Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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senior season. He doesn't fit the rangy 6-4 or 6-5 "profile" of an outside line- backer/defensive end such as current juniors Ishaq Williams or Ben Coun- cell, or sophomore Romeo Okwara, so he would seem a prime redshirt candidate as a freshman while the staff assesses where he might be most able to help. The 6-3, 245-pound Bonner is slated to begin his career at outside line- backer/defensive end, where Williams and Okwara succeed the graduated Prince Shembo. In a 3-4 scheme, the top inside linebacker this spring would far and away be Grace, but during his con- valescence period, athletes such as Moore, Schmidt and Deeb should receive extensive reps. Once the in- side linebacker reinforcements arrive in the summer with Morgan, Martini and Sykes, Notre Dame will be able to form three full units in practice at inside linebacker. With a 4-3 look (almost 50-50 last year anyway) also applied in 2014 un- der new defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder, playing time will be there for the taking at inside linebacker. ✦ Top Linebacker Trios Since 1984 This year's recruiting class will have five linebacker candidates. Chronologically, here are some of the top trios of linebackers in a single recruiting class over the past 30 seasons: 1984: Frank Stams, Wes Pritchett and Darrell "Flash" Gordon Stams played fullback early in his career, but became a consensus All-American as a hybrid outside linebacker/defensive end for the 1988 national champs. Middle linebacker Pritchett led that team in tackles with 112. Gordon shared the drop slot with sophomore Andre Jones and freshman Arnold Ale. 1987: Andre Jones, Scott Kowalkowski and Donn Grimm Jones, the father of 2010-13 wideout TJ Jones, was a three-year starter or co-starter and seventh-round NFL Draft pick. Kowalkowski succeeded Stams in 1989-90, was an eighth-round draft pick, and played a remarkable 11 seasons in the NFL, mainly as a special teams stalwart. Inside linebacker Grimm was second in tackles (93) for the 12-1 team in 1989 and ninth in 1990 (40) while picking off four passes in those years. 1993: Bert Berry, Lyron Cobbins and Kinnon Tatum Berry and Tatum were third-round draft picks, with Berry playing 13 seasons in the NFL. Cobbins led the team in tackles (105) and interceptions (5) as a junior in 1995. In 1996, Tatum paced the team in stops with 77, while Cobbins was second with 72 and Berry, on the outside, had 10 sacks. 1995: Kory Minor, Bobbie Howard and Jimmy Friday Four-year starter Minor's 43.5 career tackles for loss are third most at Notre Dame. Friday led the team in tackles in 1997 (109) and was second in 1998 (79), while Howard was first in 1998 (118) and third in 1997 (91). 2009: Manti Te'o, Carlo Calabrese and Dan Fox Led by 2012 Heisman Trophy runner-up Te'o's 437 stops, plus seven interceptions as a senior, this trio combined for exactly 900 career tackles. That will be virtually impossible to match by any future line- backer threesome that arrives in the same recruiting class. — Lou Somogyi