Notre Dame Football: Top-25 players of the Brian Kelly era

One of the common reasons that it is suggested why Notre Dame Football can’t get over the hump is that they don’t have enough talent compared to the elite teams in college football. That may be true, as teams like Alabama and Clemson absolutely hoard talent, but the Irish have had plenty of talent come through during the years that Brian Kelly has been at the helm of the program.

So the question becomes, who are the 25 best players to come through Notre Dame while Brian Kelly was the coach?

It can be difficult to grade one position against another. Do you overvalue quarterbacks? Maybe put less emphasis on specialists? It can also be tough to distinguish different eras in sports, and while it has only been a little more than a decade there have been massive changes to how the game is played and even who Notre Dame plays against as they entered the ACC deal.

All of this can affect how we look at different players.

There is obviously room for debate here, but the rules are simple. You have to have played at least two seasons under Brian Kelly. This means you can have been recruited and played under Charlie Weis as well. The second rule is that NFL production isn’t taken into account. This is a college list.

It’s also worth noting that there are players off this list who would likely make it after another year or so at Notre Dame. Michael Mayer and Kyren Williams fit the bill there. Hopefully, in a few seasons, Tyler Buchner will too.

So, here are the top-25 players to play under Brian Kelly, between 2010 and 2020.