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Thankless Thirty-Three T hirty-three members of the Irish football team will run out of the north end zone tunnel at Notre Dame Stadium for the final time Saturday afternoon. They will file out one by one hearing their names piped through the public address system for the last time, and for many of them the first time. For almost all of them, trotting into the spotlight alone and hearing 80,000 fans say thank you will be unfamiliar territory. murphy's Law dan murphy Only a few hours after the 2010 class of recruits became official, Notre Dame started to apologize for them. The group of 23 signees didn't garner the same amount of star rankings individually or collectively as Irish fans expect. Only one of them — offensive lineman Christian Lombard — made the Parade All-America team. Recruiting services put the Notre Dame crop between 14th and 20th nationally. Most were closer to 20. If only new head coach Brian Kelly and his staff had more time, the experts said, he could've done better. Kelly didn't disagree. "You need time to recruit. You need success if you want to be able to continue to recruit the very best," he said from the podium before introducing the new class on National Signing Day, one of his first major announcements as Notre Dame's head coach. "Clearly we did not have either one on our side this time." The poster child for the underappreciated is, of course, senior quarterback Tommy Rees. The undersized, baby-faced Rees did little to impress his new coaches that spring as an early enrollee. Seven months later, he salvaged what could have been a step backward of a season by helping to win the last four games on the Irish schedule. After Notre Dame beat Miami in the Sun Bowl, fans clamored for him to return to the sidelines. The next three years unfolded in a similar pattern for Rees: Save the day, albeit without the grace of your average superhero, then get kicked in the teeth. Smile and repeat. "Maybe he was criticized and not thought of as a person that was going to get this team through tough times, but I think that's what he's done," fifth-year guard Chris Watt said. Rees isn't alone. TJ Jones often played the bridesmaid among Notre Dame wide receiver's during his career. Cornerback Bennett Jackson had to learn his new job on the fly. Even Louis Nix III, the gregarious headliner of this year's graduating class, toils in thankless work. At the center of the defensive line he had to rely on personality, not impressive statistics or big plays noticeable to the untrained eye, to get recognition. Nix cleared the way for linebacker Manti Te'o to reach legendary status during his college career. He was sandwiched between defensive ends Stephon Tuitt and Aaron Lynch, more five-star talent for his big frame to support. The fifth-year seniors, six of them will say goodbye to Notre Dame this Saturday, fit neatly with the rest of the line of 33 that will be waiting in the tunnel. Linebackers Dan Fox and Carlo Calabrese had the unenviable, unwinnable situation of replacing Te'o. Watt and left tackle Zack Martin were the driving force that repaired the Irish running game in 2012. Kelly said their consistent work ethic has paved the way for dominant offensive lines in the future. That foursome has missed a combined to- Quarterback Tommy Rees is the poster child for Notre Dame's unappreciated senior class, which has posted a 35-14 record the past four seasons. photo by bill panzica tal of four games since they took the field together in Kelly's debut. These are the guys, all of them, that had to do everything right to stay on the field. None were so blessed with talent that they could count on playing time without going out of their way to please the coaching staff. For a new regime hoping to make major changes, it was exactly what they needed. "I think we have a different relationship in a sense, a unique relationship with these guys, in that they had to trust us," Kelly said. "That in itself as a group is a great dynamic." Kelly said Notre Dame needed to learn ✦ Page 20 what it took to win when he first came to South Bend. This group learned and taught. When asked about the biggest change he's seen in the past five years, Watt pointed to the locker room culture — the way they go to work. He said that was Kelly's doing. It's reflexive now, deflecting credit. The group of seniors honored this Saturday may never get the credit they deserve, but if Notre Dame's future holds college football playoffs and 10-win seasons, this class should be remembered as the ones who got them there. ✦ E-mail Dan at dmurphy@blueandgold.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @BGI_DanMurphy.