Notre Dame 2017 Signing Class’ Latest Accomplishment: Becoming Team Leaders
Notre Dame’s 2017 class undeniably made its mark the last four years.
Four 10-win seasons. Two College Football Playoff appearances. Ten starters. Four Day 2 NFL Draft picks.
The five players from that group who returned for one more year can hang another banner for their class: five captains.
Wide receiver Avery Davis, nose tackle Kurt Hinish, defensive end Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, linebacker Drew White and kicker Jonathan Doerer used their fifth years to come back for 2021. All but Doerer were named 2021 team captains, joining fellow 2017 signee Robert Hainsey in that club.
It’s possible none of the four (or Doerer) adds to the day-two pick number. To reduce their impact to their NFL draft status, though, is to overlook countless on- and off-field contributions that helped launch Notre Dame to its current stability level.
Allow Hinish to sum up his class’ laurels.
“Through the years at Notre Dame,” Hinish said, “I feel our group and the group above us — the 2016 class — were the ones who changed the program around and did a 180-degree flip, along with all the new hires, [strength and conditioning coach Matt] Balis and coach [Brian] Kelly.”
In many ways, he’s right. The 2017 class was part of the wave of change ushered in when a messy 2016 season sent the program off its moorings. Two new coordinators. A change in the sports performance program with Balis’ arrival. An introspective Kelly. And a recruiting class that, at first, wasn’t eye-catching on paper.
It ranked 13th nationally — tied for the fifth-lowest of the 12 Kelly era signing classes. It had just eight four-stars. Notre Dame assembled nearly a third of it at buzzer. Six players, including Tagovailoa-Amosa, committed in the final week of the cycle.
Four years later, it’s hard to find a more impactful group when including on-field production and locker room effects. It’s a case study in wholesome development. Five three-star recruits from the class became starters. Barring injury, all five will have started for at least two seasons. Four will have served as a captain.
That’s the impact level the class believed it could make. Never mind its lack of relative fanfare. There were opportunities to play as freshmen, which Hinish, Tagovailoa-Amosa and eight others did. Moreover, there was a desire to foster change. The class stayed largely intact through the 2016 turmoil. It understood the circumstances in which it arrived. Its constant hunger didn’t wane. Not even after a successful six-win turnaround in 2017.
“We were 10-3, which is great for some schools, but for Notre Dame, that’s not something we want to do,” Hinish said. “We want to go to the national championship every single year. I remember sitting on the bus after losing to Stanford my freshman year, and in the 2017 group chat, we were texting, ‘We’re going to change this whole program around.’”
White, Tagovailoa-Amosa and Hinish have been at the forefront. Each is heading into his third season as a starter. White has not missed a game since taking over Mike linebacker in 2019. Likewise for Hinish at nose tackle. Hinish will likely leave with the school record for most career games played. Tagovailoa-Amosa is sliding over to defensive end after starting 22 times at defensive tackle the last two seasons.
“Between me, Myron and Drew, there’s almost 150 games of football played,” Hinish said. “That’s a lot of winning football played here. A lot of football that has been done the right way.”
And a lot of time together away from the field. That trio also lives together in a house off-campus, with long snapper Michael “Milk” Vinson as the fourth roommate.
“We call ourselves the captain house minus Milk,” Hinish said, grinning. “It’s an ongoing joke.”
Yes, Vinson’s room is in the basement.
Spot one member of the captain house, and the others are usually in tow.
“They’re a close group,” defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman said. “The example is when last week, when all of a sudden we got the news about Myron’s dad, I think the first person with him was Kurt.”
Two years starting next to each other on the defensive line has a way of bringing two players together. So does offseason work with Balis, who has pushed buttons not previously tested since his 2017 arrival. Winter workouts are grueling. Summers are strenuous. All for the better.
“It fosters leadership because you care for each other so much,” Hinish said. “It’s not just as a teammate, but you care for one another outside football.”
In turn, visions become aligned. Goals are the same. Standards are established. Cultures are formed.
“It’s a culture where we pay mind to a lot of little details,” Hinish said. “In everyday life, a lot of people skip over that and don’t understand those minor details amount to something so much bigger. Not only that, but it’s the way we’re challenged in the weight room, the way we build bonds with each other, the way we care for one another.
“I’m not saying the guys before us didn’t have great culture. Notre Dame has been Notre Dame. I’m not saying we came in and changed the whole thing, but we have a culture of our own.”
And a few C’s on their jerseys as a reward.
----
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Sign up for Blue & Gold's news alerts and daily newsletter.
• Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @Rivals_Singer, @PatrickEngel_, @tbhorka and @ToddBurlage.
• Like us on Facebook.