I created a primer to this project which explains the way we’ll be ranking all 185 players. It will be a pyramid structure and as we ascend the players will get better and better. Follow along this off-season as we preach about all the wonderful talent that has played for Notre Dame.
Level 1, Wing 1
Level 1, Wing 2
Level 1, Wing 3
Level 2, Wing 1
Level 2, Wing 2
Level 2, Wing 3
Level 3, Wing 1
Today, we begin to explore more of the 3rd level and into the Top 50 players.
ICONS
National Champion
Consensus or Unanimous All-American
Major CFB Award
60. Elmer Layden, RB, Davenport, Iowa (1922-24)
Layden wasn’t as productive of a runner as a pair of his Four Horsemen teammates but he did chip in as a passer and receiving threat while being arguably the best defender of the group. He also led as the top kick returner for the program during this run to the school’s first National Championship in 1924. Layden was a consensus All-American as a senior and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
59. Gus Dorais, QB, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin (1910-1913)
Dorais was the first Notre Dame player to make first-team All-American in program history. He’s credited with popularizing the forward pass to end Knute Rockne and was the school’s only 4-year starter for the first 90+ years of the program. He went undefeated as starter 3 separate seasons and was also the top field goal kicker, still holding the school record with 7 attempts against Texas in 1913. Dorais remains 3rd all-time in scoring per game for a career and was a consensus All-American in 1913.
58. Justin Tuck, DE, Rockford, Alabama (2001-04)
Tuck’s impact was limited early in his career as he redshirt and played very little in 2002. However, his last 2 seasons with the Irish were the stuff of legends. Tuck is tied for 3rd place in both tackles for loss in a season and career, as well as sacks (4) in a single game which he achieved twice. During 2003, he notched 13.5 sacks which remains the school record and he still has a 2-sack lead for No. 1 in Notre Dame history for a career. Tuck skipped his final season of eligibility and was never named a consensus All-American.
57. Zack Martin, OT, Indianapolis, Indiana (2009-13)
There aren’t many better players in recent times with the type of sustained excellence that Martin displayed at Notre Dame. After a redshirt, he would go on to start a school-record 52 games for the Irish. One of the rare two-time captains, Martin never earned his deserved All-American status although he did become the first offensive lineman in 54 years to be named the MVP of a bowl game.
56. George Kunz, OT, Arcadia, California (1966-68)
Kunz won a National Championship while being a tight end and tackle on the 1966 team. He switched permanently to right tackle for his final 2 seasons and won consensus All-American honors following 1968. He was also captain of the 1968 team.
55. Jaylon Smith, LB, Fort Wayne, Indiana (2013-15)
The Godbacker clocks in as the 5th best linebacker in Notre Dame history according to our rankings. Smith was a captain as a junior and a 3-year starter while in South Bend. His 67 tackles as a freshman are the third most in school history and he eclipsed 100 tackles in both his sophomore and junior seasons. An All-American for both 2014 and 2015, Smith was a Butkus Award finalist in both years while winning the award as the country’s top linebacker in 2015 to go along with consensus All-American honors.
54. John Huarte, QB, Anaheim, California (1962-64)
Notre Dame’s most fantastic one-year wonder. Huarte was buried on the depth chart through the 1963 season on team’s that lost 12 games over 2 years but he won the job in Parseghian’s first season at the helm. Huarte then exploded for 1964’s 4th most passing yards, 7th best completion percentage, 4th most passing touchdowns, while leading the country in yards per attempt.
Huarte’s passer rating for the season was the 2nd best ever at the time for a Notre Dame quarterback and while he came minutes away from a National Championship he did finish with the Heisman Trophy and consensus All-American status. Huarte is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
53. Mike McCoy, DT, Erie, Pennsylvania (1967-69)
McCoy was a dominant interior lineman who didn’t necessarily stuff the stat sheet. He’s 11th all-time in tackles by a defensive lineman, including a hefty 88 tackles during the 1969 season. As a senior, McCoy totaled 10 tackles for loss, finished as a unanimous All-American while placing an incredible 6th in the 1969 Heisman voting.
52. Joe Theismann, QB, South River, New Jersey (1968-70)
Theismann was incredibly prolific over his career. When he left Notre Dame he was tied for the most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback, 2nd in QB rating, produced the 3rd best winning percentage from a starter while being the school leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns. His 526 passing yards in 1970 against USC remains the most in Irish history, as well as the most total yards in a game by a player in school history. Following his senior season, Theismann finished 2nd in the Heisman voting while incredibly not winning consensus All-American honors. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
51. Red Salmon, RB, Syracuse, New York (1900-03)
Largely considered Notre Dame’s first great player, Salmon held numerous school records for several decades. He was the single-season and career scoring leader for the school, plus overall career touchdown king for 79 years. His 11.7 points per game in 1903 remains 2nd best in school history and this was when touchdowns were only worth 5 points. Salmon was an All-American as a senior and is in the College Football Hall of Fame.
50. Nick Eddy, RB, Tracy, California (1964-66)
Eddy totaled 352 yards from receptions out of the backfield in his first year in 1964 which at the time was the most ever from a running back. Over his final 2 seasons he led the Irish in rushing while averaging 7.1 yards per carry as a senior. That 1966 season in which he won a title, Eddy also took back 2 kickoffs for touchdowns on only 4 attempts all year. He finished 3rd in the Heisman voting and was awarded unanimous All-American honors for 1966.
49. Tony Rice, QB, Woodruff, South Carolina (1986-89)
Going by the record books Tony Rice is Notre Dame’s greatest running quarterback of all-time. He has the 1st and 3rd most rushing yards in a season by a quarterback while his 1,921 career rushing yards is still by far the most in Irish history. His 23 rushing touchdowns is also a school record for a quarterback. As a passer, Rice has the 2nd best ever yards per completion mark and the best since 1960. Most impressively, his 28-3 record as starter is 2nd best in school history. Rice never gained consensus All-American status but finished 4th in the 1989 Heisman race while winning the National Championship the year prior.
48. Ziggy Czarobski, OT, Chicago, Illinois (1942-43, 46-47)
Czarobski was the lovable personality off the field whose career at Notre Dame was interrupted by service during World War II. He spent his last 3 years starting at tackle while blocking for a pair of Heisman winners and taking home a trio of National Championships. Czarobski just missed out on consensus All-American honors as a senior but was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1977.
47. Jim Martin, E, Cleveland, Ohio (1946-49)
A member of Notre Dame’s fabled 1946 freshmen class, Martin was a 22-year old when he enrolled on campus after service in World War II. He would start for 4 years straight and captained the 1949 team. Martin was named to several All-American teams as a senior but did not receive consensus honors. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995.
46. Michael Stonebreaker, LB, River Ridge, Louisiana (1986-90)
Stonebreaker is the only pure linebacker in Notre Dame history to be named a consensus All-American over 2 seasons in a career. He was strong in all areas of the game while totaling 199 tackles for 1988 and 1990. Stonebreaker overcame an academic suspension in 1987 and another suspension in 1989 following a DUI to be named an unanimous All-American following his 5th-year with the Irish.
45. Mike Townsend, CB, Hamilton, Ohio (1971-73)
A two-year starter who blossomed at corner and was moved to free safety as a senior. Townsend intercepted a nationally-leading 10 interceptions in 1972 which remains the Notre Dame school record. He left the Irish in a tie for the 3rd most interceptions over a career. A captain of the 1973 National Championship team he was a consensus All-American as a senior.
44. Don Miller, RB, Defiance, Ohio (1922-24)
Our highest ranked member of the Four Horsemen backfield, Miller led Notre Dame in rushing for 1923 and 1924 while leading the team in receiving during all 3 of his seasons. Like his famous teammates, he also was a strong defender and played sparingly in the return game. For his career, Miller gained 2,846 all-purpose yards and scored 22 touchdowns. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
I feel like being in the CFB HOF warrants its own little icon. It seems like a bigger deal than being an All American. Although it also seems easier, so maybe not.
Yeah, the Hall of Fame particularly for some of the players a long time ago is really weird. Notre Dame has at least half a dozen guys enshrined that are kind of head scratchers and don’t really make sense when compared to more modern players.
I did think about an icon for the Hall.
A player has to have been a first team all-american to be eligible for the college football hall of fame.
Just one 1st-team All-American on a service right? Is that how I understand it? Also not sure when that rule when into effect or if it’s always been that way.
Yeah it has to be one of the organizations that the NCAA uses to compile its “consensus” status. Criteria has changed over the years, so I’m not sure if there was always an All-American component. Really, the only reason I even know about this is because every 2 or 3 years I remember that Joe Montana isn’t in the hall of fame because of this dumb rule.
Godbacker is a great sobriquet, but in the all-name rankings I think going by Red Salmon probably takes the top spot for this segment of the pyramid.
(Gifs for Red Salmon were all of sockeyes.)
“(Gifs for Red Salmon were all of sockeyes.)”
This has me giggling uncontrollably right now.
Seeing there’s only 3 LBs left. (Manti, Golic, Crable, I’m assuming) Did Greg Collins not make the pyramid ?
He was certainly better than Kinon Tatum, among others on the list.
From Blue & Gold: Collins was the leading tackler for the 1973 national champs with 133, and had 144 a year later as a co-captain with quarterback Tom Clements (not including both bowl wins versus 11-0 Alabama). Linebackers coach George Kelly, who also would mentor All-Americans Bob Golic (1975-78) and Bob Crable (1978-81), said he’s never coached anyone who was better or loved the game and the hitting more than Collins
He did not make it.
Disappointing. IMO should be ranked right next to Stonebreaker, as far as ND LBs I’ve seen.
Truthfully, many more Ara-era defenders could’ve made the pyramid. Excellent statistical defenses and a game tailor-made for a lot of tackles.
Any program that has Joe Theismann ranked as the 11th best QB in their history has surely had a plethora of great football players. Not an easy job to rank them. You certainly weren’t going to make everyone happy.
That B&G article (Lou Somogyi) had Collins (74′) ranked as one of the top 3 LB’s of the Ara Era. (Jim Lynch 66′, Bob Olson 69′)
According to Wikipedia he appeared in the movie The Rock and the TV show 24. Huge oversight IMO.
Finally some respect for Zibby! Oh wait, dammit.
I was really curious where Tony Rice would fall on the list. His running ability was incredible, and the dude could throw too. Not the best pure passer the Irish have ever had (and not the most awarded passer either), but he could win games. He was just before my time, so I really had no idea how to properly rate him. How many QBs are left ahead of him? Can’t imagine it’s many.
9 more quarterbacks remain!!!
Gunner Kiel finally getting some respect.
Rice was the perfect QB for the coach and the team he played for. No, he wasn’t a pure passer but he ran the option beautifully and could throw it well enough to keep defenses honest. I’m surprised he’s ranked ahead of Theismann. Must be due to his having a NC and Joe not.
I only mention it because sometimes there’s a man…I won’t say “hero,” ’cause what’s a hero? But sometimes, there’s a man. And I’m talking about Rice here. Sometimes, there’s a man and, well, he’s the man for his time and place. He fits right in there. And that’s Rice, on those Holtz teams.
It’s funny, in modern CFB, where you have to be able to pass, Rice might have ended up just being a rich man’s Brandon Wimbush. Caveat that Rice probably would’ve been a better passer had he played now. It’s wild that a guy who won a title one year and then went 12-1 against one of the toughest schedules in school history is this low, but ND has had a ton of good players.
I’m really loving this series. I hope it was as rewarding to put together as it has been to read, because it very clearly took a lot of time and effort.
If I have to take one lesson from it so far, it’s this: Notre Dame will not win another national championship or have another Heisman Trophy winner until it brings back the tape-spatted black cleats.
100000% true.
We were really cheated with BVG being Jaylon’s coach.
If he were in the program right now, he could have ended up top 10 on this list. Between the LB coaching and DL in front of him.
Wow, this is weird! I was thinking Jaylon would be a for-sure top 20 player. I’ve been a very close ND football follower only since 2005, but he is unquestionably the best football player we’ve had since then. I recognize Te’o could/maybe should be ahead of him given the success in 2012, but, man, the idea that Victor Abiamiri and Jaylon Smith are just one tier apart in a ranking of ND football players seems very wrong.
The Te’o vs Jaylon debate is such a tough one. For me, I will just never be able to get over the fact that in 2012, Te’o was 2nd in the country (and 1st among P5 players) in interceptions…as a Linebacker. That’s just absurd, and pushes him past Jaylon for me.
Agreed. I feel like Jaylon is arguably the best pure athlete in school history, but man, Te’o was THE best player in college football his senior season. Plus just the fact he came back for a fourth season and was captain and the heart of a 12-0 team means a lot too. This criteria has rewarded the “body of work” so on those terms I think it’s fitting Te’o with an extra year naturally is a step above Smith.
I feel like you’re hilariously selling Abiamiri short. He had 30.5 tackles for loss and 19.5 sacks over 2005-06. All of that with very, very little help from a very average defense. Go and look at those depth charts it’s ugly.
Jaylon, while certainly better, gets the benefit of the doubt of “what if” he played for a better DC and with better teammates. Other guys should too, where applicable.
Putting Jaylon inside the Top 20 would make him the best linebacker in Notre Dame history. That seems a bit much compared to him being 5th best.
This is kind of a weird thing to say, but I think we’d actually have LESS appreciation for Jaylon if he played for a great or good (or not atrocious) DC. He was left on an island to clean up messes constantly. He was asked to make plays from the backside constantly. He was asked to run down the field with slot receivers constantly. And he did it. He made the impossible look easy.
With a good DC, I’m not sure we’d get to see so many “impossible” plays. And we might think of him more as a more athletic Te’von Coney than as a god among men.
(Or maybe he would have been allowed to rush the passer in a manner that didn’t involve plowing directly into the middle of the O Line and he would have set ND LB sack records, IDK)
That does make sense. There’s definitely a delicate balance between being surrounded by great teammates and not getting as much personal accolades and being The Guy who gets to run around all over the field on a bad defense.
In a way, I kind of feel like Jaylon did get pretty close to his ceiling as an individual star. But I base that mainly on my belief he was never had great pass-rushing skills (not being used that way in the NFL either) and I thought he was a perfect modern inside linebacker. His havoc rate was super, super high in college for his position I’m just not sure he’s truly ‘better’ pass-rushing a lot more.
Jaylon only had 1 sack his junior year. That just doesn’t feel right. You’re def right that his strengths are more spread than simply rushing the QB but other super athletic/havoc type MLBs did well rushing passer (ie Devin Bush 10 sacks in the last 2 years, Ryan Shazier 12 sacks his last 2 years of college).
It seems weird that Jaylon is more in the CJ Mosley/Luke Kuechly type of MLB to rack up heavy tackle totals then those other guys, but I guess he’s kind of a hybrid of everything, really.
Does make for a better narrative that he was held back by poor coaching/scheme to think about “what could have been”. I do think you’re right though that he’s not really best fit just as simply a pass rusher.
I also feel like Jaylon should be significantly higher. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a better linebacker. Urban Meyer said he’s the best player he’s ever coached against.
Google search on that quote he said Jaylon was the best player he’s seen on tape the last few years. Still high praise, though.