The word “ever” has become ridiculously overused in today’s sports culture.
“Peyton Manning is the greatest of all time.”
“Florida just signed the greatest recruiting class of all time.”
“Tim Tebow is the greatest college football player ever.”
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Rice was part of a 1986 class that won 23 consecutive games from 1988-89.
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One should not utter statements unless there is a control group with which to properly compare to maintain perspective. Thus, over the next two weeks, we will feature our 15 greatest recruiting classes actually produced by Notre Dame football in the post-World War II era. They serve as the proverbial “bar” for the current classes.
The criteria do not include how much veneration (e.g. recruiting hype) they received prior to suiting up with the Irish, nor how many from the class went on to excel at the NFL level. It’s based on three factors during their college years at Notre Dame:
Impact
How much of a difference did this overall class make in the program’s successes? How many marquee or “signature” wins did they produce during their careers? Did it ride the coattails of other premier groups, or did it spearhead leadership that infiltrated the rest of the squad?
We give special recognition to recruiting hauls that came into trying circumstances but helped make an extraordinary difference. Two groups that come to mind are the classes signed in 1963 and 1986.
The 1963 group arrived during the darkest days of Irish football, and as freshmen they saw the team go 2-7. As seniors, this haul that included Jim Lynch, Alan Page, Kevin Hardy, etc., led the drive to the national title.
The 1986 group, led by Tony Rice, Anthony Johnson, Tim Grunhard, Michael Stonebreaker, Pat Terrell, etc. were 5-6 as freshmen – and exited with a 23-game winning streak. Yes, they received significant help from other classes, but they had leaders in so many areas, they made the list
Of course, it helped that those two classes arrived at a perfect time, when Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz came aboard to restore glory. But timing is one of the most crucial aspects of life, and these classes seized the moment.
The 2008 haul, the current juniors led by people such as Michael Floyd, Kyle Rudolph, Trevor Robinson, Ethan Johnson, among so others, can fall into that category — provided they are developed well by the new coaching staff. It has a chance to achieve such glory with the program coming off a 3-9 campaign the year prior to their arrival, and finishing only 6-6 in the regular season the first two seasons.
Balance
A lot of classes may be strong in one area, but mediocre in others. For example, the 1965 group was bountiful on offense with figures such as Terry Hanratty, Jim Seymour, Coley O’Brien, Bob Gladieux, George Kunz and Bob Kuechenberg. But it was so-so on defense, so it did not make our top 10 cut, but did land in the top 15.
Ideally, we like to see classes that have a stellar figure at every position: strong runners, a potent passing combination, premier linemen on both sides of the ball, sure-tackling linebackers, playmaking defensive backs…and a kicking game helps too.
Again, the 2008 group has a chance because it has recruited a full defense to complement some marquee figures on offense.
Depth
Every class will have maybe one or two standouts or six or seven major contributors. Even the 2005 group, which had the lowest ranking of any incoming haul at Notre Dame, had solid regulars such as safeties David Bruton and Kyle McCarthy, offensive linemen Paul Duncan and Michael Turkovich, defensive lineman Pat Kuntz and wideout David Grimes.
However, the truly outstanding ones have a minimum of 10 major contributors, many of them All-Americans and first-round picks — and you’ll see in our top 5 that it even extends to 15, 16 or more.
Most long-time Notre Dame followers probably would be shocked that the 1973 haul with Ross Browner, Luther Bradley, Willie Fry and Al Hunter did not make our top 15. Those four made an immense difference as freshmen in Notre Dame’s national title drive that year and beyond…but 43 players were signed in that class. The aforementioned four were sensational, but most of the other 39 did not have prominent roles during their careers, which is not to say they weren’t valuable to the team makeup. But in rating the top classes, volume of star power carries significant weight.
Use the upcoming countdown as the gauge of future “ever” references.
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