Why this Notre Dame football transfer is happy to be back in Fort Worth and at TCU

Sometimes you have to leave home to gain a greater appreciation for it.

That’s what happened for new Horned Frog Nana Osafo-Mensah, a former star at Nolan Catholic. Osafo-Mensah was a blue chip recruit at Nolan, ranking in the top-250 of the 2019 class.

Like most recruits of his caliber, Osafo-Mensah signed with blueblood program Notre Dame out of high school. It was a chance of a lifetime and Osafo-Mensah played in 39 games for the Fighting Irish, helping the program reach the Rose and Fiesta in 2020 and 2021.

While he experienced plenty of success in South Bend, Osafo-Mensah was more than eager to jump on the opportunity to return home.

“Growing up, TCU was the hometown school,” Osafo-Mensah said Monday before the first day of fall practice. “All my life growing up here in Fort Worth I went to a lot of TCU games, especially when Andy Dalton was playing. It was the school that got me into college football and helped start that dream. So it’s always been a core part of myself.”

Osafo-Mensah was a major addition for TCU, especially with the senior coming off of his best season at Notre Dame where he produced three sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss as a part of the Notre Dame defensive line rotation.

With the program moving to a new defense under Andy Avalos, Osafo-Mensah was the ideal type of defensive end to bring into the program. While he should help bolster the pass rush, it’s clear that Osafo-Mensah is aiming to make an impact beyond just his stats on the field.

“(The pass rush) was a part of the message, but overall it was more about what I can do for the team and not what the team can do for me really,” Osafo-Mensah said. “Of course I can bring my pass rush, my run (shedding) and all that, but at the same time I wanted to be able to come down to TCU, be a part of the team and promote change within the walls in this facility.

“Being able to impact the guys, the younger players that I’ll be playing with this season and I’ll also have a chance to give back to the community here in Fort Worth.”

The ability to impact his hometown with his platform as a Horned Frog is important to Osafo-Mensah and it’s another indication that he didn’t just come back home to improve his draft stock or get more reps on the field.

He wants to make a lasting impression on his teammates and fans alike which has helped Osafo-Mensah already begin to establish a role as a leader. For example during Tuesday’s first practice the defensive line was moving too slowly transitioning from one drill to the team portion of practice.

It was Osafo-Mensah’s voice that boomed through the whistles and music blasting, demanding his teammates to move at game speed. They quickly listened and picked up the pace, a clear sign of respect to Osafo-Mensah, who was arguably the team’s best defensive linemen during the spring.

“He’s been great, I wish he would’ve came in on the front end,” Sonny Dykes said on Tuesday. “That’s what we’ve got to do with these local guys, get them to come to TCU their freshman year. We’re glad he’s here, he’s a mature, intelligent, focused and prepared guy that’s very serious about his craft. Whatever it is he does, whether it’s academics or an internship somewhere. That dude’s going to be dialed in.”

Osafo-Mensah’s intangibles are off the charts and he brings experience from a winning culture at Notre Dame. With many of the key pieces from the run to the national title game in the 2022 season gone, Osafo-Mensah’s wisdom is huge for a defense that is talented, but attempting to blend so many new pieces together.

“I learned that I’m a big believer in overcoming any adversity (at Notre Dame),” Osafo-Mensah said. “It’s a core thing that guys need experience with to overcome. As a young player you don’t have a lot of adversity that hits you. You’re fresh out of high school, you were the star of the team.

“You haven’t had the opportunity to be in big games, to go through coaching changes, depth chart changes and all that. That’s my biggest thing that I think I bring to this team is my experience and the times I’ve had to go through adversity, using those lessons to come down here and impact on anyone any way I can.”

While Osafo-Mensah had plenty of highs at Notre Dame, he also had to endure a coaching change when Brian Kelly stunned the program and left for LSU. In new coach Marcus Freeman’s first season, the Fighting Irish started the year 0-2 including an upset to Marshall at home. All this happened while Osafo-Mensah’s role was changing and he was trying to learn a new scheme and philosophy.

He was able to endure all of that and now is in line for a key role with the Horned Frogs. After a dominant spring, Osafo-Mensah got first team reps at defensive end and seems to be one of the players with an inside track to a starting position in Andy Avalos’ new defense.

The Horned Frogs went searching for a pass rusher and got something much more with Osafo-Mensah’s arrival to the program.

“He’s going to be incredibly successful with whatever he decides he wants to do,” Dykes said. “It’s because of his maturity and work ethic. I’m excited about him, he loves to play football and I think he appreciates playing at home in front of his family. I think he likes the culture of TCU football and he’s going to make it better.”