Notre Dame Recruiting: Gunner Kiel Would Lead Irish Back to BCS Glory

Gunner Kiel—the second ranked quarterback in the class of 2012—has reopened his recruiting process and if Notre Dame can pick him up, they will have finally a found a QB to lead them back to BCS prominence.

The Fighting Irish haven't won a major bowl game since the 1994 Cotton Bowl (unless you count the Hawaii Bowl or the Sun Bowl, which I don't) and have suffered through some shaky quarterback play since Brady Quinn left for the NFL in 2007.

Senior Dayne Crist got 16 chances to throw this year before he was yanked for sophomore Tommy Rees. Rees has been solid, but certainly not spectacular this season, completing 66 percent of his passes for 1,503 yards, 14 touchdowns and six interceptions.

In all likelihood, Rees will be the starter next season, even if Kiel is on board.

But whenever Kiel gets his chance, the kid well be ridiculously good.

First of all, his name is Gunner, which is just cool as hell. He's also one of the biggest quarterbacks in this class (6-foot-4, 218 lbs.) and is deceptively quick. Just watch him run all over teams in his highlight reel.

Of course, Kiel's biggest strength is his pure passing ability. His technique is just gorgeous, he has a cannon where his right arm should be, and he's capable of jaw-dropping throws.

Check out his completion 54 seconds into that video. High school kids should not be able to do that.

Kiel initially committed to Indiana University, but is understandably rethinking his decision after the Hoosiers 1-6 start.

The 5-star recruit will be visiting Notre Dame tonight as they take on USC. If the Fighting Irish want to win over their potential savior, they will have to put on a show tonight.