Notre Dame's All-Time Michigan Team
For the second Saturday in the past three weeks, a Michigan native committed to Notre Dame with this weekend’s verbal from 2022 three-star athlete/linebacker Nolan Ziegler. Two weeks earlier, highly touted four-star 2021 guard Rocco Spindler gave his pledge to the Fighting Irish.
Despite Michigan's state line location only about five miles from the Notre Dame campus, it historically has not been quite as prominent in the recruiting efforts as other bordering states such as Illinois and Ohio.
Still, nearly 140 players from the Wolverine state have seen action in a Notre Dame game through the years, and the 2020 defensive end position features Michigan natives Daelin Hayes, Ade Ogundeji, both grad students, and junior Ovie Oghoufo.
Notre Dame’s Golden Age of recruiting in the Wolverine state was during the Ara Parseghian era from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Defensive backs coach Paul Shoults was the ace recruiter in the state. Seven of our 11 all-time starters on defense from Michigan were signed during that era.
Here is our all-time Notre Dame team from Michigan
QUARTERBACK
George Gipp (Laurium, 1917-20)
The first consensus and unanimous All-America selection in Notre Dame history was officially listed at “left halfback,” but in pre-T-formation days, the LH also did much of the passing.
While leading Notre Dame to an 18-0 record in 1919-20, Gipp completed 71 of his 134 passes (53 percent) at an extraordinary 20.2 yards per completion and 10.7 yards per attempt. He also paced the team in rushing those two years with 1,556 yards while averaging 7.5 yards per carry. His 8.1 yards per attempt in 1920 remains the single season Notre Dame record for players who carried at least 100 times. That is as fine a dual threat as you will find.
The only other Fighting Irish quarterback from Michigan with more than two career starts was Terry Andrysiak (1984-87) with seven.
RUNNING BACKS
Jerome Bettis (Detroit, 1990-92), Rodney Culver (Detroit, 1988-91)
Prior to his NFL Hall of Fame career, Bettis as a sophomore fullback in 1991 romped for 972 yards rushing during the regular season with 16 TDs, and added 150 and three more scores in the Sugar Bowl win versus No. 3 Florida. He turned pro after his junior season and finished his Irish career averaging 5.7 yards per carry. Bettis' 32 catches averaged 13.4 yards with six scores.
Culver had the power to play fullback and the speed to excel at tailback. He made an impact for the 1988 national champs, led the star-studded backfield of 1990 in rushing and was the team’s lone captain in 1991. Prior to his fifth season in the NFL in 1996, he and his wife died in a plane crash that spring.
Running back is the deepest position from Michigan. It includes “Jumpin’ Joe” Savoldi (Three Oaks, 1928-30), the top ground gainer for the 1929 national champs, top 1964 rusher Bill Wolski (Muskegon, 1963-65) with 657 yards and nine TDs, 1969-72 fullback John Cieszkowski (Detroit), 1977 national champion tri-captain Terry Eurick (Saginaw, 1974-77), 1993-96 speedster Randy Kinder (East Lansing), who led the team in rushing in both 1994-95, and Jonas Gray (Beverly Hills, 2008-11).
RECEIVERS
Jim Seymour (Berkley, 1966-68), Jim Morse (Muskegon, 1954-56)
Seymour earned All-America notice each of his three varsity seasons before becoming the No. 10 overall selection in the 1969 NFL Draft. To open his career versus Rose Bowl champ Purdue, his 276 yards receiving (with three scores) is still a single-game Irish record. He helped clinch the national title that year with 11 catches for 150 yards and two more scores at USC.
A halfback in college where he rushed for 893 yards, Morse would fit well in the slot, where his 52 career catches averaged 21.2 yards.
TIGHT END
Pete Chryplewicz (Sterling Heights, 1993-96)
As a senior, Chryplewicz paced the Irish in receiving with 27 catches for 331 yards and four scores before moving on to a three-year NFL career.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Heartley “Hunk” Anderson (Hancock, 1918-21), Joe Carollo (Wyandotte, 1959-61), George Goeddeke (Detroit, 1964-66), Tom McKinley (Kalamazoo, 1966-68), Steve Elmer (Midland, 2013-15)
Anderson at guard was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1974 and classified by Knute Rockne as the toughest player, pound for pound, he had ever coached.
Right tackle Carollo was a second-round pick who played 12 years in the NFL, making the Pro Bowl in 1968.
Goeddeke bore a striking resemblance to “Mr. Clean” and received All-American notice for the 1966 national champs, while McKinley was a starting guard in 1967-68.
An early entrant in 2013, Elmer started several games as a freshman and was a full-time figure in 2014 and 2015 at guard before graduating in three years and moving on to a professional career beyond football.
DEFENSIVE LINE
Mike Kadish (Grand Rapids, 1969-71), Greg Marx (Redford, 1970-72), Paul Grasmanis (Jenison, 1992-95), Khalid Kareem (Farmington Hills, 2016-19)
Kadish and Marx enrolled in 1968. Marx totaled 263 stops, 24 for loss, earning consensus All-America notice in 1972 and becoming a second-round pick. Kadish was a first-round pick after netting 212 career tackles, 18 for loss.
Grasmanis started in 1994-95 before playing 10 years in the NFL.
A captain and last year’s Defensive MVP, Kareem totaled 108 stops in his career, 26 for loss.
Honorable mention to John Hankerd (Jackson, 1978-80). The three-year starter had a productive career at end with 177 stops, 28 for lost yardage.
LINEBACKERS
Greg Collins (Troy, 1972-74), Drew Mahalic (Farmington, 1972-74), Scott Kowalkowski (Farmington Hills, 1987-90)
Collins/Mahalic enrolled together in 1971. Collins was also a stellar hockey player, while Mahalic played some at quarterback as a freshman for the JV team.
Collins was a fireball who notched a team high 133 stops in the regular season for the 1973 national champs and captained the top-ranked defense in 1974 (144 stops during the regular season), meriting second-team AP All-America notice and becoming a second-round draft pick.
Mahalic netted 253 tackles as a three-year starter and was a third-round selection who also received a law degree from Harvard.
Kowalkowski started at OLB for the supremely talented 1989-90 units and was an 11-year stalwart on special teams in the NFL.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Todd Lyght (Flint, 1987-90), Clarence Ellis (Grand Rapids, 1969-71), Ralph Stepaniak (Alpena, 1969-71), Reggie Barnett (Flint, 1972-74).
All four were corners, but Lyght and Ellis began their careers at safety.
Lyght started for the 1988 national champs and was a two-time consensus All-American in 1989-90 before becoming a Pro Bowl performer for the Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams.
Ellis recorded seven interceptions for the No. 2-ranked Irish in 1970 and was the Defensive MVP in the upset win over No. 1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl. He was a consenus All-American the next year.
Three-year starter Stepaniak was a classmate of Ellis and is tied for third on the all-time interception chart with 13.
Barnett also was a three-year starter, including the 1973 national champs, and was an Academic-All-American as a senior, when his last play was a game-saving interception in Irish territory to preserve the 13-11 Orange Bowl win over 11-0 Alabama.
Honorable mention to Steve Lawrence (Ypsilanti, 1983-86), who recorded 10 interceptions and recovered nine fumbles (second most in school history) during his career, and as a safety was third in tackles as a junior with 92.
KICKER/PUNTER
Kyle Brindza (Canton, 2011-14) — Brindza kicked a single season school record 23 field goals in 2012 and his 20 in 2013 are third on the chart. He was one of seven players that year in Division I to handle field goals, punting and kickoffs.