Notre Dame Football: 15 best quarterbacks in Fighting Irish history
By John Buhler
John Huarte is one of four Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks in Notre Dame history. He is also one of nine former Irish signal-callers to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. But what sets Huarte apart from the rest is how much his Heisman campaign carried him into the pantheon. Without his iconic 1964 NCAA season, nobody would be talking about him in the college football landscape.
Given that Huarte played for Notre Dame in the early 1960s, freshmen were not allowed to play with the varsity team. Frankly, that didn’t matter all that much for Huarte. He barely played for the Irish in 1962 and 1963. He attempted a total of 50 passes during those two years. Notre Dame was a sub-.500 team during those two seasons. That would all change in 1964.
Huarte’s 1964 Heisman campaign saw him complete 55.6 percent of his passes for 2,062 yards, 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also had three rushing touchdowns for the Irish that fall. Notre Dame went 9-1 that season, finishing the year ranked No. 3 in both the AP and Coaches Poll. The Irish’s only loss came in the final game of the season by three points on the road to the rival USC Trojans. Notre Dame was ranked No. 1 at the time of that late November meeting in Los Angeles.
Interestingly enough, 1964 would be the iconic head coach Ara Parseghian’s first season coaching the Golden Domers. While the Irish didn’t win the national title that autumn, it’s safe to say that Huarte’s brilliant senior season was a springboard for Parseghian’s outstanding 11-year run at South Bend. Parseghian won a pair of national titles, once in 1966 and again in 1973.
The 1964 All-American quarterback would be taken in both the AFL and NFL Drafts. Huarte opted to sign with the New York Jets over the Philadelphia Eagles. However, his time in New York was short-lived. That is because Joe Namath was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1965 AFL Draft out of Alabama. We all know how that Jets quarterback battle played out in 1965. Huarte would play professionally in the AFL, the NFL and the WFL, retiring as a member of the 1975 Memphis Southmen.
Huarte would win a Super Bowl as a member of the 1969 Kansas City Chiefs backing up Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson. It would take until 2005, but Huarte rightfully earned his spot in the College Football Hall of Fame. It might have been based almost entirely on one NCAA season, but Huarte’s 1964 senior season with the Golden Domers remains one of the best quarterbacked seasons in Notre Dame history.