Notre Dame football: Top 10 quarterbacks in program history
By Jacob Wilson
Notre Dame football has had its fair share of successes at the quarterback position, but who makes the list as the best ever?
With such a rich history, there are plenty of former Irish signal callers who could easily make this list. With that said, I decided to set the cutoff for this list at the year 1955. Of course, this disqualifies Hall of Famers such as Gus Dorais, Harry Stuhldreher, Johnny Lujack, and others from making the list despite being more than qualified.
Also, it’s important to note that there will be many different opinions as to who belongs where on this list. For example, how would the recently departed Jimmy Clausen compare to John Huarte of the 1960’s? There’s bound to be a plethora of different opinions out there, and I encourage you to voice those in the comments.
Lastly, this list is composed of those who impacted Notre Dame the greatest. While many went off to have great (or not so great) professional careers, this particular list will not be weighing success in the NFL very highly. With that said, here’s my list of the top 10 quarterbacks to ever take the field for the Fighting Irish.
10. Paul Hornung (1954-56)
Paul Hornung was one of the contributing factors as to why I decided to set the cutoff at such an early date. Hornung joined the Irish in 1954, but it wasn’t until a year later that he truly started impacting the team. While Hornung wasn’t known as an exceptional passer, he made his mark as one of the best all-around players to ever step foot on Notre Dame’s campus.
Hornung would throw for only 917 yards, three touchdowns, and 13 interceptions in 1956, but it was his contributions on both offense and defense that earns him the tenth spot on this list. Hornung finished the year with six rushing scores and multiple defensive interceptions on his way to winning the nation’s Heisman Trophy.
Hornung boasted impressive passing stats for the Irish, but it was his ability to contribute in multiple aspects of the game that earned him Heisman honors in his final season with Notre Dame. In fact, Hornung would go on to have an illustrious NFL career after being drafted as a running back by the Green Bay Packers.