Notre Dame’s Top Classes: No. 6

The class ratings were based on 1) impact on the program through production, championship contention and talent level of other classes around them, 2) balance at the various positions and 3) overall depth in number of major producers.

THE 1951 RECRUITING CLASS

Players Approximately Signed: 25

Record At Notre Dame From 1952-54: 25-3-2 (.867)

Associated Press Final Rankings: No. 3 (1952), No. 2 (1953), No. 4 (1954)

LEADERS IN THE LINEUP

Quarterbacks: Ralph Guglielmi, Tom Carey

Halfback/Flanker: Joe Heap

Offensive/Defensive End: Dan Shannon, Paul Matz

Offensive Tackle/Defensive Tackle: Frank Varrichione, Sam Palumbo, Tony Pasquesi, Bob Ready

Offensive Guard/Linebacker: Jack Lee

Center/Linebacker: Dick Szymanski

Defensive Backs: Guglielmi, Heap, Carey, Paul Reynolds

IMPACT

Since 1950, the longest stretch of top-four finishes for Notre Dame occurred in the three seasons from 1952-54, when the Irish placed No. 3, No. 2 and No. 4, respectively. A major reason was the class recruited by head coach Frank Leahy and his staff in 1951. In 1950 and 1951, Notre Dame assembled possibly its finest back-to-back recruiting efforts ever.

The 1950 group featured six players who were drafted among the top 45 players in the 1954 NFL Draft, with Art Hunter, John Lattner and Neil Worden at Nos. 2, 7 and 9, respectively.

Yet the 1951 recruiting haul topped them by having eight players among the first 63 in the 1955 NFL Draft, led by quarterback Guglielmi (No. 3), tackle Varrichione (No. 6) and halfback Heap (No. 8).

BALANCE

Our No. 7-rated class from 1963 had similar NFL draft numbers and its three-year record of 25-3-2 from 1964-66 was identical to the 1951 group from 1952-54.

The difference was that the 1963 haul was top heavy with linemen such as Alan Page, Kevin Hardy, Paul Seiler and Tom Regner, as well as linebacker Jim Lynch. No quarterback, wide receiver or defensive back emerged from that group.

The 1951 recruits had their share of stellar linemen, but also a College Football Hall of Fame quarterback in Guglielmi and Notre Dame’s lone three-time Academic All-American in runner/receiver/return man Heap.

Guglielmi intercepted 10 passes in 1953-54 (five apiece), a reflection of the versatility needed in football back then. He was 26-3-2 (.871 win percentage) as the starting QB. The only two Fighting Irish signal-callers with better records are Heisman Trophy winner John Lujack (20-1-1, .932) and Tony Rice (28-3, .903).

Heap’s 71 receptions averaged 16.5 yards per catch, and he also amassed 1,457 yards rushing and 4.9 yards per carry. Heap and Rocket Ismail are the lone players in Irish history to total more than 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in only three seasons of varsity action. Heap added 92- and 94-yard punt returns for touchdowns, as well as a kick return for a score.

The offensive and defensive backfields were buoyed by the presence of Carey, whom Irish assistant coach Bill “Moose” Fischer, the 1948 Outland Trophy winner, cited as one of the toughest players he’d ever been around. The depth in the backfield included Reynolds, who stepped in as the starting safety as a sophomore in 1952.

Headlining the interior play was Varrichione, a three-year starter for the Irish (the last two going both ways) who had an 11-year, All-Pro career in the NFL.

Yet classmate Szymanski, who started at center and linebacker, topped Varrichione’s NFL stint by playing 13 seasons. He intercepted three passes as a freshman in 1951 and later made All-Pro while hiking the ball to Johnny Unitas.

Two other Irish tackles from the ’51 recruiting class — Palumbo and Pasquesi — joined Varrichione as top-50 picks in the NFL Draft. Palumbo was one of 11 players from this class who already was a starter by his sophomore year in 1952.

Both of the ’54 captains from that 1951 recruiting class were the starting ends, Shannon and Matz. They also were teammates at Chicago’s Mount Carmel High, where 1954-58 Notre Dame head coach Terry Brennan was their football mentor.

Matz stepped in as a starter on defense in 1952. The fiery Shannon (grandfather of incoming Irish long snapper John Shannon) made the “tackle heard ’round the world” as a sophomore in ’52 when his devastating hit on Oklahoma’s Larry Grigg forced a fumble that set up Notre Dame’s game-winning TD.

As ends on offense and defense, Shannon and Matz joined Heap as viable targets for Guglielmi. Shannon caught 18 passes (five for touchdowns) in 1953-54 while averaging 19.6 yards per catch. In those same two seasons, Matz snared 21 for 285 yards.

Starting guard Lee played with Varrichione at Aquinas Institute in Rochester, N.Y.

DEPTH

Eleven players were two-way starters in 1954, and eight of them were from the 1951 group. That’s almost like having 16 starters from one recruiting haul.

The three straight AP top-four rankings from 1952-54 were well earned. In 1952, the Irish were 4-1 against top-10 teams, and in 1953 they won at Oklahoma (the last loss in 47 games for the Sooners) and snapped Georgia Tech’s 31-game unbeaten streak.

Finally, despite the graduation of the stellar 1950 class and the coaching change with Brennan replacing Leahy in 1954, the Irish opened with a 21-0 victory over No. 4 Texas en route to a 9-1 finish. With or without the ’50 recruits, the 1951 group stood on its own merits.

SUMMARY

Eight players from the 1951 class were among the first 63 picks in the 1955 NFL Draft (Guglielmi, Varrichione, Heap, Szymanski, Pasquesi, Reynolds, Palumbo and Shannon).

From 1952-54, this group was a phenomenal 13-2-2 against ranked foes — 6-1 versus the top 10.

There were major contributors at virtually every position. Also, despite the loss of a stellar senior class in 1953, it responded with a 9-1 record in 1954 while undergoing the transition from Leahy to Brennan.

What kept it out of our top five is the presence of the 1950 class (among our top dozen) with Lattner didn’t put as much of the onus on this group to carry the program in 1952 and 1953. Most of our top five classes had to compensate for either weak recruiting classes in front of them or behind them, if not both.

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