Few freshman classes at Notre Dame had a rougher indoctrination into college football than the group that enrolled in 2016.
That season the Fighting Irish plummeted to a 4-8 record after finishing 10-3 the year prior, and seventh-year head coach Brian Kelly’s future appeared to be in limbo for a while.
That’s what makes the contributions to a 33-6 mark over the past three years more powerful by the class that signed in 2016, with six prime figures still returning for a fifth season in 2020.
When breaking it down by impact, overall balance and depth — benchmarks of a top recruiting class — one could make an argument that this has been Kelly’s best overall group signed, even if it wasn’t on paper back in February 2016.
The 2016 Recruiting Class
Players Originally Signed: 23
Class Rankings: No. 12 (Rivals), No. 15 (247Sports) and No. 16 (ESPN)
Record at Notre Dame from 2016-19: 37-14 (.726), 2-1 in bowls
Final Associated Press Rankings: No. 11 (2017), No. 5 (2018) and No. 12 (2019)
Note: Four of the 23 would transfer, while two others became graduate transfers
