Notre Dame Football Recruiting: The 10 Greatest Recruiting Classes of All Time

With National Signing Day roughly two weeks away, it's time to turn back the clock and check out Notre Dame's greatest recruiting classes in program history.

The Fighting Irish have had a number of outstanding recruiting hauls, so it's a tad difficult to narrow them down to 10, but this list should provide for a bit of nostalgia.

Follow along and get ready to take a trip down memory lane.

10. 2003

The most recent of these 10 recruiting classes, 2003 brought the Fighting Irish a number players who would eventually move on to the NFL.

Perhaps the most notable of the 2003 prospects was quarterback Brady Quinn, who is currently entering free agency after spending the last three seasons with the Denver Broncos.

Quinn had an illustrious career at Notre Dame, passing for 11,762 yards and 85 touchdowns in four seasons of action.

Aside from Quinn, other significant players include: Tom Zbikowski, Jeff Samardzija, Trevor Laws, Ryan Harris, John Carlson and Chinedum Ndukwe.

Samardzija is the only one of those players who chose not to play in the NFL. Instead, he opted to enter the MLB Draft, and he was selected by the Chicago Cubs.

This class was recruited by Tyrone Willingham, but experienced tremendous amounts of success under former head coach Charlie Weis. This was the last class to play in a BCS bowl game. 

9. 1965

Notre Dame's 1965 recruiting class has a unique connection to the current roster: a family connection.

During that recruiting cycle, the Irish received a commitment from quarterback Terry Hanratty, whose son Connor is currently an offensive linemen for head coach Brian Kelly.

The elder Hanratty, who won the 1967 Sammy Baugh Trophy, combined with standout wide receiver Jim Seymour to lead the Fighting Irish to the 1966 national championship. Hanratty was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1969 NFL Draft and ended his professional career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976.

Seymour also entered the 1969 draft and was selected by the Chicago Bears with the 10th overall pick. However, Seymour would only play three full seasons in the NFL.

8. 1950

The 1950 recruiting class is worth mentioning because of the commitment of star halfback Johnny Lattner. Lattner would go on to win the Heisman Trophy in 1953.

Lattner also won the Maxwell Award in both 1952 and 1953, but failed to lead his team to a national championship, despite coming tantalizingly close.

Credit goes to Lattner's head coach, Frank Leahy, for developing him into such a tremendous collegiate player.

7. 1961

Another lethal pass-catch combination came to Notre Dame via the 1961 recruiting class and in the form of quarterback John Huarte and tight end Jack Snow.

Both players were All-Americans—with Huarte laying claim to the 1964 Heisman Trophy.

The hardware that those two accumulated isn't the only accomplishment to be recognized from this class, though. The Irish would go on to lose just one game during the 1964 season, and finished just short of claiming a national championship.

6. 1984

The gem of the 1984 recruiting class was wide receiver Tim Brown, who would later win the 1987 Heisman Trophy.

Brown, along with the rest of his teammates, were recruited by head coach Gerry Faust. However, they spent their two seasons as upperclassmen with Lou Holtz—who guided the Fighting Irish to the 1988 national championship game.

Another name worth mentioning in this class is linebacker Frank Stams, who the Irish successfully lured away from the Ohio State Buckeyes.

5. 1967

The 1967 recruiting class is best known for leading the Fighting Irish to consecutive appearances in the 1970 and 1971 Cotton Bowls.

Notre Dame played the University of Texas in both games, losing the first meeting, but coming out victorious in the second.

Each of those bowl games are considered to be two of the best in program history.

Both of those Irish squads were led by quarterback Joe Theismann, who would go on to play professionally for the NFL's Washington Redskins.

4. 1974

There's no question that quarterback Joe Montana was the best player in Notre Dame's recruiting class of 1974.

The future NFL quarterback led the Irish to the 1977 national championship—a 38-10 victory over the University of Texas.

The following season, Montana would lead his team to one of the most thrilling games in program history. Notre Dame won 35-34 in a come-from-behind victory over the University of Houston in the 1979 Cotton Bowl.

3. 1940

For one recruiting class to only lose three games during its four years on campus is nothing short of outstanding. That's exactly what the 1940 Notre Dame class was able to do.

Led by Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Angelo Bertelli, the 1940 class went on to win the 1943 national championship under head coach Frank Leahy.

2. 1953

The 1953 recruiting class featured quarterback Paul Hornung, who would later win the 1956 Heisman Trophy. 

Hornung had a brilliant professional career with the NFL's Green Bay Packers. He spent his entire NFL career with the Packers..

This crop, the last of Frank Leahy's career, would be coached by Terry Brennan from 1954 to 1956.

1. 1946

Perhaps the most vaunted recruiting class in the history of college football, Notre Dame's 1946 bunch won three national championships in four seasons under head coach Frank Leahy.

That recruiting crop had a combined record of 36-0-2 during its four seasons in South Bend. The class was headlined by tight end/defensive end Leon Hart, who was awarded the 1949 Heisman Trophy.

Along with Hart was fullback Emil Sitko, who was a bruising, downhill runner. He would finish eight in the Heisman voting during the same season that Hart won the award.