Notre Dame football: 3 most impactful defensive players of the Brian Kelly era
No. 1 Manti Te’o
Charles Woodson is the only defensive player to ever win the Heisman Trophy, and in most years, there isn’t even a finalist who plays on the defensive side of the ball, as it has become an award for quarterbacks and the occasional running back. Only three defensive linemen have been finalists for the Heisman Trophy.
Only one defensive back, Woodson, has ever been a finalist. Only three linebackers have ever been finalists; Chuck Bednarik, Dick Butkus, and Manti Te’o. That’s not a bad list to be on for Te’o, who is the primary reason Notre Dame went unbeaten during the 2012 regular season.
Yes, there was plenty of NFL talent on that team, but Te’o was its heart and soul.
Te’o was a senior in 2012 and had already established himself as one of the best linebackers in the country. As a freshman, he had started part of the season and made the third-most tackles ever by a freshman at Notre Dame. By the time he was a sophomore, Te’o was named to all the major watchlists for the national linebacker awards.
By the time he was a junior, Te’o was a finalist for the awards he’d been on watchlists for the year before. He also had put up the second of three seasons he’d have with over 100 tackles, spending 2011 in the backfield as he notched 13.5 tackles for loss.
He already had an amazing career, but 2012 made Te’o a legend. Becoming a well-rounded linebacker, who didn’t just stuff the run but played well in coverage too, he would have seven interceptions on the season, which is more than most defensive backs land.
It was an elite defense that ran through Te’o.
He didn’t miss tackles, was never out of place, and made sure that everyone else was in place. There was an energy and pride he brought to Notre Dame, giving the Irish the confidence to thrive as a defense. It was the best defensive season by a Notre Dame player ever.
A five-star recruit, Te’o was one of the most important recruits of the modern era for Notre Dame. Oddly enough, you can thank Charlie Weis for landing him and give an assist to the Hawaii Bowl.
This was a major moment for Notre Dame, who was slipping in terms of talent.
The Irish weren’t winning the way they were supposed to at that point for 15 years. Their facilities were older and didn’t offer benefits that other schools did. Landing Te’o proved that Notre Dame still could get this type of talent, and it acted as an invitation to other premier recruits to start going to Notre Dame again and opened up Hawaii as a recruiting pipeline for Notre Dame, which Kelly has taken full advantage of in his time in South Bend.
Next. Notre Dame football: 3 most impactful offensive players of the Brian Kelly era. dark
Through his four years at Notre Dame, Manti Te’o had 437 tackles, 34 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, seven interceptions (all in 2012), six pass breakups, and two forced fumbles. He won the Maxwell Award, the Lott Award, the Bednarik Award, the Walter Camp Award, the Nagurski Trophy, the Butkus Award, the Lombardi Award, was a Heisman runner-up, and a unanimous All-American. Te’o is third all time in tackles at Notre Dame, behind Bob Crable and Bob Golic.