Notre Dame's Best Defensive Backs From Florida
Over the last 30 years, the state of Florida has been targeted as one of the most important football recruiting hotbeds at Notre Dame.
It shows on the 2017 roster with 10 Fighting Irish scholarship players from the Sunshine State (led by leading tackler Te’von Coney at linebacker), which is behind only the 14 from Illinois.
Furthermore, four of the first 19 verbal commitments in the class of 2018 are from Florida (New Jersey is second so far with three) with the huge addition on Wednesday evening of 6-1, 192-pound defensive back Houston Griffith from superpower IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. He is now the highest rated Rivals.com player (No. 35 overall) in the Fighting Irish class.
Griffith joins three other Floridians as 2018 Notre Dame commits: wide receiver Kevin Austin (Coconut Creek) — the No. 81 overall player on the Rivals Top 100 — tight end George Takacs (Naples) and cornerback Joseph Wilkins Jr. (North Fort Myers).
Landing a fifth in offensive lineman Nick Petit-Frere (Tampa), ranked No. 67, would help give Notre Dame a potential top-10 haul.
Technically, Griffith is a Chicago native who transferred to the IMG Academy after his sophomore season, similar to current co-starting freshman offensive tackle Robert Hainsey, who began his football career in the Pittsburgh area before moving to IMG Academy for his final two seasons.
In both cases, though, it’s about maximizing one’s football prowess, and Florida joins California and Texas as “The Big 3” when it comes to states producing the most such talent.
Part of the appeal for the Irish joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in most sports in 2013, and as a partial member in football, was the affiliation with Florida, whose members included Florida State and Miami, for recruiting purposes.
Will Griffith or even Wilkins Jr. become Notre Dame’s best-ever defensive back from the Sunshine State? Here is a look at the six best to hail from Florida. Only one was a cornerback.
1. Pat Terrell (St. Petersburg, 1986-89)
A member of head coach Lou Holtz’s first recruiting class, Terrell helped begin the emphasis Notre Dame had in recruiting that area of the country with much greater frequency than in the past.
Terrell provided a monumental boost at free safety for the 1988 national champs after playing receiver a year earlier. His interception return for a TD and last-minute deflection of a two-point pass in the 31-30 victory versus Miami are immortalized in Notre Dame lore, which in itself makes him the most famous Irish DB from the state. A second-round pick, Terrell also played nine years in the NFL
2. Tom Carter (St. Petersburg, 1990-92)
The lone true corner, Carter actually starred at quarterback in high school but was projected by the Irish for the defensive backfield. As a true freshman he made a few starts at free safety where he succeeded Terrell before moving to corner the next season.
Carter picked off five passes each of his last two seasons before becoming a first-round pick after his junior year, along with classmate Jerome Bettis. Like Terrell, Carter played nine seasons in the NFL. His son Alex starred at Stanford from 2012-14 before also foregoing his senior year to become a third-round selection
3. Zeke Motta (Vero Beach, 2009-12),
Motta was such a stalwart during the 12-0 regular season his senior year while recording 77 tackles and leading an extremely young, inexperienced secondary, he was awarded Defensive MVP while linebacker Manti Te’o was Team MVP.
4. John Covington (Winter Haven, 1990-93)
He started at outside/drop linebacker as a sophomore before shifting to safety, producing 185 tackles, 14 passes broken up and five interceptions during his career. The fifth-round draft selection played a couple of years in the NFL
5t. Greg Davis (Hollywood, 1987-90) and Brian Magee (Largo, 1992-95)
Davis arrived as a running back the same year as Ricky Watters and Tony Brooks, so he was shifted to safety not too long after his arrival. Although he is maybe best-remembered as the player who was called for the clip on Rocket Ismai’s 91-yard punt return in the closing minute of the 1991 Orange Bowl versus No. 1 Colorado, he was second on that national title contending team in tackles.
Magee was a regular by his sophomore year and led the team in tackles (81) as a junior and was fifth (69) as a senior.
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