Irish Football 101: The Glory Days of Lou

Q: So Notre Dame wins the championship in '88. How did their title defense go?

A: The Irish sprinted to an 11-0 record and the #1 ranking with senior quarterback Tony Rice at the helm, setting up a regular season finale showdown in Coral Gables with the Miami Hurricanes. Unfortunately the Canes got their revenge for the '88 game, defeating the Irish 27-10 en route to a national championship. Notre Dame finished with an identical record to the Hurricanes but were placed #2 in the polls since they'd lost head-to-head to Miami.

Q: That makes sense and seems fair that we'd end up #2, doesn't it?

A: Yes, can't disagree at all. If two teams finish with identical records and one team beat the other head-to-head then the most blatantly obvious/fair/logical thing to do is award the higher ranking to the team that won that head-to-head matchup.

Q: Why do you belabor that point?

A: You'll see later.

Q: Alright. A national championship in year three, a 12-1 season in year four. Did Holtz sustain this sort of success the rest of his tenure?

A: The next two years the Irish slipped just a bit after Tony Rice graduated. In 1990 the Irish posted a 9-2 regular season record. After defeating Miami in the final Catholics vs Convicts contest (thanks in large part to The Rocket) the Irish received a bid to the Orange Bowl against #1 Colorado.

It would be the final game in the collegiate career of Rocket Ismail and he did everything he could do go out in style. With 1:05 remaining the Irish trailed 10-9 and Colorado was forced to punt. Instead of kicking it out of bounds, the Buffs inexplicably gave Rocket one last chance. This is what happened:

In what would have no doubt gone down as one of the greatest and most clutch plays in college football history, the Rocket emerged from the pack and raced 92 yards for what appeared to be a game-winning touchdown. But a line judge threw a flag for what will forever be known as "The Phantom Clip."

Q: Wait, where was the clipping penalty in that call?

A: There was no clipping in that play. It was a call that deserves as much ignominy as Jim Joyce's call to screw up Galarraga's perfect game this year. We were robbed of one of the greatest Notre Dame Moments ever.

Q: Damn, so how did the Irish bounce back from that the next year?

A: It was another down year by Holtz's standards, going 9-3 in the regular season and gaining what many thought was an undeserved berth in the Sugar Bowl against #3 Florida. Notre Dame went into the contest ranked #18 and was a heavy underdog against the Gators and their high-octane offense led by Shane Matthews and head coach Steve Spurrier.

Many in the media cried that Notre Dame only got an invite because of their name and that their team didn't stand a chance against Florida. In the weeks leading up to the showdown it became known as "The Cheerios Bowl," because the joke was that the difference between Notre Dame and Cheerios was that Cheerios belonged in a bowl.

Q: Were the critics right?

A: Final Score - Irish 39, Gators 28. Notre Dame kept holding Spurrier's Fun n' Gun to field goals and eventually wore down their defense with running backs Rodney Culver, Reggie Brooks, and Jerome Bettis. Bettis ran for three touchdowns in the fourth quarter (3, 49, and 39 yards), all right up the middle of the Gators' defense. The Irish outscored them 32-12 in the second half and the media got to eat a whole lot of crow.

Q: How did the next couple years go?

A: The 1992 season was probably Holtz's most disappointing as head coach. It was a stacked offense led by senior quarterback Rick Mirer, tailback Reggie Brooks, and fullback Jerome Bettis (they would finish 1-2-3 in NFL Rookie of the Year voting the next season). Expectations were through the roof preseason, but they couldn't escape September without stumbling to a tie against Michigan. Then in a game that took place over the Notre Dame student body's fall break, the Irish fell at home to heavy underdog Stanford which essentially ended their national title hopes. They regrouped to finish the season 10-1-1, stomp Texas A&M 28-3 in the Cotton Bowl, and claim a final ranking of #4.

Expectations were lower the next season because so much talent had graduated, but at the same time the most highly touted recruit in Notre Dame history arrived on campus. Ron Powlus was a quarterback from Berwick, PA that ESPN analyst Beano Cook proclaimed would win multiple Heisman Trophies by the time he'd graduated from ND. He was installed as the starter before the first game before breaking his collarbone in practice. This opened the door for senior quarterback Kevin McDougal to take the reins. The Irish burst out of the gate with nine straight victories, setting up a November #1 vs #2 showdown with top-ranked Florida State in South Bend. It was billed as The Game of the Century.

Q: Were the Irish favored?

A: No, much like in the Cheerios Bowl two years earlier the experts proclaimed that the Irish could not keep up with the speed of the Seminoles on both sides of the ball. It was set up almost exactly like the Catholics vs Convicts game in '88--Old School vs New School, Brawn vs Speed, Catholics vs Criminoles.

The brash Seminoles showed up on campus before the game and let the trash talking flow. When quarterback and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward was asked whether his team respected the history of Notre Dame he responded, "What’s the Gipper? Rock Knutne? The Three Horsemen? I’m not here for a history lesson."

In one of Holtz's greatest masterpieces the Irish staked a 31-17 lead with just 1:37 left in the fourth quarter thanks to some creative play-calling and the rushing of fullback Ray Zellers, tailback Lee Becton, and cornerback/goal line specialist Jeff Burris. The defensive line, led by Bryant Young and Jim Flanagan, contained the ballyhooed Florida State attack and their leader Charlie Ward for most of the day. Late in the game though Ward broke through and after cutting the lead to seven, the Seminoles had one last chance with time running out.

Unfortunately, it was the last time Notre Dame was ranked #1 and the last truly iconic Notre Dame Moment to date.

Q: Did Notre Dame win the national title?

A: No. The next week they were upset in the final game of the season at home against Boston College, 41-39. The Irish were trailing 38-17 in the fourth quarter before engineering a furious comeback to take the lead 39-38 with just over a minute to go. Linebacker Pete Bercich had a chance to clinch the game with an interception with under a minute to go but it slipped through his hands. Boston College kicked a field goal as time expired to win the game. It was one of the three most heartbreaking losses in school history (along with '64 Southern Cal and '05 Southern Cal).

Q: Wow, how did they bounce back in the bowl game?

A: They defeated Texas A&M in a rematch of the previous year's Cotton Bowl, 24-21. #1 Nebraska took on Florida State in the Orange Bowl and the thought was that if Florida State won Notre Dame would be crowned national champions. The Seminoles squeaked out a victory over the Huskers and ended the season with the same record as Notre Dame but were awarded the national championship.

Q: Wait, didn't they lose to Notre Dame just two games earlier?

A: Yes.

Q: So they had identical records...and Notre Dame beat Florida State head-to-head...and Florida State was still given the national championship?!?!

A: Yes.

Q: But where's the logic in that?

A: You can't find it. It's hiding somewhere with Lane Kiffin's integrity.

Q: Still, despite that disappointment it was quite a six year run for Lou wasn't it?

A: You better believe it. During that stretch he pieced together a 23-game win streak, won a national title, finished #2 twice, finished in the top 6 five times, went to six major bowls (winning five of them), and posted a 64-9-1 record (.877 winning percentage). It was one of the most successful runs in modern college football.

Unfortunately that gut-wrenching loss to Boston College seemed to sap all momentum from the Irish juggernaut. It marked an abrupt end to Irish dominance and the beginning of a free-fall that plagues the program to this day.

***************************************************************************

This Week's CliffNotes:

* Notre Dame followed their national championship season with a 12-1 campaign, losing only at Miami. The 23-game win streak they pieced together is a school record that stands today.
* The Rocket was robbed of one of the greatest plays in college football history when some idiot official threw a flag for clipping. The play is forever known as The Phantom Clip and cost Notre Dame a victory over #1 Colorado in the Orange Bowl.
* Notre Dame won the 1992 Sugar Bowl over Florida 39-28 despite being a heavy underdog in what was known as "The Cheerios Bowl." Fullback Jerome Bettis rushed for three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to ice the victory.
* After a disappointing '92 campaign, Notre Dame won their first ten games of the 1993 season, including a 31-24 victory over Florida State in the Game of the Century.
* They were upset in the final game of the 1993 season at home against Boston College, 41-39. This is the greatest moment in Boston College history, even greater than Flutie's Hail Mary pass. This is the root of the reason we hate Boston College.
* Florida State and Notre Dame ended the season with identical records, but in the final poll Florida State was ranked #1 and ND #2 despite the fact Notre Dame defeated FSU head-to-head. This defies logic, much like Illinois deciding to give Ron Zook another year to coach their football team.
* Lou's run from '88-'93 was one of the best in the modern era of college football.

Irish Football 101: Lou to the Rescue

Q: So Notre Dame is in dire straits when they tap Lou Holtz to replace Gerry Faust. What was Holtz's background?

A: Well he'd coached at William & Mary, NC State, Arkansas, and Minnesota and experienced success at all four stops. He had a short stint at W&M, but in his second year led them to a conference championship and earned a berth in the Tangerine Bowl before accepting the job at NC State.

His record in Raleigh was 31-11-2, leading the Wolfpack to bowls in each of his four seasons at the helm. After an unsuccessful one year stint with the New York Jets he landed at Arkansas where during his first season he took the Razorbacks to an 11-1 record and a berth in the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma. Prior to the game his top two running backs violated teams rules and Holtz chose to send them home. The Hogs went on to thump Oklahoma 31-6 despite being shorthanded (ironically, by knocking off the Sooners Holtz helped seal Notre Dame's 1977 national championship).

His final stop before South Bend took him up to Minnesota prior to the '84 season, where he took a floundering program to a bowl game in only his second season. Before having the chance to coach that bowl game though Holtz was offered and accepted the Notre Dame position. He had actually put a "Notre Dame Clause" in his contract at Minnesota that said if offered the Notre Dame head coaching job he could accept it without penalty.

Q: What was Holtz like?

A: He had the reputation of disciplinarian and master motivator. His victory in the aforementioned Orange Bowl helped put him on the map as a coach who delivered in big games and his work turning around the programs at NC State and Minnesota made people believe he could do the same when he arrived at Notre Dame.

Q: Was everyone excited when he accepted the job?

A: From everything you read back then people were happy with Holtz but he was far from a slam dunk to lead the Irish back to the "Promised Land." He had only posted a 6-5 record at Minnesota the year before he took the ND job so it's not as if he was setting the world on fire. He had a reputation as a program builder but his star had faded a bit after being a prime candidate to replace Woody Hayes at Ohio State in the late 70's.

Q: How did he differ from Faust?

A: In the book Talking Irish, offensive lineman Chuck Lanza recalls the team's first encounter with Holtz. It was cold November day, less than 24 hours after the season ended the Faust Era with the mortifying Miami game and Faust had just said his final goodbye. Then Holtz walked in the door.

As Lou came in the room Lanza was leaning back, slouched in his chair with a foot up on the stage the coach stood upon. Holtz looked down at Lanza and said, "What's your name?" Lanza told him and Lou asked him how long he'd been playing football. Lanza said, "about ten years." Lou glared down and responded, "if you want to play one more you better move your foot, you better sit up in your chair, and you better pay attention."

There was a new sheriff in town that wasn't going to allow the slacking that had gone on under Faust. Holtz instantly injected discipline, toughness, and swagger to the program--three things that had been sorely lacking.

Q: Was he an instant success a la Parseghian?

A: Not quite. The Irish showed a lot of promise in the 1986 campaign but their final record didn't reflect it. After nearly upsetting #3 Michigan in the season opener, Notre Dame stumbled to a 5-6 record. There were signs of vast improvement though and perhaps the tipping point that pushed the Irish in the right direction came in the season finale against 17th ranked Southern Cal.

Notre Dame was trailing the Trojans 37-20 with under 13 minutes left when quarterback Steve Beuerlein engineered a furious rally that culminated when kicker John Carney--who had missed two game-winning kicks earlier in the season--split the uprights to secure a 38-37 victory for the Irish.

The victory set the tone for 1987. Notre Dame jumped out to an 8-1 record and in November was right in the thick of the national title hunt. Unfortunately they stumbled to the finish line with three straight losses, including a 24-0 loss to the hated Miami Hurricanes and a 35-10 drubbing at the hands of Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.

Q: Were people happy with the direction of the program under Holtz after year two?

A: The disappointing finish to the '87 campaign led some to question whether Holtz could ultimately take the Irish to a title, but there were plenty of positive signs in those first two seasons. The days of being totally man-handled in games against high-caliber opponents were gone, the defense showed a toughness that had been sorely lacking, and the offense sprung to life leading to Notre Dame's first Heisman Trophy winner in 23 years--wide receiver Tim Brown. Brown set the school record of All-Purpose Yards and provided an electric element that Notre Dame fans hadn't seen since the days of Nick Eddy.

Q: I mean this was in the 1980's, an era that Youtube covers pretty well. Got any videos with Brown highlights?

A: I'm glad you asked. There are plenty of highlights on Tim Brown's reel that are worth checking out, but at the top of the list was the 1987 game against Michigan State. In the second half Brown returned two consecutive punts for touchdowns, sparking an Irish victory and his Heisman campaign.

Q: So expectations were a bit higher going into Holtz's third campaign. Did he deliver?

A: You better believe it. It started in the season opener against Michigan in a night showdown at Notre Dame Stadium.

Q: Wait, they played night games at Notre Dame Stadium?!?!

A: Yes.

Q: Was the homefield advantage significantly greater at night?

A: Well at one point the crowd noise was so loud that Michigan protested and refused to take another snap until the crowd quieted down. The fans were so loud they were actually penalized at one point. Don't believe me? Let's go to the tape!


(Side question to Bill--has the vaunted Penn State student section adorned in their undershirts ever been so loud that the team was assessed a penalty?)

Q: Wow, Michigan wouldn't run a play because there was too much noise? Did they delay the game when there was wind too or when it got too hot or cold on the field?

A: What can you say--the Michigan Wolverines are a bunch of sissies. The Irish went on to win that game 19-17 and rolled to a 5-0 start. Notre Dame ascended to #4 in the rankings, setting up an October 15th showdown in South Bend with the top-ranked Miami Hurricanes. For the first time in years the Irish were expected to have a chance against the vaunted "U."

Q: Were there still hard feelings from the 1985 game when Jimmy Johnson ran up the score?

A: Um, yes. The Notre Dame senior class had witnessed the 58-7 drubbing their freshman year so the embarrassment was still fresh in their minds. The two schools were on opposite ends of the spectrum on just about everything, adding to the intrigue of the matchup. South Bend vs South Beach. Grit vs Flair. Old School vs New School.

Some entrepreneurial Notre Dame students added "Catholics vs Convicts" to that lineup, printing now famous shirts in preparation for the game that played on the fact that most Miami players had more misdemeanors on their record than C's on their transcripts (and more felonies than B's).

The venom between the two teams was palpable and during pregame warmups it boiled to a head. Notre Dame was in the endzone doing light special teams drills when Miami made its way to the locker room. A few of the Hurricanes decided to run through the Notre Dame drill as opposed to going around it and then stayed at the edge of the tunnel jawing at the Irish players in the endzone. Much of Miami's "mystique" and "aura" was based on intimidation even before the opening gun sounded. With the bully once again running its mouth some Irish players decided it was time the bully got punched in the mouth...literally.

A brawl broke out and became so large that it flooded into the tunnel. Police separated the teams and ushered them into their respective locker rooms. The Irish stewed in anger in the locker room, unsure of what Holtz would say about the events that had just taken place. He tried to refocus their attention on the game and not let the taunts and actions of the Canes distract them.

After a brief talk about the strategy the room fell silent. According to both Rocket Ismail and Pat Eilers, just before the players were to take the field Holtz lowered his voice and said, "I want you guys to go out there and play the Miami Hurricanes...but I'll tell you one thing: SAVE JIMMY JOHNSON'S ASS FOR ME." The team erupted, all but knocked the hinges off the door to the locker room and took the field.

In what is arguably the greatest Notre Dame moment ever, the Irish knocked off the trash-talking Hurricanes 31-30. Notre Dame's defense stepped up and forced seven turnovers, ran back an interception for a touchdown, and held off a late Miami charge by batting down a two-point conversion in the games waning moments. The Irish had slayed the giant, setting the stage for a run for the title.

Q: Did the Irish have an easy path the rest of the way to the national title game?

A: There was still one huge hurdle to clear: the Trojans of Southern Cal, who were ranked #2 in the country. The final game of the season required a trip to the LA Coliseum--a place that had haunted so many Irish teams in the past--and though the Irish were ranked #1 they entered the contest as underdogs. There would be no heartbreak during this trip. The Irish manhandled the Trojans 27-10, landing them a spot in the Fiesta Bowl with a shot at the national title.

The #3 West Virginia Mountaineers possessed a vaunted offense led by do-everything quarterback Major Harris, but on that day they were no match for an Irish team on a mission. Notre Dame handily defeated the Mountaineers 34-21, wrapping up their first national title in 11 years. Holtz--like Rockne, Leahy, Parseghian, and Devine--had taken Notre Dame to the summit in his third season on the job.

Q: Who were some of the key players that led the way?

A: On offense quarterback Tony Rice brilliantly engineered the option attack all season, delivering with both his arm and legs. He was accompanied by playmakers Ricky Watters and arguably the most electrifying player in college football history, The Rocket.

Q: The Rocket?

A: Raghib "Rocket" Ismail was one of the fastest players in the history of college football. He was a jack of all trades for the Irish--returning punts and kicks, taking handoffs and option pitches in the backfield, and splitting out wide as a receiver. Holtz came up with innovative ways to get Rocket the ball each game since every time he touched the ball he could go the distance in the blink of an eye. During that national championship season he averaged almost 28 yards per catch and returned two kicks for touchdowns.

Q: How about on the defensive side of the ball?

A: There were a host of future NFL players like defensive backs Pat Terrell and Todd Lyght, but the most memorable are nose tackle Chris Zorich and "The Three Amigos" that made up the linebacking core: Frank Stams, Wes Pritchett, and Michael Stonebreaker. Zorich was an undersized defensive tackle from Chicago who seemingly willed himself into opposing backfields while wearing his signature cut-off jersey while the trio of linebackers terrorized defenses and set the tone for a revamped toughness that had formed under Holtz's tutelage.

Stams actually was a fullback that Holtz switched to defense. This was something Holtz was well-known for over the course of his time in South Bend. On that '88 squad there were quite a few contributors that were playing a different position than when they arrived as freshman--including Stams, Terrell, and starting offensive tackle and converted tight end Andy Heck.

Q: Wait...there was a linebacker named Michael Stonebreaker?

A: Yes.

Q: Has there ever been a more perfect name for a linebacker?

A: No chance...though I suppose Manti Te'o maybe be an acceptable alternative.

********************************

This Week's CliffNotes:

* Lou Holtz had experienced success in three previous stops at major college football programs, taking all three (NC State, Arkansas, Minnesota) to bowl games.
* Holtz was known as a disciplinarian and someone whose teams came up big in high-profile games. He also had grown up admiring Notre Dame and even had a clause in his contract at Minnesota that said he could take the Notre Dame job without penalty should it be offered to him.
* There were some growing pains in the first two seasons, but the Irish showed many signs that they were on the verge of re-entering the elite of college football in '86 and '87.
* Tim Brown became Notre Dame's first Heisman winner in 23 years when he won the award in 1987.
* They used to play night games at Notre Dame Stadium...and they...were...AWESOME.
* Michigan cries about EVERYTHING, including but not limited to: the opposing crowds being too loud, the air being too humid, the lights of the stadium being too bright, the opposing defenses being too mean, and their coach being a complete sleaze who is in over his head. Actually, they don't cry about the last thing. But they should. Long and short of it is they're a bunch of sissies and morons.
* Three years removed from one of the most embarrassing losses in Notre Dame history, the Irish knocked off the trash-talking Miami Hurricanes and their hair-spray addicted hick of a coach Jimmy Johnson 31-30 in the original Catholics vs Convicts game.
* After vanquishing #2 Southern Cal on the road and #3 West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl, Notre Dame was crowned national champion for the first time in 11 years.
* Some of the stars of the national championship team were quarterback Tony Rice, running back/flanker Ricky Watters, jack of all trades Rocket Ismail, defensive tackle Chris Zorich, and the Three Amigos--linebackers Frank Stams, Wes Pritchett, and Michael Stonebreaker.
* Stonebreaker is probably the front-runner for the coolest name in football history and Rocket might be the best nickname ever. This team had everything.

Irish Football 101: The Faust Mistake

Irish Football 101 continues this week with a look at one of the darkest times in Notre Dame history, the Gerry Faust Era.

Q: Dan Devine out after the 1980 season, Gerry Faust in. How was this transition perceived within the Notre Dame fan base?

A: The entire Notre Dame Nation came down with a severe case of Faust Fever. Gerry Faust was personable, energetic, and charismatic; he was an easy figure to embrace following six seasons with Devine, a coach people always had a hard time accepting in the shadow of Ara Parseghian.

Faust had droves of Notre Dame fans in his corner before he'd ever coached a game, all swept up by his magnetic personality that generated unparalleled excitement and anticipation. The spring after he took the job, a Sports Illustrated article by Ray Kennedy proclaimed: "If enthusiasm is what it takes to shake down the thunder, then Faust is Thor himself."

Q: You'd previously said that Faust's only experience was as a high school head coach. How did that qualify him to take on the biggest job in college football? Isn't that like electing the mayor of a podunk town with no other experience President of the United States?

A: People right off the bat acknowledged how risky a hire it was, but if there was ever going to be a coach that could make the leap it was Gerry Faust. He was the head coach at Moeller High School in Cincinnati, OH, starting the program in 1960 and overseeing its rise to national power through the 1970's. Over the course of his time at Moeller he ran up a 173-17-2 record, nine undefeated season, five state championships, and at one point pieced together a 53-game win streak.

His offense was described as more complicated and expansive than some NFL teams' offenses. He was ahead of his time when it came to year-long lifting programs and flexibility training. The final ingredient that made people believe he could succeed was that he was a natural recruiter who understood the process well thanks to watching dozens of college coaches court his players at Moeller.

Combine all that with the fact that he was a devout Catholic (his Moeller squad was described as "the prayingest team in football") and it was enough for the powers-that-be in South Bend to roll the dice. If you want to get a feel for just how smitten Notre Dame fans were with Faust and get a feel for the excitement and optimism he generated upon his arrival, its worth reading the Ray Kennedy article in SI from the spring of '81.

Q: How long did the honeymoon last?

A: About two weeks into his first season. The Irish opened the 1981 season with a convincing 27-9 victory over LSU and were voted #1 in the country going into their week two showdown with Michigan. Unfortunately it was all downhill from there. Michigan thumped Notre Dame 25-7 and the Irish spiraled to a 5-6 record, the first losing season since the year before Parseghian arrived ('63).

Q: Did he rebound from the disappointing first year or was it just a disaster from start to finish?

A: By Notre Dame standards it was a catastrophe. He never won more than seven games and posted a winning percentage of .535. By Northwestern standards that would've been good enough to get their football stadium renamed Faust Field.

Q: Were there any noteworthy highlights?

A: Faust had a couple good victories that roped people in to thinking maybe the Irish were about to turn a corner under his command. In 1982 the Irish beat Michigan and then knocked off #1 Pitt--a team led by Dan Marino--on the road. He also beat Southern Cal three straight times, twice busting out the green jerseys at home ('83 and '85) to thump the Trojans (27-6 and 37-3).

On the players' side, the highlight was running back Allen Pinkett setting the all-time rushing record with 4,131 yards (which would stand for 13 years). He was the first player in school history to rush for over 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons.

Q: So how long did Faust last?

A: He finished out his five year contract. It was obvious from day one that he was just in over his head. His vaunted "NFL-esque" offense flamed out, his player recruiting and development was suspect, and his "rah, rah" positive attitude didn't resonate with kids when the roof was caving in. Half of Faust's 26 losses came when Notre Dame was tied or leading in the second half. He came from behind to win in the second half exactly once in his entire career.

Games where the Irish simply beat themselves with sloppy football and ill-timed mistakes became the norm. Perhaps the most fitting example of the calamity of errors came in his final season, when the Irish were called for a penalty against Navy for having SIXTEEN players on the field. When you read quotes from players that year it's evident that they'd lost all faith and respect in their leader.

Q: What was the low point?

A: Things bottomed out in his final game as Notre Dame coach. The losses and pressure mounted to a point where Faust had no other choice but to step down for the good of the program he so dearly loved. He announced he would resign at the end of the season after a 10-7 loss to LSU dropped the Irish to 5-5 on the season.

His final game as a lame duck head coach would come on national television against the vaunted Miami Hurricanes, led by their brash head coach Jimmy Johnson. The contest highlighted just how far the Irish had fallen from the nation's elite. When the final fun mercifully sounded the Hurricanes had humiliated Notre Dame 58-7, one of the worst defeats in school history.

Despite the fact that the game's outcome had been determined, Johnson continued to run up the score in an attempt to embarrass the Irish. He continued to pass late in the game to pad quarterback Vinny Testaverde's stats and even went so far as to call for a fake punt in the fourth quarter when they were leading 44-7. The Hurricane players danced and taunted the Irish as they piled on the points. This game is what truly planted the seeds for the venomous Catholics vs Convicts showdowns that would take place in the late 80's.

Ironically, legendary Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian was the color commentator for the game. As Jimmy Johnson kept his foot on the gas late in the game Ara became so enraged that he simply stopped talking. Jim Nantz was doing the play-by-play and before the final whistle attempted to get Ara's take on the events they were watching unfold. "Ara," he said somberly, "I think this may be the end of Notre Dame football...I just don't think they can recover from this." When he finally broke his silence, Parseghian offered this prophetic line:

"From these ashes Notre Dame will rise."

Q: Do people resent Faust when they reflect on his time at ND since the Irish fell so far?

A: Well the Gerry Faust Era is one everyone would like to forget, but Gerry Faust the person is remembered fondly. He absolutely loved Notre Dame with every fiber of his being and gave his best efforts to make things work. He used to interact with students, send them pizzas, and to this day gets emotional when talking about the campus and the people.

Unfortunately the job was just a bit more than he could handle and on the football field he was an abject failure. He was a hardworking and optimistic guy with a great heart, but that wasn't even remotely enough to guarantee any sort of success on the most elite level of college football.

Q: Wow, so who did Notre Dame tap to replace Faust and pick up the pieces?

A: A 5-10 firecracker by the name of Lou Holtz.

Q: Was he able to raise the Irish from the ashes?

A: Let's just say the Mount Rushmore of Notre Dame coaches was about to get a little more crowded...

*********************************

This week's CliffNotes:

* Everyone was excited when Faust was hired even though everyone agreed it was risky. The main reason was he was incredibly upbeat, optimistic, and enthusiastic while Dan Devine was depicted by most people to be an impersonal curmudgeon.
* Faust had built a juggernaut from the ground up at Moeller High in Cincinnati and was widely regarded to be the best high school coach in the country.
* People had said that Faust's offense was more complex and diverse than some NFL offenses. These people were morons.
* Notre Dame ascended to #1 in the polls just two weeks into Faust's career. Unfortunately, that brief one week stay at the top was the high water mark for his tenure.
* Sports writers quipped that Notre Dame rarely gave teams the opportunity to beat them--they usually beat themselves before the opponent had a chance.
* The highlights were knocking off #1 Pitt and beating Southern Cal three times in a row.
* Allen Pinkett set the school rushing record with 4,131 yards during Faust's tenure. His record stood for 13 seasons.
* The low-point came in the final game of Faust's career. Miami humiliated the Irish on national television, running up the score long after the outcome had been decided.
* Jimmy Johnson is an arrogant jackass that can burn in hell. It's fitting that 25 years later he's hawking ExtenZe (says Jimmy: "Go long with ExtenZe. I do." Gross.) and his hair has the texture of a baseball helmet thanks to years of hairspray abuse.
* Gerry Faust was a great man, just not a good coach. At all. It was an experiment that was doomed from the start--he was unqualified and overwhelmed. ND fans don't hate him, they just acknowledge he was a terrible coach and move on.

Irish Football 101: Devine Turbulence

Irish Football 101 returns after a one week hiatus, which I spent hitting a little white ball around one of the most beautiful pieces of property on earth. This week we touch on the Dan Devine Era.

Q: So Ara Parseghian calls it quits after the 1974 season and Notre Dame has to replace another legend. Who stepped into that unenviable situation?

A: Father Hesburgh and Father Joyce tasked Dan Devine with taking over the football program. He was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers at the time but his heart was always in college football. Prior to his stint in Green Bay he was the head coach at both Arizona State and Missouri. At ASU he compiled a 27-3-1 record, including an undefeated season in 1957. He then moved on to Mizzou where his success continued, including one undefeated season (1960) and four top 10 finishes in the AP Poll (1960, 1965, 1968, 1969) while rolling up a .715 winning percentage. As a matter of fact, Devine was almost offered the Notre Dame job after the 1963 season before Ara Parseghian accepted the position.

Q: Was he a popular choice among Notre Dame fans?

A: Not particularly. There were rumors flying around that Don Shula was going to leave the NFL and come to coach in South Bend as well as rumblings that Ara was just going to take a year off and then return. When Devine was hired people with those high expectations were let down. Devine was fresh off an unsuccessful stint as Green Bay head coach so memories of his past college accomplishments had faded. He was a fine football coach but could not compare to his predecessor when it came to charisma and presence.

Q: Did the players like Devine?

A: When you read about player reactions you can tell that some of them really didn't like him, most of them respected them, but all of them--especially those who had been recruited before Devine got there--wish that Ara would've been their coach.

Q: Was there immediate success (Terry Brennan style) or a drop-off (Hunk Anderson style)?

A: Devine pieced together a pair of good albeit unspectacular seasons to start his career in South Bend (8-3 in '75, 9-3 in '76 including a smackdown of Penn State in the Gator Bowl). In 1977 Notre Dame was pegged by Sports Illustrated as the preseason #1. They were led by future college football Hall of Famers tight end Ken McAfee and defensive end Ross Browner and expectations were understandably sky-high.

After winning the opener against Pitt though, the Irish stumbled against a hapless Ole Miss team and lost 20-13. "Dump Devine" bumper stickers were all over campus and on the cars in the stadium parking lots. The loss combined with the fact that the coach stubbornly and inexplicably refused to play budding star quarterback Joe Montana (even after he'd had so much success as a redshirt freshman in '75) helped create a tidal wave of animosity toward Devine from within Notre Dame Nation.

Q: Why did Devine refuse to play Montana?

A: If you listen to Devine it was a combination of the fact that he didn't think Montana was physically strong enough to go through the rigors of an entire season and his annoyance with Montana playing in Bookstore Basketball in the spring of '77 after he'd missed the entire 1976 football season with a shoulder injury. If you listen to players on the team they thought there was something about Montana that rubbed Devine the wrong way which led to the coach burying Joe on the depth chart.

Q: What's your opinion?

A: If you look at how the other quarterbacks (Rusty Lisch, Rick Slager, etc.) performed (for the most part very poorly) and compare them with how Montana performed when he was given a chance (extremely well, especially under pressure late in games) then I have to call BS on Devine. He was clearly the best quarterback--and it wasn't even close--which leaves no logical reason to keep him on the bench unless there was some sort of personal vendetta.

Going into the 1977 season Montana was relegated to third string quarterback, which was nearly as absurd then as it is now. I'm sure Montana wasn't totally innocent (the Bookstore Basketball incident being one example of the player blowing off what the coach wants), but when push comes to shove it's tough to find any sort of logic in Devine not declaring Montana his starter.

Devine got a lot of unnecessary and unwarranted flack during his time at Notre Dame, but his handling of the Montana situation deserved every bit of criticism it received.

Q: Obviously Montana was eventually inserted in the starting lineup. When was it?

A: After losing to Ole Miss in the second game of the '77 campaign Notre Dame was on its way to losing to Purdue when Devine finally gave Montana his first chance of the season...but only after the first stringer had failed, the second stringer had gotten knocked out by injury, and the first stringer failed again.

The Irish were losing 24-14 with 11 minutes left when Montana entered the game. Three possessions and 17 straight points later Notre Dame was victorious, claiming a 31-24 win. From that point forward the quarterback job was Montana's and he helped spearhead the Green Machine that rolled through the rest of the season.

Q: The Green Machine?

A: Prior to the Southern Cal game that season Devine decided that he needed a mental edge to fire up the players. Notre Dame was a home underdog against the mighty Trojans, who were ranked #5 in the country and the biggest obstacle between Notre Dame and a chance at the national title. He had green jerseys made up for the team but told only the captains and Irish basketball coach Digger Phelps of his plans. At the pep rally Friday night Phelps addressed the crowd and said, "TOMORROW WE WILL BE THE GREEN MACHINE!" No one had any clue of what he was talking about.

After warming up in their normal blue jerseys, the players came back to the locker room to find the green jerseys. The team erupted and when they burst onto the field behind a huge wooden Trojan Horse that the students had constructed the stadium went absolutely crazy. The tide of emotion carried the day as the underdog Irish destroyed Southern Cal 49-19. This victory spurred them on to run the table and clinch a berth in the Cotton Bowl against Texas.

Q: Was the Cotton Bowl a #1 vs #2 sort of deal?

A: No. Texas was led by Heisman winner Earl Campbell and ranked #1 but Notre Dame was only ranked #5. The thought was that in order for Notre Dame to leapfrog the four teams in front of them they'd need to beat the Longhorns convincingly and hope for some help. A future Notre Dame legend Lou Holtz provided the first bit of help when his Arkansas Razorbacks squashed #2 Oklahoma 31-6. Next Washington upset #4 Michigan in the yearly Bo Schembechler Rose Bowl chokejob. The table was set for a title if the Irish could deliver against Texas...and deliver they did.

Notre Dame was essentially playing a road game against the Longhorns since the game was played in the Cotton Bowl, but the Irish dominated both sides of the ball in a 38-10 rout. The thrashing of Texas in their own backyard was enough for voters to place the Irish atop their ballots and Notre Dame was national champion once again.

Q: Was that the beginning of a great run for Devine?

A: Unfortunately no. Notre Dame opened the next year 0-2 and suddenly the Devine haters were out in full force again. After another few good but not great seasons Devine retired in 1980. His final record at Notre Dame was 53-16-1 (.764 win percentage) and he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame just five years later.

Not many Irish fans appreciated him while he was the coach, but now looking back they tend to tip their cap to his contributions. He brought in a national title, wrote an entire chapter in Notre Dame lore with the unveiling of the green jerseys, and managed to do about as good a job as possible in filling the giant shoes of a legend like Ara Parseghian.

Q: Would you call him as under-appreciated as Leahy is today?

A: Well they're totally different scenarios. An appreciation of Leahy's true greatness has slipped through the cracks in modern times, but he was never under-appreciated when he was head coach. He built Notre Dame into a juggernaut that rivaled and probably even surpassed the teams Rockne fielded. He won four national titles, coached four Heisman winners, and lifted the Irish program to new heights.

Devine was the complete opposite. He was never beloved by the Notre Dame fan base and it seemed from day one most people were looking forward to when Devine would ultimately be replaced. As time passed people began to have a much more profound appreciation for his achievements on the field at Notre Dame. He stepped into the most pressure-packed job in college football and had to deal with one of the toughest situations in all of sports (replacing a legend). When you look at his body of work even the most anti-Devine people have to admit he did a fine job in spite of difficult circumstances.

Q: So the unpopular coach finally leaves town. Who did they bring in?

A: A high school coach by the name of Gerry Faust.

Q: Wait, didn't Notre Dame hire a coach whose only head coaching experience was high school before in Terry Brennan?

A: Yes.

Q: Didn't that fail miserably?

A: Yes.

Q: How'd round two with a high school coach turn out?

A: I believe midway through Faust's tenure Father Hesburgh channeled his inner Gob Bluthe and uttered, "I've made a huge mistake...again."

**************************************

This Week's CliffNotes

* Dan Devine left his head coaching position with the Green Bay Packers and took over for Ara Parseghian in 1975.
* Devine wasn't a particularly popular choice among fans or players. He lacked the charisma and panache that Parseghian had.
* After some initial bumps in the road he helped lead the Irish to a national championship in 1977. Notre Dame jumped from #5 to the top of the polls after dismantling #1 Texas 38-10 in the Cotton Bowl.
* During that '77 season he unveiled the famous Notre Dame green jerseys, a psychological ploy that helped galvanize the underdog Irish to a 49-19 beating of Southern Cal.
* Devine and Joe Montana never got along for some reason. Montana was forced to sit on the bench for most of his redshirt freshman year and the beginning of his junior year in spite of the fact that he clearly outplayed those ahead of him on the depth chart.
* After leading Notre Dame to a comeback victory against Purdue in the third game of the '77 season Montana kept the job for good and led the team to the national championship.
* Devine could not keep the momentum going and experienced marginal success his remaining three seasons. He announced before the the 1980 season that he would be retiring at the end of the season. After losing to #1 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl he left with a .754 career win percentage at Notre Dame.
* In 1985 Devine was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
* Gerry Faust, a high school coach from Cincinnati, was hired to takeover for Devine. This was the second time they went the route of hiring a high school coach with no college head coaching experience. This is the second time it was a huge mistake.

Irish Football 101: Ara Saves the Day

For the third installment of Irish Football 101 we take a look at one of the darkest eras in school history and the man responsible for bringing the Irish back to the top.

Q: So Frank Leahy leaves after an undefeated season in 1953 and many people speculate he was forced to resign. Do you think that was the case?

A: I love a good conspiracy theory, but Father Hesburgh says that was not the case and Father Hesburgh is a living saint. Is anyone really going to call him a liar?

Q: Fair point. Who took over for Leahy and how did he fill the enormous shoes left behind?

A: President Father Hesburgh and Athletic Director Father Joyce promoted 25 year old Notre Dame freshman coach Terry Brennan to head football coach. He had played under Leahy in the 40's and had great success as a head coach at Mount Carmel High School after graduating from ND. It was considered a very bold move to hand such a young and inexperienced coach the reigns but initially it looked as if Hesburgh and Joyce's gamble paid off. Brennan picked up right where Leahy had left off and the Irish posted 9-1 and 8-2 records in his first two seasons.

However, in his third season the roof shockingly collapsed. Due to a rash of injury the Irish had to play a slew of underclassmen and went on to win only two games, the worst season in school history. The only bright spot was the fact that "The Golden Boy," Paul Hornung, became Notre Dame's fifth Heisman Trophy winner--albeit very controversially--over Syracuse's Jim Brown. He's the only player to ever win the Heisman for a losing team but many argue that the only reason Hornung won it over Brown was skin color and sadly it's most likely true.

In spite of that, Hornung's great season shouldn't be lost in the controversy. In that 1956 season, he led Notre Dame in passing, rushing, scoring, kickoff and punt return yardage, and even punting. On defense he was a great defensive back who led the team in passes broken up and was second in tackles and interceptions. Hornung had a spectacular season, it just wasn't enough to avoid the worst season in Notre Dame history.

Q: Did Brennan bounce back or was he doomed after the 2-8 campaign in 1956?

A: He lasted another two seasons and while he had a couple great moments--like going to Norman and ending Oklahoma's 47 game winning streak in 1957--he just couldn't quite get Notre Dame where it needed to be.

Q: So who was next?

A: The next two coaches were complete disasters. First came Joe Kucharich, a Notre Dame grad who had played under Elmer Layden in the 1930's. He became the first coach in Notre Dame history to complete his tenure with an overall losing record. By all accounts Kucharich was listless, emotionless, and unable to adjust his philosophies--which he'd learned coaching in the professional ranks--to the college game.

When Kucharich resigned in the spring of 1963, Hugh Devore was named the interim head coach for the '63 season. Devore had played for Notre Dame and actually coached the team for a two year period in the 40's when Leahy was serving in WWII. Devore loved ND and the players loved Devore, but he was an abysmal, underqualified, and overwhelmed head coach. The team went 2-7 in the 1963 campaign and Devore was relieved of his duty.

That was probably the darkest era in Notre Dame football--even darker than the one we find ourselves smack in the middle of today. There was a common thought that the University's administration was looking to deemphasize football and go the route of the Ivy League schools. Father Hesburgh insists that this was never the case. His response to these accusations was: "there is no academic virtue in playing mediocre football and no academic vice in winning a game that by all odds one should lose." For those who believe the Notre Dame administration was actively choking out the football program, I invite you once again to call the living saint a liar.

Q: Wow, five straight seasons without a winning record and a conspiracy theory that the administration was trying to kill the football program. That's pretty bleak. So how did Notre Dame emerge from the depths?

A: Well, first Father Hesburgh and Father Joyce altered a long-standing policy of hiring only Notre Dame graduates as head coach since there really weren't any viable candidates in that pool. Then a savior came knocking. Ara Parseghian, the head coach at Northwestern, was one of the hottest up-and-coming coaches in the country. He had beaten Notre Dame four straight times and taken the bottom feeder Big Ten program to unprecedented heights.

After the 1963 campaign he called Father Joyce and asked two questions: was Hugh Devore going to be fired and would the school ever consider hiring a head coach that had not graduated from Notre Dame. Father Joyce answered yes to both questions, Ara quit his job at Northwestern, and Joyce pounced on the opportunity to bring him to South Bend. Just like that Notre Dame was on its way back on the map.

Q: So Parseghian was the head coach at Northwestern. Had he coached anywhere else?

A: He had quite the pedigree. He'd learned under Sid Gillman (who was considered one of the most innovative and influential coaches of his time), Cleveland Browns Hall of Fame coach Paul Brown, and Hall of Fame college coach Woody Hayes. Not a bad list of mentors.

Q: Was it instant success once Ara arrived or was there a rebuilding process?

A: You would think after years of losing and "deemphasis" of football the cupboard would be pretty bare and it would take time for ND to reemerge, but Ara came out with guns blazing. Notre Dame shocked the college football world and opened the 1964 season with nine consecutive victories. Quarterback John Huarte, who had been buried on the depth chart before Ara arrived, went on to become Notre Dame's sixth Heisman Trophy winner as he teamed with wide receiver Jack Snow to form one of the most explosive duo's in Irish history. They entered their final game of the season against Southern Cal ranked #1 in the country.

There in the Los Angeles Colosseum the dream of a title died. The Irish raced to a 17-0 lead, but some highly, HIGHLY questionable officiating allowed the Trojans to stay alive. Late in the game Southern Cal punched in the go-ahead score and secure a 20-17 victory. It was one of the most devastating defeats in Notre Dame history and where the pure venom toward Southern Cal originated.

Q: Was Ara able to sustain that high level of success after bursting on to the scene?

A: After a slight step backward in 1965, Ara led the Irish back to the summit of the college football world in 1966. After ascending to #1 in the country, they battled #2 Michigan State to a 10-10 tie in a contest billed as "The Game of Century." This set the table for Notre Dame to finish the season 9-0-1 which earned them a national championship for the first time since 1949.

The icing on the cake was a 51-0 drubbing of Southern Cal in the season finale. It was Notre Dame's first return to Los Angeles since the heartbreaking loss that cost them the '64 title and the team made a point of exacting a humiliating revenge on the Trojans. It is still the most lopsided final in the rivalry's history. Allegedly Southern Cal coach John McKay pledged he would never lose to Notre Dame again after that drubbing.

Q: Did McKay's squad ever lose to ND after that game?

A: They did, but not until seven years later. Southern Cal was the perpetual thorn in Ara's side (his final record against them was 3-6-2) and McKay always seemed to find a way to thwart the Irish. In 1972 Southern Cal embarrassed the Irish 45-23 with showboating running back Anthony Davis leading the way with six touchdowns (including two kickoff returns). He used to slide into the endzone to put an exclamation point on all his touchdowns, an act that infuriated Irish fans and players alike.

In 1973 the Trojans traveled to South Bend to play the undefeated Irish and the by all accounts the venom on campus was at unprecedented levels. Dummies with Anthony Davis' jersey on were hung in effigy out the windows of dorm rooms, pictures of Davis were plastered all over the sidewalks so that students could step on his face no matter where they went on campus. The Trojans had played the spoiler too many times and Parseghian was determined to not let it happen again.

On the first play of the game Irish defensive back Luther Bradley hit legendary Southern Cal receiver Lynn Swann so hard that Swann's helmet flew off. It set the tone for the entire day, one that would see star Anthony Davis held to just 55 rushing yards. The game was tight at halftime with Notre Dame clinging to a six point lead, but on the first play of the second half running back Eric Penick found a gaping hole cleared by linemen Frank Pomarico and Gerry DiNardo and raced 85 yards for a touchdown. Star defensive back Mike Townsend describes the emotion and meaning of the play best in the book Talking Irish:

"That was the prettiest play I ever saw. Eric was running straight down our sideline, straight toward Touchdown Jesus, straight toward our student section. After all those years of trying to beat USC--all that time not getting what we wanted--it was like the gods look down on us. And they said, 'This will be."

The Irish went on to win that game 23-14. Afterwards Penick was asked whether he'd considered sliding in to the endzone to mock Anthony Davis's customary celebration. He looked back in disgust and replied, "On my knees? I'm no hot dog. THIS IS NOTRE DAME.”

Do I absolutely love that quote? Holy hell, yes.

Q: Did ND beating the Trojans spur them on to the national championship?

A: As a matter of fact it did. The Irish went on to complete the season 11-0, clinching the championship with a 24-23 thriller over legendary head coach Bear Bryant and his #1 ranked Alabama squad in the Sugar Bowl.

Q: So who were some of the big name players to suit up for Parseghian?

A: If you're talking about the names that do stick out from the Era of Ara you start with a few dynamic passing duos. You have to start with quarterback John Huarte, who won the Heisman in 1964, and his partner in crime wide receiver Jack Snow. In Huarte's Heisman campaign he found Snow 60 times and Snow in turn piled up 1,114 receiving yards (which more than doubled the previous Notre Dame record) and nine touchdowns.

Terry Hanratty quarterbacked the 1966 championship team and he leaned on a go-to receiver as well in Jim Seymour. Nicknamed "Fling and Cling," Hanratty and Seymour teamed up to shatter the single game receiving record (276 yards) in their first games as sophomores (the record still stands today). When quarterback Tom Clements led the Irish to the national championship in 1973 he relied heavily on future NFL hall of fame tight end Dave "The Ghost" Casper--though it was scarcely used backup tight end Robin Weber that he found for the game-clinching first down in the '73 Sugar Bowl against Alabama.

Halfback Nick Eddy was one of the most electrifying players in school history who may have won a Heisman had he not gotten injured his senior season and wide receiver Tom Gatewood set receiving records over the course of his time on campus. Joe Theismann had a great run as starting quarterback between the Hanratty and Clements Eras--good enough that he changed the pronunciation of his name in order to aid his Heisman campaign (it used to be pronounced THEEZ-MAN, he changed it to rhyme with Heisman).

On the other side of the ball Ara had NFL Hall of Famer Alan Page and future first round pick Kevin Hardy on the defensive line along with college football Hall of Fame linebacker Jim Lynch anchoring the '66 national championship. Former walk-on defensive back Nick Rassas played a huge role in turning around the program in Ara's first year while Luther Bradley and Mike Townsend made huge impacts later in Parseghian's tenure. He also coached Ross Browner, one of the most dominating defensive lineman in college football history, in his final two seasons at the helm.

Parseghian had a slew of All-Americans and future Hall of Famers who played for him, but he really didn't have anyone on that top level of Notre Dame lore like The Four Horsemen, Lujack, Hornung, Montana, or Rocket. That's not at all to say that his teams were less talented--he just didn't have the players with the "flair" to stick out like some others.

Q: So what did Ara's final record look like when all was said and done?

A: Ara posted a phenomenally successful eleven year run at Notre Dame where he amassed a 95-17-4 record (.836 win pct), the third best winning percentage in school history. Amazingly, he never lost consecutive games over the course of his entire tenure. He won Notre Dame's first bowl games since Rockne and The Four Horsemen won the 1925 Rose Bowl, brought home two two national championships, and lifted Notre Dame from its darkest days back up to the pinnacle of the college football world.

Q: Wait, Notre Dame hadn't won a bowl since the 1924 Rose Bowl?!?

A: After Notre Dame won the Rose Bowl after the 1924 season it took the team a month to get back to campus. The administration decided that it would not be in the best interest of the student-athletes to miss extended class time and therefore chose to decline any bowl invitations moving forward. Over the next 40 years this decision didn't have an effect on where Notre Dame ended up in the rankings because the final polls were taken before the bowl games, which in reality relegated the postseason games to almost exhibition status.

That changed in 1968 when the AP decided to crown its champion after the bowls were played. This meant Notre Dame would have to adjust their policy in order to legitimately compete for national titles, which they did. Starting in 1969, the Notre Dame administration decided to allow its teams to compete in the postseason bowls. By that time the academic calendar had been altered anyway--exams were done by mid-December as opposed to running into January as they used--which meant the football players didn't have to worry about missing extended class time since they'd be on break.

Q: How and why did Ara leave? Was there any controversy or conspiracy theory?

A: Ara simply burned out. He's an incredibly intense guy and the pressures of the job finally became too much after 11 seasons. He announced his resignation prior to coaching his final game, the 1974 Orange Bowl. The game was a rematch of the '73 Sugar Bowl, pitting Ara and his Irish against Bear Bryant and his Alabama squad. Notre Dame had been thrashed 55-24 by Southern Cal in their last game of the regular season and went into the Orange Bowl as a huge underdog to the undefeated Crimson Tide. The Irish gutted out a 13-11 victory, which denied the Bear a national championship and allowed Parseghian to go out a winner.

There was a lot of talk of Parseghian returning to coaching after taking a year or two off, but he said he would only consider professional jobs since "Notre Dame was the pinnacle of college football." When all was said and done he ultimately decided to remain retired.

The scene of him riding off into the sunset a winner was a stark contrast of the situation he'd walked into in 1964. It wrapped up one of the best eras in Notre Dame history--a truly improbable one when you think about the turmoil the program faced in the early-60's. Ara truly was a savior and remains to this day one of the most beloved and legendary figures in Notre Dame's history.

*************************

This week's CliffNotes:

* Father Hesburgh is a living saint. Should you choose to call him a liar you risk God striking you down with a lightning bolt.
* Terry Brennan was only 24 years old when he was hired to replace Leahy with his main head coaching experience coming in high school. This mistake is something you will see Notre Dame repeat. Brennan did not succeed and was replaced in 1957.
* Joe Kucharich was the worst coach in Notre Dame history--even surpassing Ty "The Molder of Men" Willingham--and the only one to finish with a career record under .500.
* Hugh Devore was twice named Notre Dame's interim coach. The first time was a two-year stretch when Leahy went to serve in WWII, the second time was during the 1963 season when Kucharich resigned the spring before the season started. He was a great guy who loved Notre Dame but a terrible coach.
* People accused Notre Dame of deemphasizing football in the early 60's. School President Father Hesburgh says this was not the case. Once again, should you feel the need to call him a liar this could be your fate.
* Ara Parseghian took the helm in 1964 and led the biggest turnaround in school history. The Irish improved from 2-7 to 9-1 and were a few terrible officiating calls away from winning the national championship.
* Southern Cal was responsible for the majority of heartbreak suffered during the Era of Ara. Parseghian only beat them three times over the course of his career.
* After beating the Trojans 51-0 in 1966 Notre Dame didn't beat them again until 1973. The '73 game was one of the most intense atmospheres in Notre Dame Stadium history and the Irish prevailed 23-14.
* Ara went on to win two national championships in 1966 and 1973.
* In 1969 the Notre Dame administration altered their policy on attending bowl games, allowing for the Irish to participate for the first time since Rockne and The Four Horsemen won the 1924 Rose Bowl.
* Ara burned out physically after 11 seasons at Notre Dame, compiling a winning percentage of .836. He considered coaching professionally after he left South Bend but ultimately decided against it.

Irish Football 101: The Forgotten Glory Days

We move on to the second installment of Irish Football 101. This week we'll concentrate on the Frank Leahy Era. It was one of the most successful eras in college football history but is often overlooked, even within Notre Dame circles.

Q: So Knute Rockne died in a plane crash after the 1930 season. Was there a drop-off when he left?

A: Inevitably there was a bit of a drop-off from the ridiculous clip that Rockne was winning games, but it wasn't a free-fall. The two coaches who replaced in for the next decade were former Notre Dame players Rockne had coached: Hunk Anderson and Elmer Layden (of Four Horsemen fame). Anderson coached from '31-'33 and posted a respectable .630 win percentage while Layden took the helm for the next seven years and had the most successful run in the program's history that didn't result in a national championship for the Irish (.770 win percentage).

Eleven years after Rockne's death Notre Dame's ascension back to the college football summit truly started though when they hired a young coach by the name of Frank Leahy.

Q: Frank Leahy? What's his backstory?

A: He had played at Notre Dame under Rockne and went into coaching shortly thereafter. He was the line coach for Fordham's famous "Seven Blocks of Granite" offensive line (which included Vince Lombardi) before accepting the head coaching job at Boston College. After leading BC to their best season in school history (and it's still the best season in their history to this day) he jumped at the chance to go back to his alma mater and coach the Irish.

Q: Wait, why would he leave Boston College if he was having so much success there?

A: Well Leahy was a Notre Dame alum, but really it's simple: Notre Dame's a better football program. Always has been, always will be.

Q: Couldn't he have made BC into a powerhouse and rewritten history though?

A: He could've, but my guess is he didn't see much potential for anything more than a mid-level program in Chestnut Hill. Seventy years later his choice proved correct because while Boston College has experienced some success in recent years, it is still a job used by coaches as a stepping stone to more attractive situations...like North Carolina State!

Q: Ok, back to Leahy. What'd he do on the field to get Notre Dame back to Rockne-esque levels of success?

A: Leahy's coaching tenure spanned from 1941-1953 (with a two year break in 1944-45 when he served as a lieutenant in the Navy during WWII). His teams amassed three consensus national championships, six undefeated seasons, and a win percentage of .855 (his career winning percentage of .864 is second best all-time in college football history behind Knute Rockne). He referred to all his players as "lads" so over time his teams became known as "Leahy's Lads."

Q: Rockne had the Four Horsemen and the Gipper. What are some of the names worth knowing from the Leahy Era?

A: Amazingly, Leahy coached FOUR Heisman Trophy winners over the course of his eleven seasons in South Bend (the most ever by one coach). Notre Dame's first Heisman winner came in his third year when "The Springfield Rifle," Angelo Bertelli, took home the award in 1943. Bertelli only had the opportunity to play six games in '43 before leaving to serve in the Marine Corps in WWII, but in those six games he engineered a deadly offense that averaged almost 44 points per contest en route to Notre Dame's first national championship since Rockne was coach.

Leahy's second Heisman winner came four years later when Johnny Lujack won the award his senior season in 1947. Lujack is thought by many people to be the best player in Notre Dame's illustrious history. He was a phenomenal two way star that quarterbacked the Irish to back-to-back undefeated national championships his junior and senior seasons. Paul Zimmerman wrote an article for Sports Illustrated about the greatest college football team ever--and the only debate was whether it was the '46 or '47 Notre Dame squad. For all his exploits on the offensive side of the ball, Lujack is better known for his open-field touchdown saving tackle of Heisman Trophy winner Doc Blanchard in the 1946 Notre Dame-Army showdown.

The third in line was defensive end Leon Hart in 1949. Over the course of his four seasons Hart never experienced defeat at Notre Dame (36-0-2 record). He was the last lineman to win the Heisman Trophy and was a three-time first team All-American. The last of the four Leahy Heisman winners was Johnny Lattner in 1953. He had the distinction of receiving All-American honors his junior and senior seasons not only as a running back, but as a defensive back as well.

Q: It seemed like there were a lot of players who had their careers interrupted in some way by military service in World War II. Were there any noteworthy stories of players' time in battle?

A: In 2003 Sports Illustrated ran the story of Notre Dame fullback Motts Tonelli. It is an incredibly powerful and moving story--one that truly makes you appreciate the power of human will and how such a silly game of football can have such a far-reaching impact. Read the story, it's not something that can be done justice in a summary.

Q: So why did Leahy resign after the 1953 season? He was only 45 years old and fresh off another undefeated season.

A: At his resignation news conference it was stated that he was resigning at the advice of his doctor. Earlier that year he'd collapsed in the locker room during a game due to pancreatitis and the stress of eleven seasons on the job had taken a definite toll on his health. Some people think he was forced to resign by school president Father Hesburgh, but both Hesburgh and AD Father Joyce insist that they suggested his resignation for his own good. In the book Talking Irish, multiple players--including Heisman winner Johnny Lattner--agreed with Hesburgh and Joyce's assessment. Leahy had become so wound up by his final season that it was just a matter of time before he totally cracked.

If there's one thing history shows it's that you can't expect someone to last more than 11 seasons in the high-stress pressure cooker that is the world of the Notre Dame Football Coach.

Q: His record shows he was one of the best coaches in college football history, he was an alum who played under Rockne, he loved the school...but when you hear people talk about the best ND coaches he seems to be an afterthought compared to Rockne, Parseghian, and Holtz. In fact, on the Mount Rushmore of ND Coaches that appear on the 2006 Shirt they included Charlie Weis instead of Leahy. Why do you think he doesn't quite get the same publicity or love as those other three?

A: That's a great question. I think it's very clear why Rockne is placed atop the pedestal; he's basically the father of Notre Dame football and overcame great odds to turn a fledgling program into a national powerhouse. For the reason as to why Parseghian and Holtz hold a "higher place" in Notre Dame fans' eyes than Leahy, I think it comes down to the state of the program when each coach took over. When Leahy arrived it had been eleven years since Notre Dame's last national title, but ND was still one of the top programs in the country, winning 77% of their games from '34-'40. That's a stark contrast from the situations Ara and Lou walked into.

In 1964, Parseghian inherited a squad that had gone 2-7 and lost to Navy the year before he arrived. Critics of the time suggested Notre Dame should go the way of the Ivies and give up major college football to maintain academic integrity. Those that wanted to see Notre Dame ascend back to the top of the college football world were desperate for a savior. Ara proved to be just that and in his third season led them to a national championship.

In 1986, Holtz inherited a squad that had been completely eviscerated and embarrassed by Miami on national television in the final game of a 5-6 campaign. Once again critics questioned whether Notre Dame could ever be relevant again in a new, fast-paced world of college football ruled by irreverent teams like Miami and Florida State. Like Parseghian, Lou proved to be exactly what the program needed and three years later the Irish completed a 12-0 national championship season.

Leahy's not mentioned in the same breath as Parseghian and Holtz (when he should be placed ahead of both on the proverbial totem pole) because of one thing: Ara and Lou resurrected the program from its darkest days while Leahy took a great program and made it the greatest program. While Leahy's feat may have been more difficult to achieve, Ara and Lou's feats were more dramatic. Playing the role of savior wins a special place in fans' hearts. It's the reason people were so quick to place Weis on a pedestal after the '05 season and why Brian Kelly will probably leapfrog Leahy and become the fourth member of the casual fan's Irish Mount Rushmore should he ultimately bring the Irish back to prominence.

Frank Leahy was one of the greatest coaches in college football history and without question the second greatest coach in Notre Dame history. But he was not a program savior like Ara and Lou were and therein lies the main reason he doesn't get the pub or love he deserves.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

This week's CliffNotes:

* Notre Dame didn't drop off the map after Rockne's death, but the next two coaches both failed to win a national title.
* Frank Leahy left Boston College in 1941 to become Notre Dame's coach because he realized BC's program ceiling was (and is) lower than the ceiling on Snooki's career as a veterinarian.
* Frank Leahy was the second best coach in Notre Dame history, winning three national titles, completing six undefeated seasons, and coaching a record four Heisman Trophy winners.
* The four Heisman winners in the Leahy era were Angelo Bertelli ('43), Johnny Lujack ('47), Leon Hart ('49), and Johnny Lattner ('53).
* The Motts Tonelli story is one that every Notre Dame fan needs to know.
* Leahy resigned after eleven season at age 45 due to health concerns. At one point in his final season he actually collapsed and received Last Rites in the locker room.
* Leahy doesn't get the same love or acclaim as Ara Parseghian or Lou Holtz (in spite of the fact that he had a superior record) because he wasn't a "savior" of the program the way Ara and Lou were. He took ND from great to greatest while the other two took it from bad to great.

Irish Football 101: The Ancient History

Much to my complete and utter joy, this fall my little cousin Jenny will be enrolling as a freshman at the University of Notre Dame. She's not a huge football fan so as a responsible big cousin I feel obligated to bring her up to speed on what will certainly become part of the fabric of her life from this September on: Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football.

Every Monday over the next couple months I'll be rolling out a different segment each week that will help explain in a Q&A format the program's history, legends, rivalries, gameday rituals and more through the eyes of a lifelong die-hard Irish fan. Without further ado, I present to you the first installment of Irish Football 101: The Ancient History.

Q: I was born in the 90's. I know nothing about college football but I know Notre Dame is the most famous team in spite of the fact that they haven't been that good recently. What's the story with how they originally became so popular?

A: Notre Dame football really burst onto the scene in 1913. The head coach at the time (Jesse Harper) wanted to boost the profile of the football program--something that wasn't easy to do considering it was a small Catholic school in the middle of nowhere. ND set out for the east coast to play Army who at the time was a football powerhouse.

In those days football consisted of running the ball 99% of the time and passing only in dire and desperate situations. On that day in 1913 ND changed the face of football forever by unleashing an aggressive passing attack that was incredibly efficient. Gus Dorais completed 12 of his 14 pass attempts for over 200 yards--many to star end and future Irish coaching legend Knute Rockne--as Notre Dame stomped the heavily favored Army Black Knights 35-13. You could call it ND's coming out party.

Five years later Rockne took the helm as head coach. Over the course of his 12 years he transformed Notre Dame from a nice little program to a powerhouse and the most popular team in the country. Programs in the Midwest became worried about Notre Dame's meteoric rise (like Michigan...much more on this later) so they blackballed the Irish, wouldn't allow them to join their conference (the Western Athletic Conference, which is now known as the Big Ten), and many refused to even schedule them for games.

This collusion forced Rockne to take his troops on unprecedented road trips across the country to find opponents. The scrappy underdogs from South Bend took on any and all challengers--from Army in the east to Southern Cal in the west--and quickly become one of the best teams in all the land. Thanks to these coast-to-coast road trips Notre Dame received unparalleled national exposure and as the victories piled up they won legions of fans across the nation. These followers that didn't attend ND but helped to form the rabid and national fanbase became known as Subway Alumni.

Q: What were the highlights on the field of the Rockne Era?

A: Knute Rockne had a winning percentage of .881 (still the best of all-time), completed five undefeated seasons, and won three consensus national championships. Tragically he was killed in a plane crash after the 1930 season on the heels of winning two consecutive national championships in 1929 and 1930. Under his watch Notre Dame's program was elevated into the elite of college football and his teams introduced terms like "The Four Horsemen" and "Win One for the Gipper" into the lexicon of American sports.

Q: The Four Horsemen?

Grantland Rice, one of America's most famed sports writers, attended the Notre Dame-Army game in 1924 in New York City. Notre Dame defeated the favored Black Knights in large part because thanks to the efforts of their four stars in the backfield: Harry Stuhldreher, Jim Crowley, Don Miller, and Elmer Layden. Inspired by their performance he penned the following paragraph:

"Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore their names are Death, Destruction, Pestilence, and Famine. But those are aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Crowley, Miller and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below."

(Sidenote: How did sports journalism devolve from Grantland Rice to Scoop Jackson over the last century?)

When the quartet arrived back in South Bend Knute Rockne's student publicity aide had them pose for a picture atop horses while in their uniforms. It's now one of the most famous and recognizable pictures in sports history. The Four Horsemen (and the less publicized players who blocked for them, known as the Seven Mules) led Notre Dame to a perfect 10-0 record that season, resulting in the school's first recognized national championship.

Q: And who is "The Gipper" and what's the story behind him?

A: The Gipper was a Notre Dame football player by the name of George Gipp who played from 1917-1920. He was an incredibly versatile athlete who played halfback, quarterback, and even punted. He set a whole slew of records over the course of his career and some still stand to this day (such as his staggering career average of 8.1 yards per carry). After the final game of his senior season he contracted strep throat and pneumonia and tragically died less than a month after he last took the field.

Some people say he got sick from giving a punting clinic in terrible weather after his final game. Others insist that he became ill when he got back to campus past curfew after a night of drinking, got locked out of his dorm and Washington Hall (where he commonly used to sleep off those post-curfew nights), and had to sleep out in the cold November night. WNG will go with the latter story. Rage on, Gip.

Eight years after Gipp's death Notre Dame was playing the mighty Army Black Knights at Yankee Stadium. Notre Dame was in the midst of their worst season in Rockne's illustrious coaching career and the expectation was that Army would thump the wounded Irish. Before the game Rockne addressed his troops and revealed that on George Gipp's deathbed he had asked Rockne for a favor.

"Gip said to me, 'I've got to go, Rock. It's all right. I'm not afraid. Some time, Rock, when the team is up against it, when things are wrong and the breaks are beating the boys, ask them to go in there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper. I don't know where I'll be then, Rock. But I'll know about it, and I'll be happy.' The day before he died George Gipp asked me to wait until the situation seemed hopeless--then ask a Notre Dame team to go out and beat Army for him. This is the day and you are the team."

Rockne's speech ignited the Irish. Trailing 6-0 at halftime, Jack Chevigny scored a touchdown in the second half and exclaimed, "THAT'S ONE FOR THE GIPPER!" Notre Dame punched in another touchdown and shocked Army with a 12-6 victory. After the game the details of Rockne's epic pre-game talk leaked to the press and "Win One for The Gipper" was forever immortalized.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A lot to digest? I can appreciate that. As a tip of the cap for those that needed CliffNotes to get through high school English (oh stop acting like YOU actually made it all the way through Crime and Punishment) I'll include a condensed summary at the end of every entry.

* Notre Dame burst on to the national football scene when they defeated Army 35-13 in 1913. The victory was spurred on by the implementation of a passing attack unlike anything anyone had ever seen before.
* Notre Dame was black-balled by the Western Athletic Conference (fueled by Michigan's desire to kill ND's program) and forced to travel across the country to find opponents. This played a large role in Notre Dame developing a national fanbase, sometimes referred to as the Subway Alumni.
* Knute Rockne coached the team from 1918-1930, had five undefeated seasons, won three consensus national championships, and had a winning percentage of .881, the best of all-time. He was killed tragically in a plane crash in 1930 on the heels of two consecutive national championships.
* Grantland Rice coined the term "The Four Horsemen" to describe the Notre Dame backfield of Stuhldreher, Crowly, Miller, and Layden after they dismantled Army in 1924.
* Grantland Rice is one of the greatest writers in American history. Scoop Jackson is one of the worst. Every time Scoop writes an article Grantland rolls in his grave.
* The "Win One for The Gipper" speech was delivered by Knute Rockne to his team before playing a heavily favored Army team in 1928. Inspired by their coach's story the Irish went out and upset Army 12-6.
* George Gipp's last words on his deathbed may or may not have been "Sorry I party."