Notre Dame Football All-Decade Team: Quarterback

This decade has seen some good solid QB play for Notre Dame under Brian Kelly, but who is the cream of the crop?

When looking at an All-Decade list, there are many factors at stake: longevity, productivity, winning, etc. When compiling a list of the top quarterbacks to play at Notre Dame since 2010, finding the top few was actually relatively easy. I wanted to get the fans opinion, so every day for about 2 weeks I posted Twitter polls, which allow up to four names. The four quarterbacks voted on were Tommy Rees, Everett Golson, DeShone Kizer and Ian Book. Ironically, these are also the four QBs with the most starts in this past decade.

Tommy Rees (2010-2013)

Rees was the Notre Dame starter for the 2011 and 2013 seasons, while also starting 4 games as a true freshman in 2010 and playing an integral role on the 2012 National Championship runner-up squad. His career was anything but boring, and his legacy in South Bend is very hit or miss.  With all that said, he finished his college career with 7,670 passing yards, 61 touchdowns and a 23-8 record as a starter. He is also currently 3rd all time in passing yards and second all time in passing touchdowns. Whatever your opinion are of Rees, his name absolutely deserves mention on the All-Decade team.

Everett Golson (2011-2014)

Everett Golson is another hotly debated quarterback during this decade of Notre Dame football. Golson took the starting job away from Rees as a red-shirt freshman in 2012, and led the Irish to a National Championship berth. Things were looking way up for him after that. Unfortunately, he was suspended in 2013 for an academics issue. He came back in 2014 and was again the starting quarterback before transferring to Florida State for his final year of eligibility. Golson was an extremely talented player, but off the field and turnovers accompanied his career. He would finish his career at Notre Dame with 5,850 yards passing and 41 passing touchdowns while also rushing for 581 yards and another 14 scores. In just 2 years of starting, he wasn’t far off of Rees’ total touchdowns number.

DeShone Kizer (2014-2016)

The trend of polarizing QBs continues for Notre Dame, and this time it was the winner of the All-Decade poll, receiving 297 out of a total of 660 votes (45%), Deshone Kizer. Kizer took over the starting quarterback job for an injured Malik Zaire in 2015 and then started the entire 2016 season for the Irish before leaving for the NFL draft, where we was a second round pick of the Cleveland Browns and remains in the league today with the Oakland Raiders.

After his 2015 season that saw him lead Notre Dame to a 10-2 regular season before losing to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, Notre Dame fans thought they had their next great quarterback. Kizer would finish that season with 21 touchdowns and nearly 3,000 yards when he was supposed to be the backup. By the way, he also had 525 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns that year.

However, 2016 was a dreadful season for Notre Dame and it showed in both Kizer’s performance and body language — leaving many fans with a sour taste in their mouth. He did manage to throw for nearly 3,000 yards again and 26 touchdowns, while also staying the dynamic dual threat with another 8 scores and 472 yards. Those stats were over-shadowed by the 4-8 regular season and coaching staff shuffling. While probably the best overall talent at quarterback for Notre Dame this decade and worthy of the All-Decade vote, he was not my choice for the starting QB on the All-Decade team.

Ian Book (2016-Present)

This is where my vote went, and thus is the Slap the Sign All-Decade QB (2010-2019). Book, just like the three quarterbacks before him on this list, has received his fair share of scrutiny from the Notre Dame fan base throughout his career.

Book, originally a Washington State commit, was one of the last few bright spots of Mike Sanford’s tenure at Notre Dame. The Irish staff offered later in the recruiting process and plucked Book away from his commitment to the Cougars.

We should all feel very look that they did.

Book has already surpassed Kizer and Golson on the career passing yards and touchdowns list at Notre Dame, and assuming he comes back for his 5th year, he will also pass Rees. He also has a really good chance at passing Jimmy Clausen in both categories, which means he should finish his career second all-time in passing yards and passing touchdowns at Notre Dame. In his last game against Stanford, he also became second on the all-time single season passing touchdown list at Notre Dame — 5 in the bowl game could tie him with Brady Quinn. Not to mention, he is the first quarterback to lead Notre Dame to back-to-back 10+ win seasons since Rick Mirer in 1991-1992.

For what it is worth, Book has been quite the dual threat QB throughout his career as well, rushing for over 1,000 yards and 8 scores during his time in an Irish uniform.

When you look at it from this perspective, Book was an easy choice for the All-Decade Quarterback.