Stacking Up: How Notre Dame's 2021 Offensive Line Haul Compares to Past Irish Groups

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

When Notre Dame added guard Rocco Spindler to a class that already contained top tackle Blake Fisher it gave the Irish one of the best one-two punches up front in the 2021 class.

Spindler and Fisher are both Top 50 national recruits according to the 247Sports composite ranking, and they anchor a quality four-man unit. It's a strong group, but how does it stack up against Notre Dame's past great offensive line hauls? In some ways, quite well.

Check out this breakdown:

There are three different breakdowns in this chart, which is made up of the 247Sports composite ranking for each recruit in each class. It begins with head coach Brian Kelly's first full class (2011) until now. 

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.

Fisher ranks No. 48 on the composite ranking and Spindler ranks No. 50, and that duo puts the 2021 class at the top of the list for the average of the top two players in each class. That was slightly higher than the 2016 class, whose two best players were Liam Eichenberg and Tommy Kraemer.

From a star power standpoint the 2021 class is as good as it gets for Notre Dame in the last decade when you look at the composite ranking.

There's a big gap, however, between the top two players and the other two 2021 commits, tackle Joe Alt and guard Patrick Coogan. That drags down the average of the entire class, and the 2021 class actually ranks ninth (out of 11 classes) in total average and sixth (out of eight classes) in the average of the top three players in the class.

Here's a quick glance at the other Notre Dame classes, listed by highest to lowest in average ranking for the class.

2020 (247Spors 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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

2021

Blake Fisher, OT - No. 48
Rocco Spindler, G - No. 50
Pat Coogan, G - No. 584
Joe Alt, OT - No. 647

Coogan is a player some felt would jump a bit in the rankings, but with Illinois not allowing high schools to play football in 2020 it's unlikely he'll see any movement.

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.

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.

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