Notre Dame Football: All-time Brian Kelly era team

Quarterback

Brian Kelly has started seven quarterbacks during his time with Notre Dame. The two most recent quarterbacks to record a start, Brandon Wimbush and Ian Book, are still playing. Dayne Crist and Tommy Rees both offered their fair share of contributions early in the Kelly era, while Everett Golson and Malik Zaire kicked off the recent generation of dual-threat quarterbacks for the Irish.

That leaves current Green Bay Packer DeShone Kizer as the last signal caller on the list. Kizer, a four-star product out of Toledo, Ohio, first made noise as a sophomore in 2015. While Kelly initially opted for a Kizer/Zaire quarterback duo, the former would distance himself enough to earn sole possession of the starting job.

Much of that was in part to a hot start followed by a consistent year consisting of 2,880 yards, 31 total touchdowns, and ten interceptions. While Kizer expanded on that success in 2016, 2,925 yards, 34 total touchdowns, and only nine interceptions would not be enough as the Irish finished 4-8 in his junior year. Regardless, Kizer’s statistics alone earn him the honor of being Kelly’s best quarterback.