Face One – QB Ron Powlus
Before the recruiting world really blossomed in the early 2000s, there was Ron Powlus.
Not just Notre Dame fans but college football fans as a whole heard the hype of Ron Powlus in the early ’90s. He was expected to take Notre Dame to even greater heights.
Powlus was the prize jewel of the 1993 recruiting class. He was named the 1992 national prep football player of the year by Parade Magazine, Gatorade and USA TODAY.
Famed analyst Beano Cook went so far as to make the following prediction for Powlus, something that was simply unfair to any prospect, especially one who had never even taken a collegiate snap:
A broken collarbone kept Powlus out of the 1993 season, but the star prospect took over in 1994 and kept the starting job the next four seasons.
Unfortunately for Powlus and Notre Dame, the expectations were clearly never met.
Powlus left college after 1997 holding 20 Notre Dame records, including most wins by a starting quarterback, a record that finally fell when Notre Dame beat Syracuse in what was likely Ian Book’s final start at Notre Dame Stadium.
Powlus and Notre Dame combined to go 30-17-1 over his four years, a far cry from the 40-8-1 the Fighting Irish went the four previous years. And, it goes without saying, he never won a Heisman Trophy.
Injuries played a part in Powlus’s career. The aforementioned collar bone injury changed his true-freshman season and a broken arm in 1995 kept him out of the heart-breaking Orange Bowl loss to Florida State.
Powlus wound up going undrafted, but he signed a free-agent deal with the Tennessee Oilers in 1998. He spent a brief time with the Oilers, Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles in his NFL career while spending the 2000 season in NFL Europe.
Powlus returned to Notre Dame as part of Charlie Weis’s staff in 2005, and he was Jimmy Clausen’s quarterback’s coach before Weis and his staff were let go following the 2009 season.
Powlus is back at Notre Dame these days, serving as the associate athletics director and sports administrator for the football team.
More Mount Rushmores from the College Wire Network:
Bama / Aub / Fla / LSU / Tenn. / UGA // Mich. / Mich St. / Ohio St. / Wisc. // Okla. / Texas // ND // USC