Conference Independent AP No. 17 | Coaches No. 19 2006 record 10–3 | |
Head coach Charlie Weis (2nd year) Offensive coordinator Michael Haywood (2nd year) | ||
The 2006 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Charlie Weis and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. The team completed the season with a record of ten wins and three losses that culminated in a post-season appearance in the 2007 Sugar Bowl and a number 19 ranking in the nation.
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Pre-season
After finishing 9-3 in 2005, Notre Dame began the 2006 season ranked No. 3 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 2 in the Associated Press Poll. These were Notre Dame's highest preseason rankings since 1994, when they occupied the same positions in both polls.
Roster changes
The Irish lost nine former starters to graduation and the NFL after the 2005 season, including five offensive starters, three defensive, and placekicker D.J. Fitzpatrick. However, the Irish returned many key players such as quarterback Brady Quinn, wide receiver Jeff Samardzija, running back Darius Walker, and safety Tom Zbikowski from the previous year's squad, Notre Dame received much pre-season hype as a possible national championship contender.
Recruits
In Weis' first full year of recruiting, the Irish signed 28 recruits. The top ten ranked recruiting class, included three five star recruits on offense and 14 four star recruits with eight on offense and six on defense.
Award candidates
Quinn also entered the season as one of the favorites to win the coveted Heisman Trophy. Along with Quinn, the following Fighting Irish football players were named to national award watchlists for the 2006 season:
Notre Dame's three players on the Maxwell Award watchlist tied Miami, Michigan, Ohio State, and USC for most nominees.
Awards
After the season, a four Irish players were nominated for or won postseason awards. Geoff Price, was named as a Ray Guy Award semi-finalist, Tom Zbikowski was named as a Jim Thorpe Award semi-finalist, and John Carlson was named as a John Mackey Award finalist. Brady Quinn, after finishing third in balloting for the Heisman Trophy, was named a finalist to two top quarterbacking awards, the Johnny Unitas Award and the Davey O'Brien Award, and won two player of the year awards, the Maxwell Award and the Cingular All-American Player of the Year.
Along with the award winners, six Irish players were named to All-American lists. Sam Young was named by The Sporting News as a first team freshman All-American. Five players were named by Sports Illustrated, including Quinn on the second team, and Jeff Samardzija, Rhema McKnight, John Carlson, and Geoff Price as honorable mentions. The AP named Quinn and Samardzija on their second team and Tom Zbikowski on their third team, while Samardzija and Zbikowski were named by the Walter Camp Football Foundation on their second team. Finally, Samardzija was named by the Football Writers Association of America on their first team as well as being named, for the second time, as a Consensus All-American by the NCAA.
NFL Draft
In the 2007 NFL Draft seven players were taken, including offensive starters Quinn, Ryan Harris and Dan Santucci and defensive starters Victor Abiamiri, Derek Landri, Mike Richardson and Chinedum Ndukwe. Five others also signed contracts with NFL teams, while Samardzija signed a deal with the Chicago Cubs as a baseball pitcher.