Notre Dame's All-Unanimous Team
The distinction between what comprises a consensus All-American and a unanimous one is slight, yet still profound. Just ask Irish offensive linemen Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey.
A “consensus” All-American is one who makes first team on at least half of the NCAA-recognized outlets. A “unanimous” makes them all. The five such recognized outlets in college football are:
• American Football Coaches Association (AFCA)
• Associated Press (AP)
• Football Writers Association of America (FWAA)
• Sporting News
• Walter Camp Football Foundation (the oldest All-America team).
Nelson received the nod from all five, while McGlinchey just missed the cut because Sporting News had him on the second team instead of the first like the other four.
McGlinchey joins some exclusive Notre Dame company who just missed, including two-time consensus All-America linebacker Bob Crable (1980-81), the school’s all-time leading tackler who this month was enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Or how about George Connor and Bill Fischer, who both won the Outland Trophy in the 1940s and likewise are in the Hall?
Even Heisman Trophy winners Angelo Bertelli (1943), Paul Hornung (1956) and John Huarte (1964). They won the highest individual honor possible in the sport — yet did not make the unanimous list.
Nevertheless, Notre Dame now has 29 different selections as a unanimous All-American, and 34 years total amongst five players twice selected as such: Frank Carideo, John Lujack, John Latter, Ross Browner and Todd Lyght.
Especially notable is a full offense and defense can be assembled by Notre Dame’s unanimous picks. Here is the way to sort it:
Quarterback: 1946-47 John Lujack (Connellsville, Pa.), 1954 Ralph Guglielmi (Columbus, Ohio)
The oldest living Heisman winner and the lone player in college football history to start at QB for three national champs, Lujack would be our starter and also could be a nickel back on defense. For that matter, so could Guglielmi, who intercepted 10 passes his last two seasons.
Running Back: 1949 Emil Sitko (Fort Wayne, Ind.), 1966 Nick Eddy (Lafayette, Calif.)
The fullback, now an obsolete position in many offenses, would be Sitko, the lone Irish player to finish as the team’s top rusher four straight seasons. The Irish were unbeaten in all (1946-49) of them, with three consensus national titles.
Eddy finished with only 553 yards rushing, 15 catches plus two kick returns for scores for the 1966 national champs, which goes to show glittering stats weren’t everything back in the day.
Receivers: 2009 Golden Tate (Hendersonville, Tenn.), 1987 Tim Brown (Dallas, Texas), 1990 Raghib Ismail (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)
Tate and Brown are the lone two members among the 29 who weren’t part of an Irish team that finished in the top 10 or won at least 10 games, and Nelson will attempt to avoid becoming the third. Tate’s 2009 Irish were only 6-6.
Ismail also could be the return man on this squad.
Tight End: 1949 Leon Hart, (Turtle Creek, PA), 1977 Ken MacAfee, (Brockton, Mass.)
This is quite a double-tight end alignment when you can include a Heisman winner (Hart) and a Walter Camp Award recipient (MacAfee) from national title teams.
Offensive Line: 1932 Joe Kurth (Madison, Wis.), 1938 Ed Beinor (Harvey, Ill.), 1965 Dick Arrington (Erie, Pa.), 1980 John Scully (Huntington, N.Y.), 2017 Quenton Nelson (Holmdel, N.J.), 1993 Aaron Taylor (Concord, Calif.)
Scully, a virtuoso pianist who penned the “Here Comes The Irish” theme, is the center, with Nelson and Arrington — a wrestling All-American who lined up on defense as well — the guards.
At tackle, Kurth is one of only two players under Knute Rockne to make the unanimous list, and he started as a sophomore on his last team, the 1930 national champs. Lombardi Award winner Taylor is the other tackle, with Beinor as the top reserve.
Defensive Line: 1969 Mike McCoy (Erie, Pa.), 1971 Walt Patulski (Liverpool, N.Y.), 1972 Greg Marx (Redford, Mich.), 1975 Steve Niehaus (Cincinnati, Ohio), 1976-77 Ross Browner (Warren, Ohio), 1990 Chris Zorich (Chicago, Ill.)
Under assistant coach Joe Yonto from 1964-80, Notre Dame was “Defensive Line U.,” and this list has five of the six who came under his tutelage, with Zorich the exception (although he was a freshman in 1987 when Yonto was in his final season as a coach)..
This rotation would start Browner and Patulski at end. Browner’s 77 career tackles for loss is unbreakable, with no one else at 45. Patulski is the most recent Irish player taken No. 1 overall in the draft.
In the interior, Zorich already has joined Browner in the College Football Hall of Fame, and McCoy was the No. 2 overall pick after finishing sixth in the Heisman.
Off the bench would be Marx and Niehaus, who also was the No. 2 overall pick and started at both end and tackle for the Irish during his career.
Linebackers: 1966 Jim Lynch (Lima, Ohio), 1978 Bob Golic (Willowick, Ohio), 2012 Manti Te’o (Laie, Hawaii), 1990 Michael Stonebreaker (River Ridge, La.)
Other than Stonebreaker, everyone was more of a “Mike” figure, with Golic — an All-America wrestler like Arrington — even lining up at nose guard on occasion. Lynch is in the College Football Hall of Fame, and all but Te’o starred for national champs, although Te’o did spearhead a 12-0 regular season his senior year that led him to capture a plethora of individual awards while also finishing second in the Heisman.
Defensive Backs: 1989-90 Todd Lyght (Flint, Mich.), 2002 Shane Walton (San Diego, Calif.), 1929-30 Frank Carideo (Vernon, N.Y.), 1952-53 John Lattner (Chicago, Ill.)
Carideo and Lattner were listed at quarterback and halfback, respectively, but with only two pure DBs among the unanimous choices, we can move the two-way stars to the safety slots. Carideo was not even a passer (listed with three attempts for the 1930 national champs) but helped direct two national titles. Meanwhile, Lattner was not even the leading rusher on his own unbeaten team as a senior when he won the Heisman, but was a stalwart on defense with 13 career interceptions.
The corners are current Irish cornerbacks coach Lyght and Walton, who led a 10-1 start his final season. Lyght was a mainstay during the school record 23-game winning streak in 1988-89.
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