Stacking Up Notre Dame's 2021 Offensive Line Class vs. Past Irish Classes

Breaking down how the Notre Dame 2021 offensive line class stacks up against past line hauls

Notre Dame landed an outstanding group of offensive linemen in the 2021 class. The five-man haul is arguably one of the five best line classes in the country, and it certainly ranks among the ten best.

Notre Dame has a history of recruiting outstanding line classes, and in some ways the 2021 class ranks among the best of the Brian Kelly tenure. I broke down how the class compared to past classes after Rocco Spindler committed in October, and now it’s time to re-do the list now that the class is full.

Let’s take a look:

Just like last time, there are three different aspects to this analysis, which is built around the 247Sports composite rankings. The first ranking is the overall player average for each class, the second is the average of the two best players in each class and the third is the three best players in each class on the composite ranking.

Avon (Ind.) High School standout Blake Fisher had a tremendous senior season and ranks as the No. 52 overall player in the country. Rivals ranks him as a five-star recruit and the No. 25 overall player. Fisher, Quenton Nelson (2014) and Tommy Kraemer (2016) are the only Notre Dame offensive line recruits during the Kelly era to be ranked as a five-star by one of the services.

Spindler ranks as the No. 60 player of the country, and he’s one of the best interior blockers in nation. Spindler played tackle as a senior and he looked comfortable on the edge, which only adds to his value and versatility.

The addition of Ocala (Fla.) Trinity Catholic Caleb Johnson and the strong senior season from Fridley (Minn.) Totino-Grace tight end - and future tackle - Joe Alt bumped the class up. Landing Johnson also meant that Chicago (Ill.) Marist guard Pat Coogan is now the number five blocker in the class, which actually boosts the quality of the class despite dragging down the ranking compared to other classes.

When you compare this class to past Irish classes it’s as good as any at the top. Landing five players means it ties the 2013 class for the biggest line haul of the Kelly era. Those are certainly the two biggest positives of the haul.

Notre Dame missed on multiple opportunities to land more impact players at the top of the class, which is why the class ranks fifth out of eight classes that signed three or more blockers. When you consider that Notre Dame’s top two commits in 2021 are the second best one-two punch to sign with the Irish in the last 11 classes the overall grade should and could have been better.

After several early misses, line coach Jeff Quinn recovered by adding Spindler to the class, finding a high-upside blocker like Alt and then flipping Johnson from Auburn. Yes, the class could and should have been better, but it also could have been a lot worse. Take away what the class should have been and look at what it is, and you’ll see a strong class with two top-level players, strong depth and one three-star recruit (Alt) that could end up being one of the steals of the class.

Let’s take a look at past Notre Dame offensive line classes:

2020 (247Sports composite ranking)

Tosh Baker, OT - No. 100
Michael Carmody, T/G - No. 146

This class benefitted from only having two players, and it was two very good players. While the Irish came up short in numbers in the class it struck it big in quality.

2019

Zeke Correll, C - No. 95
Quinn Carroll, OT - No. 118
Andrew Kristofic, OT - No. 183
John Olmstead, G - No. 185

This is arguably Notre Dame's best class if you look just at national recruiting rankings. It lacks the true star power of other classes (no Top 50 players), but it's also one of just two classes with at least four Top 200 players.

2018

Jarrett Patterson, OL - No. 369
John Dirksen, G - No. 515
Luke Jones, C/G - No. 516
Cole Mabry, OT - No. 716

This was by far the lowest ranked offensive line class of the Kelly era, although Patterson's emergence is making this class look much, much better. After him, however, this was a depth class.

2017

Robert Hainsey, OT - No. 84
Joshua Lugg, OT - No. 120
Aaron Banks, G - No. 166
Dillan Gibbons, G - No. 374

This was another class with three strong players at the top. Hainsey was ranked 135th or better by all four services (which included Scout.com back then), and Lugg was ranked No. 84 nationally by 247Sports. 

2016

Tommy Kraemer, G/T - No. 26 (5-star)
Liam Eichenberg, OT - No. 80
Parker Boudreaux, G/T - No. 403

As things stand right now, Tommy Kraemer is the only composite five-star offensive lineman to sign with Notre Dame in the last decade. Eichenberg was ranked No. 60 by 247Sports, No. 67 by ESPN and No. 79 by Scout, but his average was dragged down by the fact Rivals ranked him No. 194.

This was the only other class that had two composite Top 100 recruits, and if not for Rivals poor ranking he might have been a Top 50 recruit.

2015

Tristen Hoge, C - No. 89
Trevor Ruhland, G - No. 462

This class would be near the top in ranking for the top two players if not for Jerry Tillery moving to defensive tackle prior to arriving at Notre Dame. He was recruited to play offensive line, and he was considered a Top 100 player as a blocker.

2014

Quenton Nelson, G - No. 61
Alex Bars, T/G - No. 109
Sam Mustipher, C - No. 225
Jimmy Byrne, T/G - No. 311

If this ranking was based on college success and production the 2014 class would be number one, and it wouldn't be close. This group produced arguably the best Irish blocker in decades (Nelson) and had three players combine to start 106 games. Bars (31 starts) and Mustipher (38 starts) were also three-year starters and were both captains.

2013

Hunter Bivin, OL - No. 97
Steve Elmer, T/G - No. 115
John Montelus, G - No. 152
Mike McGlinchey, OT - No. 172
Colin McGovern, G - No. 193

From a top-to-bottom standpoint, this is the class that rivals the 2019 unit. All five of the signees in this class ranked in the Top 200 on the composite list. Obviously Mike McGlinchey far out-played his ranking.

2012

Ronnie Stanley, OT - No. 125
Mark Harrell, G/C - No. 488

This was a small class that was put together during the transition from Ed Warriner to Harry Hiestand. Warriner didn't leave Notre Dame in the same strong position that Hiestand did with the 2019 class, but landing Stanley late salvaged the class.

2011

Matt Hegarty, G/C - No. 56
Nick Martin, C - No. 529
Conor Hanratty, G - No. 817

Hegarty was recruited to play offensive tackle but ultimately moved inside. He was the crown jewel of the class, and he started 13 games before finishing his career at Oregon. Martin far surpassed his recruiting ranking, and flipping him from Kentucky proved to be a huge pickup for the Irish.

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