Cal Sports Report

Notre Dame Transfer Tyson Ford Commits to Cal

Ford was a highly rated defensive lineman recruit coming out of high school with offers from Georgia, Texas and Clemson, among others

Jake Curtis

Tyson Ford
Tyson Ford / MATTIE NERETIN / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Cal got its first commitment from the transfer portal on Friday when Notre Dame defensive lineman Tyson Ford announced on social media that he has committed to Cal for next season with three years of eligibility remaining.

He announced his decision to enter the transfer portal back in October, and claims he received an offer from Boise State as well as Cal since entering the portal.

Ford played in two games for Notre Dame as a freshman in 2023. He had an assisted tackle in Notre Dame's 56-3 victory over Tennesee State and also played without recording any statistics in the Irish's 45-7 victory over Wake Forest. He participated in spring practice at Notre Dame in 2024, but entered the transfer portal midway through the 2024 season.

During the summer of 2024, Notre Dame announced that Ford was put on medical scholarship, which allowed him to stay in school without being part of the football team. He was no longer on the Irish roster to start the 2024 season, and it makes you wonder what his health status is.

Ford was rated a four-star prospect coming out of John Burroughs High School in Saint Louis, Missouri, and he had offers from Georgia, Clemson, Texas, LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Washington, Mississippi and Mississippi State, among others as a high school senior.

He plans to graduate from Notre Dame in May and pursue a masters degree at Cal.

Here is a New York Times story about Ford as a high school player.

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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