Marcus Freeman: Tyson Ford is taking 'personal time' away from Notre Dame football
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish held a Saturday morning jersey scrimmage. However, there was one noticeable absence from the defensive line unit, and that was Tyson Ford.
After the festivities wrapped up on Saturday, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman addressed the media to discuss his assessment of the scrimmage’s events. The Fighting Irish headman also revealed Ford’s status and what is going on with the defensive lineman.
“He’s taking some personal time just to figure out what he wants to do moving forward,” said Freeman.
As far as whether or not Ford is still with the Notre Dame football program, Freeman simply replied by nodding his head yes.
Ford has been used at both the defensive end and defensive tackle spots for the Fighting Irish but has yet to find traction at either position. Tyson has played in just two collegiate games at Notre Dame despite being on campus since playing the program back in 2022. In those two games, the six-foot-four defensive lineman has recorded just one tackle.
It is unclear what Freeman truly meant by taking some time away from the program. However, if he is finding it difficult yet again to carve out ample playing time within the fighting Irish’s defensive line unit, a change of scenery could be in play, and a jump into the NCAA Transfer Portal could be on the horizon. There are still a few days before the transfer portal window officially opens, April 16, for Ford to make a decision on his future with the Fighting Irish or, quite possibly, with football altogether.
More concerns for Notre Dame?
Riley Leonard has some health concerns as he gets set for his 2024 campaign at Notre Dame. The Duke quarterback transfer had a tightrope procedure on his ankle following his injury last year.
ESPN’s Greg McElroy likes Notre Dame’s quarterback room even if Leonard can’t go right away or struggles to deal with the recovery. But still, Leonard’s transfer was one of the big moves of the offseason.
Not to mention Notre Dame banked on grad transfer Sam Hartman last year.
“I’m familiar enough with the tightrope procedure to know that it’s one of those strange surgeries not that dissimilar to Tommy John, where the injured body part actually comes back stronger than the naturally occurring ligaments,” McElroy said on his podcast. “His ankle, in theory, will be stronger prior to the injury taking place. That’s the beauty of the tightrope procedure and the only problem with the tightrope is that sometimes you can come back in three weeks. Other times it takes eight weeks (or more).
“Tua Tagovailoa came back in like 17 days post-op and then last year at Georgia, their right tackle Amarius Mims underwent the tightrope procedure and was out eight weeks. So that’s the only thing that’s a bit challenging is just the timeline for you to get back. Now in the event in which Riley Leonard can’t go knock on wood, right? Knock on wood. I actually like their prospects behind them.”