Another year, another season of tight end excellence on Notre Dame’s recruiting trail.

Irish commit Tyler Luatua nabbed 43 passes for 594 yards and eight touchdowns as a senior at La Miranda (Calif.) High.

In its position evaluation ratings leading up to National Signing Day Feb. 5, 247Sports ranked Notre Dame’s tight end duo of La Mirada (Calif.) High’s Tyler Luatua and Chicago Marist’s Nic Weishar as the best in the nation, ahead of Tennessee, Florida State, Clemson and Boise State.

Wrote Barton Simmons, recruiting analyst for 247Sports: “Both Luatua and Weishar are ranked among the top 10 at their position in the 247Sports Composite rankings and both bring a different skill set. Weishar is that lengthy tight end that can really extend the defense vertically, while Luatua can play more of the H-back role coming out of the backfield with his skill set.”

The 6-5, 215-pound Weishar set an Illinois state record for most career receptions with 256, and he is also one of four players in Marist history to start as a freshman for the varsity basketball team. At 6-4, 230, Luatua also plays basketball, and this past season his 43 catches for 594 yards included eight touchdowns.

It was publicized in the story that Notre Dame has had “recent” success at the tight end position. That is accurate … if “recent” includes the past five decades.

Starting in the 1960s, the term “tight end” began to be a part of the football nomenclature at Notre Dame, rather than just listing a player as an end. And since the 1970s, no school in America has produced such consistent excellence at tight end than the Fighting Irish. Here’s a decade-by-decade synopsis:

The 1970s

• Mike Creaney (1970-72) — The three-year starter averaged a remarkable 19.4 yards per catch on his 45 career grabs, and his presence allowed Dave Casper to help at offensive tackle, where the Irish were short on bodies.

• Dave Casper (1973) — One of the rare players in both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, Casper was a captain for the 1973 national champs, and his sensational 30-yard catch set up the go-ahead score with 4:26 left in the 24-23 victory over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. It was overshadowed because …

• Robin Weber (1973-76) — Made the most famous catch in school history, the 35-yard grab in the closing minutes on third-and-eight from the 3-yard line — while everyone converged on Casper — to seal the national title. Injuries would later stifle his football career.

Notre Dame pledge Nic Weishar set an Illinois state record with 256 career receptions, and is currently averaging 14.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game for the Chicago Marist High basketball team.

• Ken MacAfee (1974-77) — Three-time All-American and Walter Camp Player of the Year for the 1977 national champs, the No. 7 overall pick in the 1978 NFL Draft also is in the College Football Hall of Fame.

• Dean Masztak (1978-81) — He had first round written all over him after averaging about 18 yards on his 16 catches as a freshman in 1978 and pacing the team in receptions as a sophomore (27), but injuries his last two seasons truncated his football career.

The 1980s

• Tony Hunter (1981-82) — After Masztak’s injury, the former wideout Hunter was moved to tight end, earned All-America notice as Notre Dame’s top pass catcher in 1982 (42) and was the No. 12 pick in the first round.

• Mark Bavaro (1983-84) — A future All-Pro player for the two-time Super Bowl champion New York Giants, Bavaro also was a first-team Associated Press All-American as a senior with a team-high 32 catches.

• Derek Brown (1988-91) — A starter as a freshman for the 1988 national champs, he was the Parade High School Player of the Year and was taken with the 14th pick in the first round after his senior year.

Note: Tom Rehder (1984-87) and Andy Heck (1985-88) were former starting tight ends who were shifted to left tackle and were drafted in the third and first rounds of the NFL Draft after their final college season … Joel Williams (1983-86) was an eighth-round pick and Frank Jacobs (1987-89), who caught a touchdown pass in the 1989 Fiesta Bowl win over West Virginia for the national title, was considered the nation’s top recruit at tight end before later embarking on a baseball career.

The 1990s

• Irv Smith (1989-92) — Out from the shadow of Brown, he too became a first-round pick (20th pick overall) after his senior year.

• Pete Chryplewicz (1993-96) — Paced the team in receptions (27) as a senior in Lou Holtz’s final season and was selected in the fifth round.

• Dan O’Leary and Jabari Holloway (1997-2000) — A strong tandem throughout their career after being elite recruits, O’Leary was drafted in the sixth round and Holloway in the fourth.

2000-09

• John Owens (2000-02) — Although he caught only six passes at Notre Dame, the fifth-round selection played seven years in the NFL.

• Anthony Fasano (2002-05) — Mackey Award finalist caught 90 career passes and was a second-round pick, and he is still in the NFL with 228 career grabs (27 for touchdowns).

• John Carlson (2004-07) — Like Fasano, he was a Mackey Award finalist and second-round pick after nabbing 100 career passes. So far in the NFL he’s caught 177 passes (14 touchdowns).

2010-Present

• Kyle Rudolph (2008-10) — Caught a Notre Dame freshman tight end record 28 passes as a 13-game starter and morphed into the No. 1 tight end pick (second round) after his junior season. He’s caught 109 passes in three NFL seasons, 15 for scores.

• Tyler Eifert (2009-12) — Mackey Award winner for the 12-1 Irish in 2012 broke MacAfee’s 35-year record for career passes caught by a Notre Dame tight end with 140 en route to a first-round selection. He snared 39 passes for 445 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie.

• Troy Niklas (2011-13) — Like Rudolph, turned pro after his junior year when he grabbed 32 passes that averaged 15.6 yards per catch and included five touchdowns.

Ben Koyack, Durham Smythe, Mike Heuerman, Luatua and Weishar ... the grand stage is yours.