Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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not happen," Kelly said. "Because of him, he's been able to up the play of all of our younger players exponentially. He's made others around him better." But Zack's most profound impact as an older brother figure has been around Nick, long before the brothers could ever dream of running out of the Notre Dame Stadium tunnel together. "He's probably my biggest coach out there," Nick said. "He'll pull me aside and he'll rip on me … but I know he wants the best for me. We'll watch film together and he'll help me out. He's a great player, so I listen anytime he talks." ✦ Notre Dame's Band of Brothers There have been dozens of brothers who played football at Notre Dame from A (quarterback Frank Al‑ locco and halfback Rich Allocco in the 1970s) through Z (quarterback Bill Zloch and defensive back Chuck Zloch in the 1960s). In one case, Elmer Layden, one of the legendary Four Horsemen from 1922‑24, was the head coach of the Irish in 1935 when brother Mike Layden was his starting right halfback. In 1970 as a senior, Larry DiNardo was a consensus All-American at offensive guard — and four years later younger brother Gerry DiNardo repeated the feat at the same position. The "First Family" of Notre Dame was the Millers in the early part of the 20th century. From 1909-24, four different Miller brothers starred at Notre Dame from former captain Harry in 1909 to Four Horseman Don in 1924. Harry's son, Creighton, would lead the nation in rushing for Notre Dame's 1943 national champions. What were the greatest single-season brother combinations at Notre Dame? Here is our "Final Four." 1. Ross & Jim Browner (1975-77) — During the national title campaign in 1977, senior defensive end Ross finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy balloting while junior strong safety Jim was sixth on the team in tackles with 73, plus he recovered a single-season school-record six fumbles. A year earlier, Ross won the Outland Trophy while Jim recorded 80 stops. A third brother, Willard, played fullback in 1976 before transferring. 2. Mike & Willie Townsend (1972) — All-American defensive back Mike led the nation in interceptions with 10, while wide receiver Willie paced the Irish in receiving with 25 catches for 369 yards and four touchdowns. The following year, Mike was a tri-captain for the national champs while Mike was the backup for Pete Demmerle at split end. The two also helped out as walk-ons on Digger Phelps' first two basketball teams at Notre Dame in 1971-72 and 1972-73. 3. Tony & Reggie Brooks (1990) — The 1990 backfield was so overstocked with quality runners, junior Tony rushed for 451 yards while sophomore Reggie was shifted to cornerback and made a late intercep‑ tion to help preserve a 28-24 victory against Michigan. Tony would finish his career sixth in school history in rushing yards, while a monster 1992 season at running back placed Reggie fifth in the Heisman balloting. 4. Dave & Tim Huffman (1977-78) — Dave was the starting center from 1976-78 while offensive guard Tim played the most minutes of any freshman on the 1977 national champs. The following season, they started next to each other in the last nine games, plus the Cotton Bowl. The Fighting Irish went 9-1 during that stretch, losing only to co-national champ USC on a controversial call in the final minute. — Lou Somogyi