Notre Dame Freshman Linebackers: Best Numbers
The 27 Notre Dame scholarship freshmen were issued their jersey numbers as they begin summer school this past Monday (June 18).
While the numbers are subject to change, we look at who some of the best were to don the ones issued to them. Today we feature the four linebackers:
Ovie Oghoufu: No. 29
Best To Wear Number at Notre Dame: Stan Smagala (1986-89)
Three-year starting cornerback teamed with two-time consensus All-American Todd Lyght as cover men for the 1988 national champs as well as the 12-1 squad in 1989. Smagala received honorable mention All-American notice both seasons, highlighted by his 64-yard interception return for a TD in the 27-10 victory versus 10-0 and No. 2 USC in 1988. A fifth-round NFL pick, he also suited up four seasons in the pros.
Best Linebacker To Wear No. 29: John Covington (1990-93)
He actually began his career as a starting outside linebacker his sophomore year in 1991 before shifting to safety his last two seasons.
The reality is that No. 29 is not really a linebacker number — although it makes sense at rover, which is a hybrid safety/linebacker, a la No. 23 Drue Tranquill last year — so we had to be creative. Overall, Covington started 24 games, including all of them during the 11-1 campaign in 1993. Like Smagala, Covington was a fifth-round pick. He played two years in the NFL.
Honorable Mention: Kevin Stepherson (2016-17)
Alas, what could have been. As a freshman and sophomore, the wideout’s 44 catches averaged 18.7 yards and included 10 touchdowns (five each season), but chronic off-the-field transgressions resulted in his dismissal this January.
Jack Lamb: No. 31
Best To Wear Number at Notre Dame: Demetrius DuBose (1989-92)
A co-captain with Rick Mirer as a senior, the linebacker received first-team All-America notice from Football News as a junior. As a senior for the 10-1-1 Irish, he earned honorable mention All-American notice from the UPI and also received the prestigious Nick Pietrosante Award at the football banquet for his courage, loyalty, dedication, teamwork and pride. His life ended tragically in 1999 when he was shot by police.
Best Linebacker To Wear No. 31: DuBose
The second-round pick (34th overall) totaled 269 career tackles, 17 of them in the classic 17-16 “Snow Bowl” victory versus Penn State in 1992.
Honorable Mention: Art Boeringer (1925-26) & Pete Holohan (1977-80)
Boerginer arned consensus All-America notice at center on Knute Rockne’s 1926 team that finished 9-1 and defeated USC 13-12 in the first meeting between the schools.
Quarterback recruit Holohan started three years at flanker prior to a prolific NFL career at tight end in which he grabbed 363 career passes.
This has been mainly a running back number with figures such as Joe Kantor (1961-64), Corny Southall (1985-88) — who switched to safety and started there in 1987 before later joining the Secret Service — and Robert Farmer (1993-96).
Safety Sergio Brown (2006-09) played six years in the NFL.
Shayne Simon: No. 33
Best To Wear Number at Notre Dame: Christie Flanagan (1925-27)
Along with George Gipp and Emil Sitko, Flanagan is the only Notre Dame back to lead the team in rushing in each of his varsity seasons.The two-time All-American totaled 1,822 yards on the ground during his career while averaging a stellar 6.4 yards per carry.
Best Linebacker To Wear No. 33: Dan Shannon (1951-54) & Courtney Watson (1999-03)
Technically, Shannon — whose grandson John Shannon is the current starting long-snapper for the Irish — was an end on offense, but he lined up at linebacker on defense. The four-year starter was a co-captain as a senior.
Watson arrived as a running back prospect but had an outstanding career at linebacker, earning first-team All-American notice from ESPN.com in 2002, when the Irish started the season 8-0. He finished his career with 294 tackles, 39 for loss, seven interceptions and 14 passes broken up while developing into an NFL second-round pick.
Honorable Mention: Jim Browner (1975-78) & Greg Lane (1990-93)
Browner, the younger brother of the legendary Ross Browner, also made a profound impact in all four seasons. He rushed for 394 yards as a freshman fullback before becoming the starting strong safety the next three seasons, highlighted by the 1977 national title, and recording 228 career tackles (not including bowls).
Overshadowed in the defensive backfield by top NFL picks such as Tom Carter, Jeff Burris and Bobby Taylor, Lane started at cornerback for the 1992-93 teams that were 21-2-1.
Bo Bauer: No. 52
Best To Wear Number at Notre Dame: Dick Szymanski (1951-54), Jeff Faine (1999-2002) & Tim Ryan (1987-90)
Like Shannon (No. 33), Szymanski also started at linebacker even though he was best known as a center, where the No. 16 overall pick in the 1955 draft would earn Pro Bowl honors hiking the ball to Johnny Unitas from 1957-68.
Faine was a second-team AP All-American as a senior center, but also received first-team notice from Sporting News and ESPN, and was selected in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft.
Ryan played linebacker as a freshman, but then started at guard the next three seasons, including the school record 23-game winning streak, before playing in the NFL.
Best Linebacker To Wear No. 52: Szymanski & Joe Brockington (2003-07)
Unlike many of his predecessors who played both offense and defense, Brockington played linebacker exclusively. He recorded 176 career tackles, 108 on the 3-9 team in 2007.
Honorable Mention: Pat Filley (1941-44), Walt Grothaus (1945-49), Ed Sullivan (1955-57) & Braxston Cave (2009-12)
Guard Filley was a rare two-time captain, while center/linebacker Sullivan also was a captain. Grothaus was the starting center for the 1949 national champs, while Cave started for the 12-1 team in 2012 that played for the national title.
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