus of today’s installment of the Counting Down the Irish series.
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