blog Domer Domain's favorite Notre Dame QBs since Joe Montana

[FaithInIrishForever]

Introduction:

The most scrutinized position in all of College Football is the Quarterback at the University of Notre Dame. The standard for quarterbacks is national championships, leadership, and being able to deal with constant pressure and high expectations from both fans and the media. The example for ND quarterbacks is set by Joe Montana.

Joe was part of a national championship team at Notre Dame in 1977. He also led the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers to four Super Bowl Championships.  Let’s talk about our favorite Notre Dame Quarterbacks since 1980!

Our Favorite QB of the 1980’s: Tony Rice

Tony Rice led Lou Holtz’s 1988 Notre Dame team to a National Championship. He was a dynamic option quarterback who woke up the echoes with an amazing rushing attack.

When teams activated their safeties to stop the run, Rice had a knack for hitting timely deep passes as well. Rice passed for 1,176 yards and rushed for 700 yards in the National Championship year of 1988.

Our Favorite QB of the 1990’s: Rick Mirer

After the Notre Dame Career of Tony Rice came Rick Mirer from 1989 to 1992. Rick came in with very high expectations, wore Joe Montana’s number 3, and had a good Notre Dame career. Mirer was 29-7-1 and won 3 bowl games.  

Meyer was drafted highly and struggled in the NFL.  Under the pressure at Notre Dame where the eyes of the nation had just focused with the NBC television contract, a solid career like Mirer’s becomes judged harshly because of the lack of a National Championship.

Our Favorite QB of the 2000’s: Brady Quinn

Brady Quinn was recruited by Tyrone Willingham and excelled under Charlie Weis. Weis had just won a Super Bowl as the Offensive Coordinator of the New England Patriots with their QB Tom Brady. Brady Quinn improved drastically from 2004 to 2005 where his passing touchdowns went from 17 to 32. Notre Dame lost the Fiesta Bowl that year to Ohio State by the score of 34-20.  

In 2006, Quinn threw even more touchdowns, 37, to only 7 interceptions. The Irish would lose the Sugar Bowl to LSU, 41-14. Quinn struggled in the NFL after being drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the first round.

Quinn currently does college football pre-game show work for the Fox Network.

Conclusion:

It has been a long while since Tony Rice led the Irish to glory in 1988 and even longer since Joe Montana did so in 1977. The pressure builds among our fanbase as we debate the qualities needed in the next national championship quarterback.

As Sam Hartman competes to have the privilege that comes with the pressure of being the starting quarterback of the University of Notre Dame fans have national championship hopes.  The quarterback position at Notre Dame waits impatiently for the next national championship chapter to be written.