Notre Dame's Shrunken Senior Class Remains Vital In 2016
On Signing Day 2013, Notre Dame achieved something seldom seen in college football: The 24-man haul inked a complete class on offense and defense.
It wasn’t just about class balance and quantity, either, but overall quality. The group was ranked No. 3 in the land by Rivals.com, to this day the highest rating of head coach Brian Kelly’s seven recruiting harvests at Notre Dame.
Furthermore, seldom will one see the Fighting Irish land a five-star prospect on each of the three position groups on defense as it did in 2013 with Eddie Vanderdoes (line), Jaylon Smith (linebackers) and Max Redfield (secondary).
Alas, much can happen over the ensuing four years, and it’s sobering how many have been on the operating table or are no longer with the team as seniors. Football is a gladiator sport where attrition is inevitable, making the “40-year decision” even more pronounced.
Only 13 of the original group remain, and many of them are coming off or recovering major injuries entering 2016.
Quarterback: Malik Zaire
He is returning from a fractured ankle from game 2 of last season that sidelined him the balance of the year, but Zaire has battled well to earn at least a co-starting role in this year’s opener at Texas.
Running Backs: Greg Bryant, Tarean Folston
Five-star prospect Bryant, who left the University last August when he was declared academically ineligible, tragically died on May 8 in a Florida shooting.
Folston had only three carries in the 2015 opener before tearing his ACL. He returns to continue to bolster the running attack after pacing the 2014 team in rushing with 889 yards.
Receivers: Will Fuller, Torii Hunter Jr., Corey Robinson
Fuller is in the NFL after becoming a first-round pick.
Hunter shattered his leg in an all-star game practice before enrolling at Notre Dame, forcing a medical redshirt season as a freshman. It wasn’t really until last season with 28 catches that he began rounding into form that makes him the No. 1 target this year.
Finally, repeated concussions/head trauma forced Robinson, Notre Dame’s student body president for the 2016-17 school year, to call it a career after nabbing 65 passes his first three seasons.
Tight Ends: Mike Heuerman, Jacob Matuska (moved from the defensive line this spring), Durham Smythe
Two hernia surgeries severely hampered Heuerman’s progress, and in August 2015 he was not cleared medically to play football again.
Smythe missed the final 10 regular season games in 2015 because of knee and shoulder surgery.
Matuska was on the defensive line his first three years before his skills were needed at tight end, where he shifted to this spring.
Offensive Line: Hunter Bivin, Steve Elmer, Mike McGlinchey, Colin McGovern, John Montelus
Bivin and McGovern, vying for the No. 1 spot at right guard during the spring in place of Elmer, have both been hampered during their careers by various health ailments. Bivin moved to tackle this August, while McGovern continues to compete to make his first career start in college, battling sophomore Tristen Hoge at RG.
Elmer enrolled early with Robinson in January 2013, roomed with him and joined him on the Dean’s List. Despite 30 career starts, the right guard opted to graduate this May, forego his senior year and move on to a life after football because “my heart is no longer in it.”
Montelus battled a shoulder problem early in his career and had an audition at nose guard last spring before returning to the offense this month as a reserve tackle.
Left tackle McGlinchey, who received the least fanfare among the quintet when he enrolled, is projected as Notre Dame’s next first-round draft pick.
Defensive Line: Doug Randolph (moved from OLB to end), Isaac Rochell, Eddie Vanderdoes (never ended up enrolling)
Randolph’s career ended this winter because of a spinal condition that made him a medical hardship case. He was a student assistant for the team this spring, a role Robinson also has with the receivers.
Even Vanderdoes at UCLA had to sit last season because of a torn ACL suffered in the opener.
Linebackers: James Onwualu (moved from receiver after his freshman year), Michael Deeb, Jaylon Smith.
Deeb’s football career ended last August because of elbow ligament reconstruction that involved the nerve.
Butkus Award winner Smith is now in the NFL — but he would have been unavailable to play this year at Notre Dame anyway because of a severe knee injury suffered in the Fiesta Bowl loss to Ohio State.
Onwualu had to overcome wrist surgery performed in the winter of 2015 but enters his third season as the starting Sam..
Cornerbacks: Devin Butler, Rashad Kinlaw, Cole Luke
Kinlaw was kicked off the team in the spring of his freshman season for a violation of team rules and transferred to ASA College in Brooklyn.
Butler, who suffered two foot fractures over a seventh-month period and likely would have been medically redshirted this year, was charged this week with two Level 6 felonies for resisting arrest and battery of a police office. That could end his football playing days with the Irish.
Luke’s 26 career starts are the most among any returning Notre Dame player and he is developing into one of the nation’s top cornerback prospects this season.
Safety: Max Redfield
An off-campus arrest last Friday (Aug. 19) prompted quick dismissal from Kelly of the 23-game starter.
Another reason why when every February the question, “How did Notre Dame recruit this year?” is asked, we have the same reply: Come back in four years and we can provide a clearer answer.
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