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Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

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The University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish, sometimes called Notre Dame or the Irish, are an American football team that compete as in Independent in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I-A. The Irish are among the most successful sports teams in the United States. They parlayed that success into immense popularity, enabling the university to negotiate its own television contract for their home games with NBC, which is unheard of in United States professional and amateur sports. The university is one of two Catholic universities that field a team in Division I-A, the other being Boston College. The team plays its home games at Notre Dame Stadium located in South Bend, Indiana, which seats over 80,000 people and is comparable in size to many professional American football venues.

History

The beginning (1887 - 1917)

American football did not have an auspicious beginning at the University of Notre Dame. In their inaugural game on November 23 1887 the Irish lost to the University of Michigan Wolverines by a score of 8-0. Their first win came in the final game of the 1888 season when the Irish defeated Harvard Prep by a score of 20-0. At the end of the 1888 season they had a record of 1-3 with all three losses being at the hands of Michigan by a combined score of 43-9. Between 1887 and 1899 Notre Dame compiled a record of 31 wins, 15 losses, and 4 ties against a diverse variety of opponents ranging from local high school teams to other universities.

At the beginning of the 20th century college football began to increase in popularity and became more standardized with the introduction of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS) in 1906. That organization would become the NCAA in 1910. Notre Dame continued its success during this time and achieved their first victory over Michigan in 1909 by the score of 11-3 after which Michigan refused to play Notre Dame again for 33 years. By the end of the 1912 season they had amassed a record of 108 wins, 31 losses, and 13 ties.

Jessie Harper became head coach in 1913 and remained so until he retired in 1917. During his tenure the Irish began playing only intercollegiate games and posted a record of 34 wins, 5 losses, and 1 tie. This period would also mark the beginning of the rivalry with Army and the continuation of rivalries with Michigan State.

The Rockne Era (1918 - 1930)

Knute Rockne became head coach in 1918 and ushered in one of the most famous and successful chapters in Notre Dame football history. Under Rockne the Irish would post a record of 105 wins, 12 losses, and 5 ties. During his 13 years, the longest tenure of any coach to date, the Irish won 6 national championships, had 5 undefeated seasons, won the Rose Bowl in 1925, and produced many legendary players such as the "Four Horsemen". Rockne has the highest win percentage (.881) in college football history.

Among the events that occurred during Rockne’s tenure none is more famous than the Rockne’s Win one for the Gipper speech. George "the Gipper" Gipp was a very successful player on Rockne’s earlier teams and tragically died of pneumonia in 1920. Army came into the 1928 matchup undefeated and was the clear favorite. Notre Dame, on the other hand, was having their worst season under Rockne’s leadership and entered the game with a 4-2 record. At the end of the half Army was leading and looked to be in command of the game. Rockne entered the locker room and gave his account of Gipp’s final words: "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, tell 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 speech, although possibly fictional, inspired the team and they went on to upset Army and win the game 12-5.

Rockne died in a plane crash in Kansas while on his way to help in the production of the film The Spirit of Notre Dame in 1930. He was the subject of the 1940 film Knute Rockne, All American.

After Rockne (1931 to 1941)

Upon Rockne’s death Heartly "Hunk" Anderson took the helm of the Irish leading them to a record of 16 wins, 9 losses, and two ties. Anderson was a former Irish player under Rockne and at the time of his death was serving as Rockne’s assistant coach.

Anderson resigned as Irish head coach in 1934 and was replaced by Elmer Layden, who was one of Rockne’s "Four Horsemen" in the 1920’s. After graduating, Layden played professional American football for one year and then began a coaching career. The Irish posted a record of 47 wins, 13 losses, and 3 tie in 7 years under Layden. He left the team in 1940 to become Commissioner of the National Football League (NFL).

The Leahy Era (1941 – 1953)

Frank Leahy was hired by Notre Dame to take over for Anderson in 1941, and was another former Irish player that played during the Rockne Era. After graduating from Notre Dame, Leahy had a variety of coach positions including line coach of the infamous "Seven Blocks of Granite" of Fordham University that helped that team to win all but two games between 1935 and 1937. He then coached the Boston College Eagles to a win in the 1941 Sugar Bowl.

Leahy would be the Irish’s head coach for 11 seasons from 1941 to 1943 and 1946 to 1953. He has the second highest winning percentage (.864) of any college coach in history. He led the Irish to a record of 87 wins, 11 losses, and 9 ties including 39 consecutive wins, five national championships, and six undefeated seasons. Leaheay retired in 1954 due to health reasons.

From 1944 to 1945, Leahy served in the U.S. Navy and was honorably discharged as a Lieutenant. Ed McKeever, Leahy’s assistant coach, became interim head coach while Leahy was in the Navy. During his one year at the helm the Irish managed 8 wins and 2 losses. McKeever left Notre Dame in 1945 to take over as head coach of Cornell University. McKeever was replaced by Hugh Devore for the 1945 season and led the Irish to 7 wins, 2 losses, and 1 tie.

After Leahy (1954 – 1962)

The departure of Leahy ushered in a downward slope in Notre Dame’s performance. Terry Brennan was hired as the Notre Dame head coach in 1954 and would stay until 1958. He departed with a respectable total of 32 wins and 18 losses. Brennan was a former player under Leahy and before joining the Irish had had coached the Mount Carmel High School team in Chicago, Illinois and later the freshman squad at Notre Dame. His first two seasons were successful and the Irish were ranked 4th and 9th respectively. The 1956 season was one of the most dismal in the team’s history and saw them finish the season with a mere 2 wins. The Irish would recover the following season and post a respectable record of 7 wins and 3 losses and in Brennan’s final season finished with 6 wins and 4 losses. Brennan left the Irish to become the conditioning coach for the Cincinnati Reds.

Joe Kuharich took over for Brennan in 1963 and to date remains the only Irish head coach to leave the team with a losing record. During his 4 year tenure as coach, the Irish finished with 17 wins and 23 losses and they never finished better than .500 in a season. Hugh Devore once again filled in the gap between coached and led the Irish to yet another lackluster season in 1964 finishing with 5 wins and 5 losses.

Rivalries

Notre Dame's chief rival is the University of Southern California, followed by their natural enemy, the University of Michigan. They have maintained longtime annual series with Michigan State University, Purdue University, and Navy. In recent years, Notre Dame has played annually with Stanford University and Boston College, though the latter series will shortly be coming to an end.

Michigan Rivalry

Notre Dame and Michigan first played in 1887 in Notre Dame's introduction to football. Given both schools rich history in college and their close geographical proximity, Michigan and Notre Dame would seem to be natural rivals. However, until 1978, they only played 11 times, primarily due to Michigan's reluctance to admit there was another midwestern powerhouse.

Since 1978, however, the series has been more or less continuous with Notre Dame ahead 12-9-1. Moreover, the game has often been a classic which has propelled this into a nationally televised can't-miss early season college football matchup.

Through the 2005 season, Michigan leads the overall series 18-14-1.

Series Factoids

  • The Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry was written into "The Portland Trip," an episode of the TV show The West Wing. President Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen), established on a previous episode as a graduate of Notre Dame, is talking to his White House Chief of Staff, Leo McGarry (John Spencer), on the tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base, where Air Force One is about to take off for a Presidential visit to Portland, Oregon the night before the two schools were to play. Unable to hear what Leo said to him, Bartlet says, "I thought you said, 'Michigan sucks.'" While the show has never explicitly said that Leo is a graduate of Michigan, this is implied when he answers, "No sir. We're standing close to the engines, so it may have sounded like I said, 'Notre Dame is going to get the ass-kicking they so richly deserve.'" The episode concludes before the game can begin, so the winner is not revealed. Ironically, in 2000, the year in which the episode aired, the two schools did not play each other.

Ohio State Rivalry

There's really no rivalry here, as Ohio State regularly dominates Notre Dame. The systematic deconstruction of the Flighting Irish is set to re-occur on January 2, 2006 in Tempe, Arizona -- regardless of what John Fiorenza thinks. The Buckeyes won't even use condoms.

USC Rivalry

The Notre Dame-USC rivalry has been played annually since 1926, except brief repose during World War II. In recent years, the game alternates between South Bend in mid-October and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, USC's home field, on the Saturday night of Thanksgiving weekend.

Through the 2005 season, Notre Dame leads 42-30-5.

Series Factoids

All-time Records

Further information: Notre Dame football yearly totals

As of November 26, 2005 Notre Dame's all time record stands at 811 wins, 265 losses, and 42 ties. They have won a total of 11 national championships (1924, 1929, 1930, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1955, 1973, 1977, and 1988) and revieved mention in a further 8 national championships (1919, 1920, 1927, 1938, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1970).

Bowl Games

Notre Dame has made 23 Bowl appearances, winning 13 and losing 10. They have played in the Rose Bowl (1 win), the Cotton Bowl (5 wins, 2 losses), the Orange Bowl (2 wins, 3 losses), the Sugar Bowl (2 wins, 1 loss), the Gator Bowl (1 win), the Liberty Bowl (1 win), the Aloha Bowl (1 loss), the Fiesta Bowl (1 win, 2 losses -- 1 pending), and the Independence Bowl (1 loss).

Records of Head Football Coaches

Years Coach Record
1894 James L. Morrison 3–1–1
1895 H. G. Hadden 3–1–0
1896–1897 Frank E. Hering 8–4–1
1899 James McWeeney 6–3–1
1900–1901 Pat O'Dea 14–4–2
1902–1903 James F. Faragher 14–2–2
1904 Louis (Red) Salmon 5–3–0
1905 Harry J. McGlew 5–4–0
1906–1907 Thomas A. Barry 12–1–1
1908 Victor M. Place 8–1–0
1909–1910 Frank C. Longman 11–1–2
1911–1912 John L. Marks 13–0–2
1913–1917 Jesse Harper 34–5–1
1918–1930 Knute Rockne 105–12–5
1931–1933 Hunk Anderson 16–9–2
1934–1940 Elmer Layden 47–13–3
1941–1953 Frank Leahy 87–11–9
1954–1958 Terry Brennan 32–18–0
1959–1962 Joe Kuharich 17–23
1964–1974 Ara Parseghian 95–17–4
1975–1980 Dan Devine 53–16–1
1981–1985 Gerry Faust 30–26–1
1986–1996 Lou Holtz 100–30–2
1997–2001 Bob Davie 35–25
2002–2004 Tyrone Willingham 21–15
2005– Charlie Weis 9–3 -- 1 loss pending

Current Players and Coaches

2005 Coaching Staff

2005 Roster

   

Notable Alumni

Heisman Trophy winners

Seven Notre Dame football players have won the prestigious Heisman Trophy. As of 2005, Notre Dame and USC are tied for the most Heisman Trophy winners.

Other notable Alumni

References

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