title: Centrism

text: A late-2011 Gallup poll of Americans' attitudes towards government reported that 17% expressed conservative views, 22% expressed libertarian views, 20% expressed communitarian views, 17% expressed centrist views, and 24% expressed liberal views.


title: Centrism

text: Americans Elect, a coalition of American centrists funded by wealthy donors such as business magnate Michael Bloomberg, former junk-bond trader Peter Ackerman and hedge fund manager John H. Burbank III, launched an effort in mid-2011 to create a national "virtual primary" that would challenge the current two-party system. The group aimed to nominate a presidential ticket of centrists with names that would be on ballots in all 50 states. The group banked on broad cultural dissatisfaction with the partisan gridlock in Washington, D.C. "The Christian Science Monitor" has stated that "the political climate couldn't be riper for a serious third-party alternative" such as their effort, but the "hurdles Americans Elect faces are daunting" to get on ballots.


title: Centrism

text: Washington political journalist Linda Killian wrote in her 2012 book "The Swing Vote" that Americans are frustrated with Congress and its dysfunction and inability to do its job. Many Americans are unsatisfied with the political process because of many factors, such as the influx of money into politics and the influence of special interests and lobbyists. The book classifies four types of independent voters, including "NPR Republicans", "America First Democrats", "The Facebook Generation", and "Starbucks Moms and Dads", who were big determinates of swing votes in the 2012 presidential election. Journalist and author John Avlon wrote in his 2005 book "Independent Nation" that centrism is not a matter of compromise or reading polls; rather, it is an antidote to the politics of divisiveness, providing principled opposition to political extremes.


title: Centrism

text: Centrists in the two major U.S. political parties are often found in the New Democrat Coalition, the Blue Dog Coalition of the Democratic Party, the Republican Main Street Partnership of the Republican Party, and the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. Barack Obama has been widely identified as a centrist Democrat president, as has Joe Biden. Outside the two major parties, some centrists inhabit the Libertarian Party, independent candidacy movements, such as Unite America, co-founded by Charles Wheelan, and the Forward Party, established by Andrew Yang in 2021.


title: Takefusa Kubo

text: At the age of seven, Takefusa Kubo started playing football for FC Persimmon, a local club based in his home city Kawasaki. In August 2009, he was awarded MVP at FC Barcelona Soccer Camp in which he participated at the age of eight. In April 2010, he was selected as a member of FC Barcelona School team and participated in Sodexo European Rusas Cup held in Belgium. He was awarded MVP even though his team finished third. After returning home, he began to play for the Kawasaki Frontale junior youth team.


title: Takefusa Kubo

text: In August 2011, Takefusa Kubo had been invited to join FC Barcelona’s youth Academy, La Masia, after passing the trial. He began to play for Barca Aleví C (U11). During his first full season (2012–13), he was top goalscorer in the league with 74 goals in 30 games. In his third full season (2014–15), he was promoted to Barca Infantil A (U14). The Spanish club was later found to have violated FIFA’s international transfer policy for under-18 youths, making Kubo ineligible to play for the club. He returned to Japan on March 2015 in search of playing time, signing with FC Tokyo’s junior youth team.


title: Takefusa Kubo

text: Takefusa Kubo joined FC Tokyo U-18 team in 2016. In September 2016, he was promoted to the senior side at the age of fifteen. On 5 November, he made his formal debut for the reserve team in the J3 League as a halftime sub for match against AC Nagano Parceiro. He made his professional debut at the J.League record of 15 years, five months and one day.


title: Takefusa Kubo

text: On 15 April 2017 Kubo became the youngest player to score in the J.League at 15 years, ten months in a 1–0 win over Cerezo Osaka U-23. On 3 May, he top-flight debuted for the first-team in J.League YBC Levain Cup playing 25 minutes in a 1–0 win against Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo.


title: Takefusa Kubo

text: In November 2017, FC Tokyo announced an update to Kubo's contract improving it to pay him as a first-team member.


title: Takefusa Kubo

text: On 16 August 2018, he joined Yokohama F. Marinos on a half-year loan. He immediately scored on his debut with "Marinos" in an away game against Vissel Kobe.


title: Takefusa Kubo

text: From the start of the 2019 season, Kubo became a regular starter for FC Tokyo in both the J.League YBC Levain Cup and J.League scoring goals in both competitions.


title: Takefusa Kubo

text: On 14 June 2019, Kubo signed with Spanish club Real Madrid on a five-year deal. Although registered with their U-19 team, he had been expected to mainly play for Real Madrid B during the 2019–20 season. However, he featured regularly with the first team during Real Madrid's preseason tour of the United States and Germany.


title: Takefusa Kubo

text: On 22 August 2019, Kubo joined RCD Mallorca on a season-long loan. He has become the third Japanese player in Mallorca's history after Yoshito Okubo and Akihiro Ienaga. On 1 September, he made his La Liga debut playing 15 minutes in a 2–0 loss to Valencia. He became the youngest Japanese player in the Top 4 European leagues history that has played in a match with a record of 18 years, 2 months, and 28 days. He scored his first goal on 10 November 2019 against Villarreal in a 3–1 victory. He later scored his second goal in an entertaining 3–3 draw to Real Betis on 21 February 2020. He then scored his third goal two weeks later in a 2–1 victory over SD Eibar.


title: Takefusa Kubo

text: On 10 August 2020, he was loaned to Villarreal CF until the end of the 2020–21 season. After being mainly used as a substitute, his loan was cut short on 8 January 2021.


title: Takefusa Kubo

text: Immediately after leaving Villarreal, Kubo moved to fellow top tier side Getafe CF on loan for the remainder of the season.


title: Takefusa Kubo

text: On 19 July 2022, Kubo joined Real Sociedad on a permanent deal. Kubo marked his debut by scoring the only goal in a 1–0 win away to Cádiz in their opening game of the season in La Liga.


title: Takefusa Kubo

text: Kubo has been involved in Japan national teams from U-15 to senior level. At the age of fifteen, he was selected to the Japan U-20 national team for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup.


title: Takefusa Kubo

text: Shortly before turning eighteen, Kubo was named in the squad for the 2019 Copa América, which marked his first call up to the senior squad. He made his debut on 9 June 2019 in a friendly against El Salvador, as a 67th-minute substitute for Takumi Minamino. In July 2021, he was included in the 22-player squad of the under-23 team for the 2020 Summer Olympics.


title: Alpha Dog

text: Alpha Dog is a 2006 American crime film written and directed by Nick Cassavetes based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of Nicholas Markowitz in 2000. The cast includes Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake, Ben Foster, Shawn Hatosy, Anton Yelchin, Christopher Marquette, Olivia Wilde, Amanda Seyfried, Harry Dean Stanton, Sharon Stone, and Bruce Willis. "Alpha Dog" was first screened at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2006, and had a wide release the following year on January 12. It grossed $32 million worldwide on a budget of $9 million.


title: Alpha Dog

text: In 1999, Johnny Truelove is a young drug dealer in the San Gabriel Valley. His father, Sonny, supplies him with marijuana, which Johnny distributes with his gang of friends: Frankie Ballenbacher, Johnny's right-hand man; Tiko Martinez, the group’s muscle; Elvis Schmidt, who is ridiculed for being in debt to Johnny; and Jake Mazursky, an addict also in debt with Johnny. Jake attempts to borrow money from his father and stepmother, while his younger half-brother Zack looks up to him and longs to escape his home life.


title: Alpha Dog

text: A fight breaks out when Jake tries to pay Johnny only part of his debt, leading Johnny to get Jake fired, and Jake to retaliate by breaking into Johnny’s apartment. Johnny brings Frankie and Tiko to confront Jake, but he is nowhere to be found. Spotting Zack on the side of the road, Johnny impulsively orders the gang to kidnap him, planning to hold him until Jake pays his debt. Wanting a break from home, Zack makes no effort to escape, and they drive to Palm Springs. Frankie is left to watch Zack, and offers him a chance to leave, but Zack declines, not wanting to cause problems for his brother.


title: Alpha Dog

text: Staying at Frankie’s father’s house, Zack bonds with Frankie and ingratiates himself with his friends Keith, Julie, Sabrina, and Susan, though only Susan is concerned by his abduction. Frankie suggests to Johnny that they pay Zack to keep quiet about the kidnapping, and Johnny agrees. However, after a threatening phone call with Jake, and learning from his lawyer that he could face life in prison, Johnny offers to forget Elvis’ debt if he kills Zack, giving him a submachine gun. Believing Zack will be returning home that night, Frankie and his friends throw a raucous party at a hotel. Zack goes swimming naked with Julie and her friend Alma, leading to a threesome.


title: Alpha Dog

text: Everyone happily says goodbye to Zack, and Elvis arrives, arguing with Frankie over Johnny’s plan to kill Zack. While Frankie runs off, Elvis introduces himself to Zack, then takes Keith to dig a grave in the nearby mountains. Frankie returns and gives Zack a final opportunity to escape, but Zack declines, oblivious to the danger he is in. Elvis and Keith return, and Frankie relents when Elvis explains they could face life in prison. Sonny, Johnny's godfather Cosmo, and their lawyer confront Johnny, who refuses to call off the hit. Zack is brought to the grave, and despite his and Frankie’s pleas, Elvis insists on following through. Frankie calms Zack and ties him up with duct tape, before Elvis knocks Zack into the grave and shoots him dead. Zack's body is soon discovered.


title: Alpha Dog

text: The story is intercut with interviews conducted by detective Tom Finnegan with people connected to Johnny’s gang, and with some of the 38 witnesses who saw Zack between his initial kidnapping and eventual murder. Zack’s mother Olivia, now suffering from obesity and depression, talks candidly about attempting suicide after her son's death. Susan angrily confronts Frankie and goes to the authorities. Elvis is caught trying to secure a lift out of town. Johnny flees to Albuquerque where an old classmate then drives him to Cosmo's house.


title: Alpha Dog

text: Tiko is convicted of kidnapping and sentenced to nine years in prison; Keith is convicted of second degree murder and remains at the California Youth Authority until the age of 25; Frankie is convicted of aggravated kidnapping of special circumstances and receives a life sentence; Elvis is convicted of kidnapping and first degree murder, and is currently on Death Row in San Quentin State Prison. Asked how his son was able to escape authorities for four years without help, Sonny claims not to know. In 2005, after over five years on the FBI’s most wanted list, Johnny is arrested in Paraguay, and is now in California awaiting trial, facing the death penalty.


title: Alpha Dog

text: During filming, Santa Barbara County Deputy District Attorney Ronald J. Zonen provided copies of many documents on the case and served as an unpaid consultant to the film, citing his desire to have Hollywood captured. Zonen prosecuted Hollywood's co-defendants and was poised to prosecute Hollywood. After Hollywood was captured in Saquarema, Brazil, and subsequently returned to the United States, his defense lawyer claimed Zonen had a conflict of interest; the California Court of Appeal for the Second District ruled on October 5, 2006, that Zonen should be recused from further involvement in prosecuting Hollywood because of his disclosure of the files and work on the film. The California Supreme Court subsequently reversed that holding, but Zonen was replaced as lead prosecution attorney by Deputy District Attorney Joshua Lynn.


title: Alpha Dog

text: Hollywood's attorney, James Blatt, tried to block the release of the film. After the delay, Hollywood's trial started May 15, 2009, with the defense's opening statements saying Hollywood was not involved with the murder. In his opening statement, Lynn described Hollywood as "a ruthless coward." On July 8, 2009, Hollywood was convicted of simple kidnapping and first-degree murder with special circumstances and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.


title: Alpha Dog

text: "Alpha Dog" was first screened at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2006 as the closing film. The film was originally to be distributed by New Line Cinema, however, the company sold the film to Universal Pictures after they requested edits to the film that director Nick Cassavetes didn't want to make. The film's release was delayed by a year to January 12, 2007.


title: Alpha Dog

text: "Alpha Dog" was released on DVD on May 1, 2007. It includes a DVD/HD DVD combo package where both forms are included in one box. DVD sales gathered $12,324,535 in revenue from 743,036 units sold. It was released on the Blu-ray format on July 13, 2010.


title: Alpha Dog

text: During its opening weekend, "Alpha Dog" grossed $6,412,775 and was #7 at the box office. The film closed on February 22, 2007 after grossing $15,309,602 domestically, and totaled $32,145,115 worldwide over its six-week release.


title: Alpha Dog

text: In the United States, "Alpha Dog" was released on January 12, 2007 along with "Stomp the Yard" & "Primeval".


title: Alpha Dog

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, "Alpha Dog" received a positive review from 54% of 144 surveyed critics. The consensus states, "A glossy yet unflinching portrait of violent, hedonistic teenagers. Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone chew the scenery, while Justin Timberlake gives a noteworthy performance." On Metacritic the film has a score of 53% based on reviews from 30 critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Alpha Dog

text: Justin Chang of Variety wrote: "Writer-director Nick Cassavetes' sprawling dramatization recklessly blurs the line between reconstruction and reality in ways that are admittedly interesting, if more than a little artistically suspect."


title: Alpha Dog

text: Yelchin was praised as "able to bring all of the conflicting emotions of Zack," and conveying all of it beautifully.


title: Alpha Dog

text: Susan Markowitz attempted suicide three times. Jeff Markowitz elaborated, "She is so tortured by what happened that she has tried to take her own life. The last thing that either of us want is to see this picture. How would any loving parent feel about a Hollywood movie that glamorizes their son's death and allows celebrities to cash in on a brutal, evil murder?" Nonetheless, both Susan and Jeff attended the film's premiere, and Susan stated she was moved by Anton Yelchin's portrayal of Zack (Nick). After the screening, she embraced Sharon Stone, who played Olivia (Susan).


title: NEET

text: NEET, an acronym for "Not in Education, Employment, or Training", refers to a person who is unemployed and not receiving an education or vocational training. The classification originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1990s, and its use has spread, in varying degrees, to other countries, including Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Canada, and the United States. The NEET category includes the unemployed (individuals without a job and seeking one), as well as individuals outside the labour force (without a job and not seeking one). It is usually age-bounded to exclude people in old-age retirement.


title: NEET

text: In the United Kingdom, the classification comprises people aged between 16 and 24 (some 16 and 17 year-olds are still of compulsory school age); the subgroup of NEETs aged 16–18 is frequently of particular focus. In Japan, the classification comprises people aged between 15 and 34 who are not employed, not engaged in housework, not enrolled in school or work-related training, and not seeking work.


title: NEET

text: A 2008 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said the unemployment and NEET rates for people aged 16–24 in the majority of OECD countries fell in the past decade, attributed to increased participation in education.


title: NEET

text: NEET is to be distinguished from the newly coined NLFET rate ("Neither in the Labour Force nor in Education or Training") used in the 2013 report on Global Employment Trends for Youth by the International Labour Organization. NLFET is similar to NEET but excludes unemployed youth (who are part of the labour force).


title: NEET

text: Knowledge of the word spread after it was used in a 1999 report by the Social Exclusion Unit (SEU). Before this, the phrase "status zero", which had a similar meaning, was used. Andy Furlong writes that the use of the term NEET became popular partly because of the negative connotations of having "no status". The classification is specifically redefined in other local government papers, such as "respondents who were out of work or looking for a job, looking after children or family members, on unpaid holiday or traveling, sick or disabled, doing voluntary work or engaged in another unspecified activity"; the acronym, however, has no agreed definition with respect to measurement, particularly in relation to defining economic inactivity. Karen Robson writes that the classification has "virtually usurped discussions of "youth unemployment" in the UK literature". Scott Yates and Malcolm Payne say that initially there was a "holistic focus" on the NEET group by policy-makers which looked at the problems young people went through, but this changed as the NEET status became framed in negative terms—"as reflective of a raft of risks, problems and negative orientations on the part of young people". NEET figures for England are published by the Department for Education (DfE). The methodology used in calculating the number of NEETs aged 16–18 is different from that used for those aged 16–24. The first relies on a range of sources, the second on the Labour Force Survey.


title: NEET

text: A 2007 report commissioned by the Prince's Trust said almost a fifth of people aged 16–24 in England, Scotland, and Wales were NEETs; the proportion was lowest in Northern Ireland (13.8 percent). The second-quarter figures for 2011 showed that 979,000 people in England between 16 and 24 were NEETs, accounting for 16.2 percent in that age group. Between 1995 and 2008, the proportion of NEETs aged 16–18 in England remained fairly stable at around 8–11 percent. "The Guardian" reported in 2011 that, since 2003, there has been a 15.6 percent decrease in people aged 16–18 in employment, but a 6.8 percent increase in those in education and training. NEET figures tend to peak in the third quarter, when school and university courses are ending.


title: NEET

text: There is some stigma attached to the term NEET. Simon Cox of BBC News said the word is "the latest buzzword for teenage drop-outs". He says "Neets are 20 times more likely to commit a crime and 22 times more likely to be a teenage mum", and that Barking and Dagenham has been called the country's "Neet capital". David Smith of "The Times" calls them "the yobs hanging around off-licences late into the night". According to Colin Webster, NEETs commit disproportionately large amounts of crime. Children with high levels of truancy and exclusions at school are likely to become NEETs.


title: NEET

text: Several schemes and ideas have been developed to reduce the number of NEETs. One of the main goals of the Connexions service, first piloted in 2001, is to reduce the number of NEETs. Most local authorities have made a local area agreement to this end. As part of the 2004 Spending Review, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) had a public service agreement to reduce the proportion of NEETs from 9.6 percent in 2004 to 7.6 percent in 2010. Introduced in 2004–2005 the UK-wide Education Maintenance Allowance offers a means-tested weekly payment of up to £30 to young people continuing education past secondary school. In 2007 the government implemented a "September guarantee" that guaranteed all 16-year-old school leavers a suitable learning place in September, extended to 17-year-olds the following year. The "Young Person's Guarantee" was announced in the 2009 budget, offering a guaranteed job, training, or work experience to 18- to 24-year-olds who have been on Jobseeker's Allowance for six months; it went live on 25 January 2010. It was announced in the 2010 budget that the scheme would end in March 2012, an extension of one year. The Education and Skills Act 2008, which was granted royal assent in 2008, increased the school leaving age in England to 17 in 2013, and to 18 in 2015; the Act gives the National Assembly for Wales the option to raise the leaving age in that country. A number of further education colleges seek to enrol NEETs. For example, it was reported in 2005 that a course for NEETs at Bournemouth and Poole College had offered various sign-on incentives, and completion bonuses of a free iPod and £100 in cash.


title: NEET

text: NEET is a distinct social policy category from that of freeter, the classification for those working low-wage part-time jobs, although in practice thousands of young people move between these categories (i.e., from the status of non-employed young person to that of a part-time worker and back) each year.


title: NEET

text: The demographic prevalence of NEETs has been indicated in employment statistics. Japanese politicians expressed concern about the impact on the economy of the growth in the NEET population. The estimated size rose from 480,000 in September 2002 to 520,000 in September 2003, according to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Other surveys by the Japanese government in 2002 presented a much larger figure of 850,000 people who can be classified as NEET, of which 60% were people aged 25 to 34. It is therefore clear that the number of NEETs produced by statistics depends greatly on the specific definition adopted; hence all figures should be treated with caution.


title: NEET

text: When the NEET issue erupted in the Japanese media in 2004 and 2005, non-employed young people falling into this category were framed as lazy, work-shy, and voluntarily out of employment. This media portrayal was effective in arousing the concern of Japan's (conservative) middle aged population, but it led only to moderate support for new youth policies. Indeed, as argued by Toivonen in an empirical monograph that juxtaposes media and policy discourses with youth support practices, the most promising solutions to the NEET conundrum have been created by social entrepreneurs such as Kudo Kei and Iwamoto Mami rather than by MHLW policy-makers or even scholars.


title: NEET

text: Unlike most Western European countries, Japan's unemployment benefit terminates automatically after three to six months and there is a limited range of support for those with special needs. Many NEETs in Japan are thus inevitably supported by their parents or relatives, though some find their way to Youth Support Stations and other services designed and/or enacted by social enterprises, including many NPOs.


title: NEET

text: A report by the OECD revealed that 580,000 young Australians fall under the classification. The report also revealed that the number of NEETs has soared by 10,000 since the Global Financial Crisis and now account for one in eight Australians between the ages of 15 and 29.


title: NEET

text: Statistics Canada carried out the first comprehensive study into the state of NEETs in Canada in 2012. It was revealed that around 13% of Canadians between the ages of 15 and 29 fell into the category. Despite the percentage being the second lowest in the G7 nations the total number of young Canadians that were classified as NEETs currently stands at 904,000.


title: NEET

text: The study also revealed that out of the total 904,000 NEETs around 513,000 were not looking actively for jobs. The study also suggested that long-term unemployment was not necessarily due to wider disenchantment with the labour market but rather arose out of varying factors. The study also revealed that 82% of the young people not in the labour force actually want to be placed in long-term employment. The study classified the Canadian NEET population not to be "in a high risk, negative state".


title: NEET

text: In Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, the term "ni-ni" ("neither-nor") has become a popular equivalent of NEET. The term means 'ni estudia, ni trabaja' ("neither studies, nor works"). In Portuguese there is the equivalent term "nem-nem".


title: NEET

text: The term has become a controversial topic in Mexico, where the government feels that people who might be considered NEET are more likely to choose to join the organizations involved in drug trafficking in order to sustain their economical and personal needs, than they are to get a job or study. Some states and organizations in Mexico are creating work programs and scholarships to keep the NEET population away from drug cartels.


title: NEET

text: In Latin American and the Caribbean, the World Bank estimates one in five people ages 15–24 are ninis, 20 million in total, an increase of 2 million since 1992. The 2016 study notes that two thirds of nini are women, mostly due to early marriage, teen pregnancy, or both. It is noted that male ninis increased by 46% since 1992; males account for the entire increase of ninis in the region. Male ninis usually dropped-out of school to work low-paying jobs, who during economic instability lost their jobs with little chance of returning to school.


title: NEET

text: In Mexico, ninis statistically account for at least a quarter of increased homicides in high-crime areas during 2007-2012, but in lower-crime areas there was no association between ninis and crime. The World Bank noted that at as of 2010, in Latin America and the Caribbean the number of ninis is somewhat lower than the global average though much higher than in higher-income nations. Globally, of the 260 million ninis counted in 2010 by the World Bank, the Middle East, North African and South Asian regions had the highest shares.


title: NEET

text: Given the lasting effects caused by the Great Recession, publications such as "Time" have published articles discussing the number of Americans that have qualified as NEETs, with approximately 15% of Americans under the age of 25 qualifying as such during the first quarter of 2011. Journalist Peter Gumbel wrote in late 2012 that NEETs are "especially prevalent in the U.S." and constitute a "marginalized group of young people" given U.S. state and local government difficulties in maintaining social services.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the intercollegiate football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, north of the city of South Bend, Indiana. The team plays its home games at the campus' Notre Dame Stadium, which has a capacity of 77,622. Notre Dame is one of seven schools that competes as an Independent at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level; however, they play five games a year against opponents from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), of which Notre Dame is a member in all other sports except ice hockey.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: The school claims 11 national championships, including 8 from the major wire-service (AP, Coaches'). Seven Notre Dame players have won the Heisman Trophy. Notre Dame home games have been televised by NBC since 1991.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Football did not have an auspicious beginning at the University of Notre Dame. In their inaugural game on November 22, 1887, the Irish lost to Michigan by a score of 8–0. Their first win came in the final (and only) game of the 1888 season, when the Irish defeated Harvard Prep School of Chicago by a score of 20–0. Between 1887 and 1899, Notre Dame compiled a record of 31 wins, 15 losses, and four ties against a diverse variety of opponents, ranging from local high school teams to other universities.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: In 1894, James L. Morrison was hired as Notre Dame's first head football coach. Notre Dame took a significant step toward respectability, prominence, and stability when they hired Morrison. He wrote an acquaintance after his first day on the job: "I arrived here [Notre Dame] this morning and found about as green a set of football players that ever donned a uniform... They want to smoke, and when I told them that they would have to run and get up some wind, they thought I was rubbing it in on them...One big, strong cuss remarked that it was too much like work. Well, maybe you think I didn't give him hell! I bet you a hundred no one ever makes a remark like that again." Morrison had been hired for $40 plus expenses for two weeks.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: In 1908, a win over Franklin saw end Fay Wood catch the first touchdown pass in Notre Dame history. Notre Dame continued its success near the turn of the century and achieved their first victory over Michigan in 1909 by a 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.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Jesse 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, five losses, and one tie. This period would also mark the beginning of the rivalry with Army, and the continuation of a rivalry with Michigan State.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: In 1913, Notre Dame burst into the national consciousness and helped to transform the collegiate game in a single contest. In an effort to gain respect for a regionally successful but small-time Midwestern football program, Harper scheduled games in his first season with national powerhouses Texas, Penn State, and Army. On November 1, 1913, the Notre Dame squad stunned the Black Knights of the Hudson 35–13 in a game played at West Point. Led by quarterback Gus Dorais and end Knute Rockne—who was soon to be a legendary coach—the Notre Dame team attacked the Cadets with an offense that featured both the expected powerful running game but also long and accurate downfield forward passes from Dorais to Rockne. This game has been miscredited as the invention of the forward pass. Before this contest, receivers would come to a full stop and wait for the ball to come to them, but in this contest Dorais threw to Rockne in stride, changing the forward pass from a seldom-used play into the dominant ball-moving strategy that it is today.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Irish assistant Knute Rockne became head coach in 1918. Under Rockne, the Irish would post a record of 105 wins, 12 losses, and five ties. The 105 wins account for 12.3% of all wins in Notre Dame football history. During his 13 years, the Irish won three national championships, had five undefeated seasons, won the Rose Bowl in 1925, and produced players such as George Gipp and the "Four Horsemen". Knute Rockne has the highest winning percentage (.881) in NCAA Division I/FBS football history. Rockne's offenses employed the Notre Dame Box and his defenses ran a 7–2–2 scheme.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Rockne took over in the war-torn season of 1918 and posted a 3–1–2 record; he lost only to the Michigan Agricultural Aggies. He made his coaching debut on September 28, 1918, against Case Tech in Cleveland, Ohio, and earned a 26–6 victory. Leonard Bahan, George Gipp, and Curly Lambeau were in the backfield. With Gipp, Rockne had an ideal handler of the forward pass. The 1919 team had Rockne handle the line and Gus Dorais handle the backfield. The team went undefeated and won the national championship.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Gipp died at age 25 on December 14, 1920, just two weeks after Walter Camp elected him as Notre Dame's first All-American. Gipp likely contracted strep throat and pneumonia while giving punting lessons after his final game on November 20 against Northwestern. Since antibiotics were not available in the 1920s, treatment options for such infections were limited and they could be fatal even to young, healthy individuals. Rockne was speaking to Gipper on his hospital bed when he was purported to have delivered the famous, "Win one for the Gipper" line.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: John Mohardt led the 1921 Notre Dame team to a 10–1 record with 781 rushing yards, 995 passing yards, 12 rushing touchdowns, and nine passing touchdowns. Grantland Rice wrote that "Mohardt could throw the ball to within a foot or two of any given space" and noted that the 1921 Notre Dame team "was the first team we know of to build its attack around a forward passing game, rather than use a forward passing game as a mere aid to the running game.” Mohardt had both Eddie Anderson and Roger Kiley at end to receive his passes.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: The national champion 1924 team included the “Four Horsemen” backfield of Harry Stuhldreher, Don Miller, Jim Crowley, and Elmer Layden. The line was known as the “Seven Mules”. The Irish capped an undefeated, 10–0 season with a victory over Stanford in the Rose Bowl.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: The 1926 team beat Army and was led by Christie Flanagan. For all his success, Rockne also made what an Associated Press writer called “one of the greatest coaching blunders in history.” Instead of coaching his team against Carnegie Tech, Rockne traveled to Chicago for the Army–Navy Game to "write newspaper articles about it, as well as select an All-America football team.” Carnegie Tech used the coach's absence as motivation for a 19–0 win; the upset likely cost the Irish a chance for a national title.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: The 1928 team lost to national champion Georgia Tech. “I sat at Grant Field and saw a magnificent Notre Dame team suddenly recoil before the furious pounding of one man–Peter Pund," said Rockne. “Nobody could stop him. I counted 20 scoring plays that this man ruined.” Among the events that occurred during Rockne's tenure, none may be more famous than Rockne's "Win one for the Gipper" speech. 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 going 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 inspired the team, and they went on to upset Army and win the game 12–6.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: The 1929 and 1930 teams both went undefeated, winning national championships, and the 1930 team was led by the likes of Frank Carideo, Joe Savoldi, Marchy Schwartz and Marty Brill. It featured the first and only example of all four members of a backfield being named to an All-American team during the same season. The 1929 team played all of its games on the road, while the new Notre Dame Stadium was being built. In 1930, “Jumping Joe” Savoldi scored the first Notre Dame touchdown in the new stadium on a 98-yard kickoff return. Savoldi is also known as "the first hero in the lore of Notre Dame's Stadium" based on scoring three touchdowns in the official stadium dedication game against Navy the following week. Rockne coached his last game on December 14, 1930, when he led a group of Notre Dame all-stars against the New York Giants in New York City. The game raised funds for the Mayor's Relief Committee for the unemployed and needy of the city. 50,000 fans turned out to see the reunited “Four Horsemen” along with players from Rockne's other championship teams take the field against the pros.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: On March 31, 1931, Rockne died at age 43 in the crash of a Transcontinental & Western Air airliner in Kansas; he was on his way to help in the production of the film "The Spirit of Notre Dame". The crash site is located in a remote expanse of Kansas known as the Flint Hills and now features a Rockne Memorial. As Notre Dame's head coach from 1918 to 1930, Rockne posted what has remained for decades the all-time highest winning percentage (.881) for a football coach in the NCAA's flagship FBS division. During his 13-year tenure as head coach of the Fighting Irish, Rockne collected 105 victories, 12 losses, 5 ties and 3 national championships. Rockne also coached Notre Dame to five undefeated and untied seasons.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Through game broadcasts via radio, Notre Dame football gained a nationwide following of “subway alumni”, Catholics who became fans whether or not they attended the university. Former Saint Louis head coach Heartley “Hunk” Anderson was promoted from assistant coach and took the helm of the Irish after Knute Rockne's death, leading them to a record of 16 wins, nine losses, and two ties. Anderson was a former Irish player under Rockne and was serving as an assistant coach at the time of Rockne's death. Anderson resigned as Irish head coach after the 1933 season to accept the position of head football coach at NC State.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Notre Dame finished 6–2–1 in 1931. The Irish began the season with a 25–0 win over Indiana,  Notre Dame tied Northwestern in the season's second game. Anderson's squad then demolished Drake by a score of 63–0. After defeating Pittsburgh by a score of 25–12, the Fighting Irish shut out their next three opponents: Carnegie Mellon, Pennsylvania and Navy. The Irish lost a heartbreaker by a score of 16–14 to USC on November 21 that snapped the Irish's 26-game non-losing streak. Army shut out the Irish by a score of 12–0 on November 28 to finish the Irish's season. The Irish went 7–2 in 1932. Anderson's team began with three blowout victories: 73–0 over Haskell,  62–0 over Drake and 42–0 over Carnegie Mellon. The Irish then faced Pittsburgh in front of a then-record crowd of 62,000, losing by a score of 12–0. Notre Dame bounced back to win its next four: 24–6 over Kansas,  21–0 over Northwestern,  12–0 over Navy and 21–0 over Army in front of a new record crowd on 80,000. Anderson's Irish closed the season on a sour note, losing to USC by a score of 13–0.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: 1933 was a tough year for the Irish as they finished with a 3–5–2 record. Notre Dame began the season in a scoreless tie with Kansas. After defeating Indiana by a score of 12–2, ND suffered a four-game losing streak, failing to score a point in all four losses to Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, Navy, and Purdue. Notre Dame ended the losing streak by defeating Northwestern by a score of 7–0. The Fighting Irish closed the season with a 19–0 loss to USC and a 13–12 win over Army.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Anderson was replaced by Elmer Layden, who was one of Rockne's “Four Horsemen” in the 1920s. After graduating, Layden played professional football for one year and then began a coaching career. The Irish posted a record of 47 wins, 13 losses, and three ties in seven years under Layden, the most successful record of a Notre Dame coach not to win a national championship. He left Notre Dame after the 1940 season to become Commissioner of the National Football League.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Layden's 1935 squad posted one of the greatest wins in school history by rallying to defeat Ohio State by a score of 18–13. His 1938 team finished 8–1, losing only to USC in the season finale. This loss cost them a possible consensus national championship, but the team was named national champion by the Dickinson System. Like Rockne before him, Layden was a goodwill ambassador for Notre Dame during his time as head coach. He was able to schedule a home-and-home series with Michigan after meeting with Fielding H. Yost, healing a rift between the two schools. The two teams had not met since 1909, when, after eight straight losses to the Wolverines, the Irish posted their first win. They were scheduled to meet again in 1910, but Michigan canceled the game and refused to play the Irish again. By the time they met again in 1943, Layden had left Notre Dame and Frank Leahy had taken his place. Unlike the easygoing Layden, Leahy was intense, and after the Irish had thrashed Michigan by a score of 35–12 in 1943, Wolverine coach and athletic director Fritz Crisler never scheduled the Irish again.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Boston College head coach Frank Leahy was hired by Notre Dame to take over for Layden in 1941, and was another former Irish player who played during the Rockne era. After graduating from Notre Dame, Leahy held several coaching positions, including line coach of the "Seven Blocks of Granite" of Fordham University that helped that team win all but two of their games between 1935 and 1937. He then coached the Boston College Eagles to a win in the 1941 Sugar Bowl and a share of the national championship. His move to Notre Dame began a new period of gridiron success for the Irish, and ensured Leahy's place among the winningest coaches in the history of college football.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Leahy coached the team 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 nine ties including 39 consecutive games without a loss (37–0–2), four national championships,  and six undefeated seasons. A fifth national championship was lost because of a 1953 tie against Iowa,  in a game that featured 1953 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Lattner that caused a minor scandal at the time, when it appeared that some Irish players had faked injuries to stop the clock, leading some to nickname those players the “Fainting Irish”. From 1944 to 1945, Leahy served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was honorably discharged as a Captain. Edward McKeever, Leahy's assistant coach, became interim head coach when Leahy left for the Navy. During his one year at the helm (1944) the Irish managed 8 wins and 2 losses. McKeever left Notre Dame in 1945 to take over as head coach of Cornell. He was replaced by Hugh Devoré for the 1945 season who led the Irish to a 7–2–1 record.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Leahy retired in 1954 reportedly due to health issues. Perhaps the best example of this occurred during the Georgia Tech game in 1953. Leahy fell ill during the game, which led to him collapsing during halftime. The situation was so dire that a priest was called in to give Leahy the last rites. However, Leahy recovered, and the consequent diagnosis was that he was suffering from nervous tension and pancreatitis.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: The departure of Frank Leahy ushered in a downward slope in Notre Dame's performance, referred to in various circles as a period of de-emphasis. 25-year-old assistant coach Terry Brennan was hired as Frank Leahy's successor as the Notre Dame head coach in 1954 and would stay until 1958. When asked if he thought he was too young to be a head coach at the age of 25, Brennan replied, "Oh, I don't know. I'll be 26 in a few months.” He departed with a total of 32 wins and 18 losses. But note: the 32 wins included 17 in 1954 and 1955. From 1956 to 1958 his record was 15–15. Brennan was a former player under Leahy and before joining the Irish had coached the Mount Carmel High School team in Chicago and later the freshman squad and assistant at Notre Dame. His first two seasons the Irish were ranked fourth and ninth respectively. It was the 1956 season that began to darken his reputation, for it became one of the most dismal in the team's history and saw them finish the season with a mere two wins, including losses to Michigan State, Oklahoma, and Iowa. One bright spot in the 1956 season was the awarding of the Heisman Trophy to Paul Hornung, who would go on to a legendary NFL career with the Green Bay Packers. To date, Hornung is the only Heisman winner to win the award while playing for a team that had a losing record. The Irish would recover the following season, posting a record of 7–3 and including in their wins a stunning upset of Oklahoma, that ended the Sooners' still-standing record of 47 consecutive wins. In Brennan's final season, though, the Irish finished 6–4. Brennan was fired in mid-December. Brennan's tenure can only be properly framed with the understanding that in a time of zero scholarship limitations in college football, Notre Dame's administration inexplicably began a process of deemphasizing football, severely cutting scholarships and hindering Brennan from building a roster of any meaningful depth.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Former San Francisco, Chicago Cardinals and Washington Redskins head coach Joe Kuharich took the head coaching position at Notre Dame in 1959, realizing a longtime ambition to return to his alma mater. He had earlier been courted by Notre Dame after the 1956 season, after the Irish is finished 2–8, but before he had a chance to accept an offer, Terry Brennan was given a reprieve. He brought a professional touch to Irish football, putting shamrocks on the players' helmets and shoulder stripes on their jerseys. Kuharich compiled a 17–23 record over four non-winning seasons and remains to this day the only coach ever to have an overall losing record at Notre Dame. Included was a school-record eight-game losing streak in 1960, a year in which the Irish is finished 2–8. It was one of the worst stretches in program history. The consensus opinion was that Kuharich never made the adjustment from pro football to college football, attempting to use complicated pro coaching techniques with collegiate players, and never adapted to the limited substitution rules in effect at the time, having big, immobile linemen playing both ways in an era where smaller, quicker players were preferred. He often said, “You win some, and you lose some”, and seemed perfectly content finishing 5–5 every year. This did not sit well with the Irish faithful, who expected Notre Dame to beat everybody. When the pressure of winning became too much to bear, Kuharich resigned in the spring of 1963 and assumed the post of supervisor of NFL officials. Because it was so late in the spring, Hugh Devore was named head coach for the 1963 season while the search for a permanent replacement was being conducted. The players that he recruited came to within 93 seconds of an undefeated season and a national championship in 1964 under first-year coach Ara Parseghian. Despite his unsuccessful Notre Dame tenure, Kuharich remains the only Irish coach to post back-to-back shutouts over their greatest rival, the University of Southern California Trojans in 1960 (17–0) and 1961 (30–0).


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Kuharich was involved in a game whose controversial ending resulted in a rule change. In 1961, Notre Dame faced Syracuse at home and trailed, 15–14, with three seconds left to play. A desperation 56-yard field goal attempt fell short as time ran out, and Syracuse appeared to have won the game. But the Orangemen were penalized 15 yards for roughing the placekick holder, and given a second chance with no time showing on the clock, Notre Dame kicker Joe Perkowski drilled a 41-yard field goal for a 17–15 Irish victory. Syracuse protested, claiming that under the existing rules, the second kick should not have been allowed because time had expired. It never was clear whether the officials had erred in allowing the extra play, and the Irish victory was permitted to stand. As a result of this game, the rule was clarified to state that a half cannot end on an accepted defensive foul—consistent with the officials' ruling in this game.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: In 1964, Ara Parseghian left his job as the Northwestern head football coach when he was hired to take over the coaching duties at Notre Dame. He immediately brought the team back to a level of success in Irish football history that was comparable only to Rockne and Leahy. These three coaches have an 80% or greater winning percentage while at Notre Dame – Rockne at .881, Leahy at .864, and Parseghian at .836. Parseghian's teams never won fewer than seven nor lost more than three games during the ten-game regular seasons of the era.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: In his first year, the Irish improved their record to 9–1, but they lost the national championship in the last game of the season at USC when Craig Fertig connected with a touchdown pass to Rod Sherman. Parseghian earned coach of the year honors from the American Football Coaches Association, the Football Writers Association, and "The Sporting News", as well as several others, and a cover story in "Time" magazine. Parseghian was also named coach of the year by several selectors in his national championship years of 1966 and 1973 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980. It was under Parseghian as well that Notre Dame lifted its 40-plus year-old "no bowl games" policy, beginning with the season of 1969, after which the Irish played the No. 1 Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl Classic, losing in the final minutes in a closely contested game. The following year, Parseghian's 9–1 squad ended Texas' Southwest Conference record 30-game winning streak in the 1971 Cotton Bowl.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: During his eleven-year career, the Irish amassed a record of 95–17–4 and captured two national championships as well as the MacArthur Bowl in 1964. The Irish also had undefeated seasons in 1966 and 1973, had three major bowl wins in five appearances, and produced one Heisman Trophy winner (John Huarte in 1964). In 1971, Cliff Brown became the first African-American quarterback to start a game for the program. Due to health issues, Parseghian was forced to retire from coaching after the 1974 season.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Dan Devine was hired to take over as head coach upon Parseghian's departure from Notre Dame in 1975. Devine was already a highly successful coach and had led Arizona State, Missouri, and the NFL's Green Bay Packers. Devine had been a leading candidate for the head coaching job at Notre Dame in 1964, when Ara Parseghian was hired. When approached for the job following Parseghian's resignation, Devine accepted immediately, joking that it was probably the shortest job interview in history. When he arrived at Notre Dame he already had a college coaching record of 120 wins, 40 losses, and eight ties and had led his teams to victory in four bowl games. At Notre Dame he would lead the Irish to 53 wins, 16 losses, and a tie as well as three bowl victories.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: His lasting achievement came midway through this run when Notre Dame won the 1977 national championship, led by junior quarterback Joe Montana. The championship season climaxed with a 38–10 win in the 1978 Cotton Bowl Classic over previously top-ranked Texas, led by Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell. The win vaulted the Irish from fifth to first in the polls. Earlier in the season, before the annual game against USC, played at home on October 22, Devine changed the team's jerseys from navy blue & white to kelly green & gold, later known as the “green jersey game” resulting in a 49–19 victory over the Trojans. The Irish continued to wear green for the rest of Devine's tenure at the school.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Like Joe Kuharich before him, Devine was involved in a game while at Notre Dame whose ending resulted in a rule change still in effect today. On September 15, 1979, the Irish faced the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor in their season opener. With six seconds remaining, Michigan lined up for a game-winning field goal attempt. Notre Dame linebacker Bob Crable ran onto the backs of offensive lineman Tim Foley and defensive end Scott Zettek and was able to block the kick, preserving a 12–10 Irish victory. A new rule was implemented the following season that prohibited this tactic.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Because he had the unenviable task of following a legend, Devine came under heavy scrutiny while at Notre Dame, and it was felt that he was never fully embraced by the Notre Dame community, despite winning a national championship. After a 5–2 start in his first season, rumors of incompetence were circulated and that Devine would be dismissed and replaced by Don Shula or even Ara Parseghian (who went so far as to say he would not return to Notre Dame under any circumstances). Even on the day of the 1977 USC game, “Dump Devine” bumper stickers were being sold outside Notre Dame Stadium. He also had the notoriety of losing to his old program, a shocking 3–0 loss to the Tigers at South Bend in 1978. It was not until after Devine had left Notre Dame that the fans began to appreciate him.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: On August 15, 1980, Devine announced that he would be leaving Notre Dame at the end of the season, saying he wanted to be able to spend more time with his wife. He moved back to Arizona and became a fundraiser for Arizona State University's Sun Devil Foundation. In 1985, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, and then returned to his old school at Missouri seven years later as athletic director to help navigate the school through financial troubles. Devine was inducted into the inaugural class of the University of Minnesota Duluth Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Gerry Faust was hired to replace Devine in 1981. Prior to Notre Dame, Faust had been one of the more successful high school football coaches in the country. As coach of Moeller High School in Cincinnati he amassed a 174–17–2 record over 19 seasons. Many of his players had gone on to play for Notre Dame; indeed, when he arrived in South Bend, he was reunited with nine of his former players from Moeller.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Despite his success in the high school ranks, Faust's success at Notre Dame was mixed and his record mediocre at best. In his first season, the Irish is finished 5–6. In Faust's second season, Notre Dame improved slightly to 6–4–1. The most successful years under Faust were the 1983 and 1984 campaigns where the Irish is finished 7–5 and made trips to the Liberty Bowl and Aloha Bowl respectively. His final record at Notre Dame was 30–26–1. To avoid being fired, Faust resigned at the end of the 1985 season, following fan cries of “Oust Faust”. He announced his resignation prior to the final game of the year, where Notre Dame suffered a humiliating 58–7 loss at Miami; Allen Pinkett scored the Irish TD. Faust proceeded to take over as head coach at Akron.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Lou Holtz had 17 years of head coaching experience by the time he was hired to lead the Irish, having served as head coach of William & Mary, North Carolina State, the NFL's New York Jets, Arkansas, and Minnesota. Holtz began in 1986 where his predecessor left off in 1985, finishing with an identical record of 5 wins and 6 losses. However, unlike the 1985 squad, which was generally outcoached and outplayed, Holtz's 1986 edition was competitive in nearly every game, losing five out of those six games by a combined total of 14 points. That would be his only losing season as he posted a record of 95–24–2 over the next ten seasons, adding up to a 100–30–2 record overall.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: In 1987, Holtz led the Irish to an 8–4 record. Notre Dame's best player was star wide receiver Tim Brown, who would win the Heisman Trophy that season and is Notre Dame's seventh and last Heisman winner to date. The season began with the Irish defeating No. 9 Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, by a score of 26–7. The next week, the Irish defeated No. 17 Michigan State by a score of 31–8. After defeating Purdue, the Irish lost to Pittsburgh and lost starting quarterback Terry Andrysiak to injury during the game. With sophomore quarterback Tony Rice under center, the Irish reeled off five straight wins, beginning with Air Force, then USC, Navy, Boston College and No. 10 Alabama. Notre Dame would then lose their last three to close the season, starting with Penn State, then No. 2 Miami and Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: In contrast to Faust, Holtz was well known as a master motivator and a strict disciplinarian. The tone was set with Holtz's first meeting with his team as Irish head coach in 1986, immediately demanding his players sit up straight in their chairs and look him in the eye as he spoke. He displayed the latter trait in spades when two of his top contributing players showed up late for dinner right before the then top-ranked Irish played second-ranked USC in the final regular season game of 1988. In a controversial move, coach Lou Holtz took his 10–0 Irish squad to Los Angeles without stars Ricky Watters and Tony Brooks, who he suspended for disciplinary reasons. This was not the first time these players had gotten into trouble and the players had been warned there would be serious consequences if it happened again. His move was vindicated when the Irish defeated USC anyway. Holtz was named national coach of the year (Paul “Bear” Bryant Award) in 1988, the same season he took Notre Dame to an upset of No. 1 Miami in the Catholics vs. Convicts series and a win over No. 3 West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl, thus capturing the national championship. The Irish is finished a perfect 12–0 in 1988, its last undefeated season and national championship to date.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Occasionally, despite his lack of success with the N.Y. Jets, he was rumored to be leaving Notre Dame for the NFL. Following a 6–10 season in 1990 and an 8–8 showing in 1991, the Minnesota Vikings were rumored to replace Jerry Burns with Holtz. However, Holtz denied these rumors each of those two seasons. Holtz remained at Notre Dame; the Vikings, meanwhile, hired Dennis Green to replace the retired Jerry Burns. Holtz nearly replaced Green five years later after retiring from Notre Dame.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: In 1989, Holtz led the Irish to a 12–1 record. The Irish began the season in the Kickoff Classic game in East Rutherford, New Jersey, against Virginia. The Irish won by a score of 36–13. Next, top-ranked Notre Dame defeated No. 2 Michigan by a score of 24–19. That was followed by wins over Michigan State,  Purdue,  Stanford,  No. 17 Air Force,  No. 9 USC,  No. 7 Pittsburgh,  Navy,  SMU and No. 17 Penn State. The Irish would lose to No. 7 Miami the following week, ending Notre Dame's 23-game winning streak. Holtz would lead the Irish to a victory in the Orange Bowl over No. 1 Colorado to end the season.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Holtz led the Fighting Irish to a 9–3 record in 1990. The season began with a No. 1 ranking and a victory over No. 4 Michigan by a score of 28–24. The Irish defeated No. 24 Michigan State the following week then beat Purdue. The Irish would suffer its first defeat of the season the next week, losing to Stanford by a score of 36–31. The Irish would rebound to post five consecutive wins, defeating Air Force, No. 2 Miami, Pittsburgh, Navy and No. 9 Tennessee. After losing 24–21 to No. 22 Penn State,  the Irish defeated USC by a score of 10–6 in the regular season finale. The Irish would get a rematch with Colorado in the Orange Bowl but would lose by a score of 10–9.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: The Fighting Irish would go 10–3 in 1991. After defeating Indiana to open the season,  the Irish lost to No. 4 Michigan by a score of 24–14. The Irish won their next seven, defeating Michigan State, Purdue, Stanford, No. 12 Pittsburgh, Air Force, USC and Navy. The Irish would suffer a defeat to No. 13 Tennessee at home, blowing a 24-point lead to lose by a score of 35–34. Notre Dame would then lose back-to-back games for the first time since 1987 when they lost to unranked Penn State, their first loss to an unranked opponent as well since 1987. The Irish would close out the regular season with a victory over Hawaii by a score of 48–42. The Irish would receive a berth in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana, where they defeated Florida by a score of 39–28.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: In 1992, Notre Dame finished 10–1–1. After defeating Northwestern to start the season,  the Fighting Irish tied No. 5 Michigan, their first tie of the Holtz era. After defeating Michigan State and Purdue, the Irish lost to No. 19 Stanford by a score of 33–16. Notre Dame would win out for the rest of the season, defeating Pittsburgh,  BYU,  Navy,  No. 9 Boston College,  No. 21 Penn State,  No. 23 USC and the Cotton Bowl against No. 3 Texas A&M.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: The Irish would enjoy another successful season in 1993, finishing the season at 11–1. After scoring 27 points in wins over Northwestern and No. 2 Michigan to start the season, the Irish defeated Michigan State, Purdue, Pittsburgh, BYU, USC, Navy and No. 1 Florida State. However, a loss to No. 12 Boston College on a game-winning field goal as time expired by a score of 41–39 ended the Irish's national championship aspirations. The Irish would face a rematch with No. 6 Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl to finish the season, a game the Irish won by a score of 24–21.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: In 1994, Holtz led Notre Dame to a 6–5–1 record, the Irish's worst record since Holtz's first season in 1986. The Irish would begin by defeating Northwestern but would lose to No. 5 Michigan by a score of 26–24. The Irish defeated Michigan State the following week by a score of 21–20. After wins over Purdue and Stanford,  the Irish would lose three of their next four to drop out of the rankings for the first time since 1986. After beating Navy, the Fighting Irish lost to No. 6 Florida State by a score of 23–16. After beating Air Force, Notre Dame tied USC and lost to No. 5 Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl by a score of 41–24.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: The Irish would improve to 9–3 in 1995. Despite getting upset by Northwestern to begin the season, the Irish won their next three, defeating Purdue, Vanderbilt (a game in which Coach Holtz missed because of a health issue and defensive coordinator Bob Davie filled in as head coach for the game), and No. 10 Texas. After losing to No. 6 Ohio State, the Irish reeled off six straight wins, defeating No. 15 Washington, Army, No. 5 USC, Boston College, Navy and Air Force. The Irish finished the 1995 campaign by losing to No. 8 Florida State in the Orange Bowl.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Lou Holtz's last season at Notre Dame in 1996 resulted in an 8–3 record. After defeating Vanderbilt, Purdue and No. 8 Texas, the Irish lost to No. 4 Ohio State. Notre Dame would finish the season with a win over No. 16 Washington, a loss to Air Force in overtime, a win over Navy, a win over Boston College, a win over Pittsburgh, a win over Rutgers and an overtime loss to USC, snapping the Irish's 13-game non-losing streak against the Trojans.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Holtz's option offense, which helped catapult Notre Dame to many victories in the late 1980s and early 1990s, also helped rack up impressive recruiting classes. During the 1989 season, Holtz had the following future NFL players on offense: QB Rick Mirer, RB Ricky Watters, RB Anthony Johnson, RB Rodney Culver, RB Dorsey Levens, and WR Raghib Ismail. In 1990, he added RB Jeff Burris (who would later move to Safety), FB Jerome Bettis and TE Irv Smith. 1991 saw the additions of RB Reggie Brooks and FB Ray Zellars. 1992 saw the addition of WR Derrick Mayes. For 1993, he added FB Marc Edwards. In 1995, he added RB Autry Denson. From the 1987–1991 NFL Drafts, there were 33 Notre Dame players selected. From the 1992–1995 NFL Drafts, there were 32 Notre Dame players selected.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Overall, Holtz took Notre Dame to one undefeated season, nine consecutive New Year's Day bowl games, and top 10 finishes in the AP poll in five seasons. Holtz retired from Notre Dame following the 1996 season, but would unretire in 1999 to accept the head coaching position at South Carolina where he would serve until the completion of the 2004 season.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Bob Davie, who had been Holtz's defensive coordinator from 1994 to 1996, was promoted to head coach when Holtz retired. Davie, who turned down a head coaching offer from Purdue to accept the Irish's head coaching position, was a well-respected defensive mind who had also served as defensive coordinator at Tulane and Texas A&M. Davie had also filled in as head coach for one game during the 1995 season when Lou Holtz was dealing with a health issue. One of his first major decisions was to fire long-time offensive line coach Joe Moore, who then successfully sued the university for age discrimination. On Davie's watch, the team suffered three bowl game losses (1997 Independence Bowl, 1999 Gator Bowl, and 2001 Fiesta Bowl), and it failed to qualify for a bowl game in two others (1999 and 2001). The highlight of Davie's tenure was a 36–20 upset win in 1998 over No. 5 Michigan, the defending national champions. Davie's Irish also posted a 25–24 home victory over USC in 1999. Davie nearly defeated top ranked Nebraska in 2000, with the Irish comeback bid falling short in overtime 27–24. The aforementioned 2001 Fiesta Bowl was Notre Dame's first invitation to the Bowl Championship Series. The Irish lost by 32 points to Oregon State, but would finish No. 15 in the AP Poll, Davie's highest ranking as head coach. The 2001 squad was awarded the American Football Coaches Association Achievement Award for its 100% graduation rate.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: On December 17, 1999, Notre Dame was placed on probation by the NCAA for the only time in its history. The association's Committee on Infractions found two series of violations. "The New York Times" reported "the main one involved the actions of a booster, Kimberly Dunbar, who lavished gifts on football players with money she later pleaded guilty to embezzling.” In the second series of events, a football player was accused of trying to sell several complimentary game tickets and of using others as repayment of a loan. The player was also said "to have been romantically involved with a woman (not Dunbar), a part-time tutor at the university, who wrote a term paper for another player for a small fee and provided players with meals, lodging and gifts." The Dunbar violation began while Lou Holtz was head coach: “According to the NCAA committee report, Dunbar, the woman at the center of the more serious violations, had become romantically involved with several Notre Dame football players from June 1995 to January 1998 and had a child with one, Jarvis Edison.” Notre Dame was placed on probation for two years and lost one of its 85 football scholarships each year in what the "Times" termed “minor” penalties.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Following the 1998 season, the team fell into a pattern of frustrating inconsistency and alternated between successful and mediocre seasons. Despite Davie's rocky tenure, new athletic director Kevin White gave the coach a contract extension following the Fiesta Bowl-capped 2000 season, then saw the team start 0–3 in 2001 – the first such start in school history. Disappointed by the on-field results, coupled with the Joe Moore and Kim Dunbar scandals, the administration decided to dismiss Davie after the 2001 season. His final record at Notre Dame was 35–25. After departing Notre Dame, Davie accepted an offer from ESPN to serve as a play-by-play broadcast college football analyst, a position he would hold for ten years before New Mexico hired him to be their head football coach in December 2011.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: On December 9, 2001, Notre Dame hired George O'Leary, the head coach at Georgia Tech, to replace Davie. However, while researching a "local boy done good" story on O'Leary, "New Hampshire Union Leader" reporter Jim Fennell uncovered misrepresentations in O'Leary's resume that had influenced the administration's decision to hire him. The resulting media scandal embarrassed Notre Dame officials, and tainted O'Leary; he resigned five days later, before coaching a single practice, recruiting a single player, or hiring a single assistant coach. O'Leary's tenure is the shortest of any head coach in FBS history. O'Leary would go on to become the head football coach at the University of Central Florida.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Once again in need of a new head coach, the school turned to Tyrone Willingham, the head coach at Stanford. Willingham's hiring made him the first African American head coach in Notre Dame football history. Bringing a feeling of change and excitement to campus, Willingham led the 2002 squad to a 10–2 regular season record,  including an 8–0 start with wins over No. 7 Michigan and No. 11 Florida State, and a No. 4 ranking. This great early start, however, would be the lone highlight of Willingham's tenure, as Notre Dame finished the year with a heart-breaking loss to Boston College, then lopsided losses to USC and North Carolina State in the Gator Bowl. The program faltered over the next two seasons under Willingham, compiling an 11–12 record. During this time, Notre Dame lost a game by at least 30 points on five occasions. Furthermore, Willingham's 2004 recruiting class was judged by analysts to be the worst at Notre Dame in more than two decades. Citing Notre Dame's third consecutive four-touchdown loss to arch-rival USC compounded by another year of sub-par recruiting efforts, the Willingham era ended on November 30, 2004 (after the conclusion of the 2004 season) when the university chose to terminate him and pay out the remainder of Willingham's six-year contract. Willingham would not be unemployed for long, however, as he would accept the head coaching position at Washington two weeks after he was fired by the Irish.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: After Willingham's firing, Notre Dame initially pursued Utah head coach Urban Meyer, who had been an Irish assistant from 1996 to 2000. After Meyer accepted the Florida head coaching position and turned down the Irish, Charlie Weis left the NFL's New England Patriots, where he won three Super Bowls as offensive coordinator, to become head football coach for the Irish beginning with the 2005 season. Weis' hiring as the Irish's 30th head football coach made him the first Notre Dame graduate to hold the football head coaching position on a full-fledged basis since Joe Kuharich (a 1938 Notre Dame graduate).


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: In his inaugural season he led Notre Dame to a record of 9–3, including an appearance in the Fiesta Bowl, where they were defeated by the Ohio State Buckeyes 34–20. In the first half of the first game (against Pittsburgh), Notre Dame had gained more offensive yards than it had in five games combined, during the previous season. On September 25, Weis and the Irish traveled to Seattle, Washington, to face Washington and former head coach Tyrone Willingham, who was hired by the Huskies to be their head coach two weeks after getting fired at Notre Dame. The Irish won by a score of 36–17. Quarterback Brady Quinn would go on to break numerous team passing records that season and rise to the national spotlight, by holding 35 Notre Dame records as well as becoming a top Heisman Trophy contender. Wide receiver Jeff Samardzija would be the team's leading receiver and would go on to a successful career in Major League Baseball as a pitcher for the San Francisco Giants. Tight end Anthony Fasano would be another key offensive player during the 2005 season who would go on to an NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs and Tennessee Titans. During the 2005 season, Notre Dame signed Weis to a big raise and ten-year contract extension that was set to keep the coach in South Bend through the 2015 season.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Weis and the Irish went into the 2006 season with a No. 2 preseason ranking in the ESPN/Coaches Poll. They finished the regular season with a 10–2 record, losing only to Michigan and USC. Notre Dame accepted a bid to the 2007 Sugar Bowl, losing to LSU 41–14. This marked their ninth consecutive post-season loss, the longest drought in NCAA history. As a result, Notre Dame dropped to No. 17 in the final rankings.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: In the wake of a graduating class that sent eleven players to the NFL, the 2007 season (3–9) included various negative milestones: the most losses in a single year (9); two of the ten worst losses ever (38–0 losses to both Michigan and USC); and the first six-game losing streak for home games. The Naval Academy recorded their first win over the Irish since 1963, breaking the NCAA-record 43-game streak.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: In 2008, the Irish started 4–1, but completed the regular season with a 6–6 record, including a 24–23 home loss to Syracuse, the first time that Notre Dame had fallen to an eight-loss team. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen would be the team's star player, completing over 60% of his passes his sophomore season in 2008. Despite speculation the university might fire Weis, it was announced he would remain head coach. Weis's Notre Dame squad ended the season breaking the Irish's NCAA record nine-game bowl losing streak by beating Hawaii, 49–21, in the Hawaii Bowl. After the 2008 season, offensive coordinator Mike Haywood left to accept the head coaching position at Miami (OH). Instead of hiring a replacement, Weis elected to assume offensive coordinator duties himself, which included calling the plays.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Charlie Weis entered the 2009 season with the expectation from the Notre Dame administration that his team would be in position to compete for a BCS Bowl berth. Notre Dame started the first part of the season 4–2, with close losses to Michigan and USC. Many of their wins were also close, aside from a 35–0 victory over Nevada and a 40–14 defeat of Washington State. Sitting at 6–2, however, Notre Dame lost a close game at Notre Dame Stadium to Navy, 23–21. This loss was the second to Navy in the last three years, and would be the first loss in a four-game losing streak to finish the season. The following week, Notre Dame lost to No. 8 Pittsburgh, then lost to UConn at home in double overtime on senior day. The Irish lost to Stanford the last week of the season by a score of 45–38. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen and wide receiver Golden Tate would forgo their senior seasons and enter the NFL Draft.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Weis was fired on November 30, 2009, exactly five years after his predecessor. According to Weis' buyout, he was to be paid $6 million then $2.05 million annually until the contract ran out in December 2015 for a total of about $19 million. During that time, Weis made more money annually not to coach the Irish than his successor, Brian Kelly, made to coach the team. After leaving Notre Dame, Weis would serve as offensive coordinator for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs in 2010 as well as Florida under Will Muschamp in 2011 before accepting the head coaching position at Kansas in December 2011. His hiring made him the fifth consecutive former Notre Dame head coach (sixth counting George O'Leary) to be hired as head coach by another FBS school, joining Gerry Faust (Akron), Lou Holtz (South Carolina), Bob Davie (New Mexico) and Tyrone Willingham (Washington). O'Leary was hired by UCF.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Brian Kelly became the 29th head coach of the Fighting Irish on December 10, 2009, after coaching Cincinnati to a 12–0 record and BCS bowl-game berth, but he left the team before the bowl game. In his first season, Kelly led the Fighting Irish to an 8–5 record. Tragedy struck early in the season when Declan Sullivan, a junior working for the athletic department, died while filming a practice on a scissor lift in dangerously high winds. Dayne Crist started the season at quarterback but was injured for a second consecutive year, this time in the Tulsa game, which the Irish lost. Kelly turned to freshman quarterback Tommy Rees, who led the Irish to victories in the last three games against No. 14 Utah, Army in Yankee Stadium, and breaking an eight-year losing streak to USC in the LA Coliseum. Kelly guided the Irish to a 33–17 win over Miami (FL) in the 2010 Sun Bowl to finish 2010 with an 8–5 record.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: With senior wide out Michael Floyd returning for his senior season and an outstanding recruiting class that included several highly touted defensive linemen,


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Kelly and the Irish looked to improve on their 8–5 record from the prior year. However, an early season upset to a Skip Holtz-led South Florida team and a last second loss to Michigan in Ann Arbor left the Irish at 0–2 to start the season. The Irish bounced back to beat No. 15 Michigan State and had two 4-game winning-streaks, with the only loss during that stretch coming at the hands of USC. The Irish also broke Navy's 2-game winning streak over Notre Dame (2009–10). Notre Dame finished the season with an 8–4 record but lost 18 – 14 to Florida State in the 2011 Champs Sports Bowl, concluding the 2011 campaign with and 8–5 record overall, identical to the 2010 season. In the team's losses, multiple turnovers from the quarterback position were often the culprit, and as a whole turnover at critical times in the game often derailed potential Irish comebacks. After the 2011 season, offensive coordinator Charley Molnar left ND to accept the head coaching position at UMass. Safeties coach and recruiting coordinator Chuck Martin would move over to the offensive side of the ball as Molnar's replacement, running the offense.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: On September 12, 2012, during the football program's 125th season, Notre Dame announced that it would leave the Big East Conference for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), excluding the football and hockey programs. This move became official on July 1, 2013, in time for the fall sports to compete within the ACC conference. While the Fighting Irish football team will remain an FBS independent, it has agreed to play five games per season against ACC teams starting with the 2014 football season, as the schedule allows. In return, Notre Dame will become eligible to participate in the ACC's sub-BCS level bowl arrangements.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: On November 18, 2012, Notre Dame was ranked No. 1 in the nation in both the AP and Coaches' polls after reaching 11–0 during the regular season for the first time since 1993, also ranking No. 1 in the BCS standings for the first time in the 14-year history of the selection system. After defeating the University of Southern California Trojans on November 24, 2012, Notre Dame concluded its first 12–0 regular season, and on December 2, 2012, the Irish were formally named to appear in the BCS National Championship Game for the first time in the 2013 BCS National Championship Game. In that game, on January 7, 2013, the Irish lost to Alabama 42–14.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Coming off the previous year's national title game appearance, the Fighting Irish were dealt a blow when 2012 starting quarterback Everett Golson was suspended from the university due to an academic violation. Senior Tommy Rees then took over. Notre Dame's 2013 season ended with a record of 9–4 and a victory over Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Notre Dame finished No. 20 in the AP poll. After the 2013 season, offensive coordinator Chuck Martin left ND to accept the head coaching position at Miami (OH), marking the second assistant coach to leave Kelly's staff to accept an FBS head coaching job. Mike Denbrock was promoted from wide receivers coach to offensive coordinator to replace Martin.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: The 2014 season started off with 6 straight victories and a No. 5 national ranking heading into a showdown with No. 2 Florida State in Tallahassee, Florida. FSU won that game 31–27, on a controversial offensive pass interference call that brought back a last second Notre Dame touchdown. The Fighting Irish bounced back with a win against Navy before dropping their final 4 games of the season. They did win the Music City Bowl by defeating the LSU Tigers and finished the season at an 8–5 record. After the 2014 season, the Irish again changed offensive coordinators, as Mike Denbrock stepped down from the position due to prostate cancer and returned to coaching the team's receivers.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: The 2015 Fighting Irish began its season with another new offensive coordinator, Mike Sanford Jr. That year's squad is arguably the most explosive offense that Brian Kelly has coached at Notre Dame. During the regular season, the Irish were one of twenty-one schools in the country to average 200 or more passing yards and rushing yards per game. The Irish had fourteen plays of over 50 yards during the season, which ranked 13th in the country and was a school record. They also had two touchdowns of over 90 yards, (a 91-yard touchdown run by C. J. Prosise and a 98-yard touchdown run by Josh Adams). The Irish only had two in the previous 126 years of Notre Dame football. The running game was dominant. The 5.76 yards per carry were fifth in the country. They finished the regular season averaging 34 points per game, including a 62-point effort against UMass, the most points in a game since 1996. The Irish is finished their 2015 season with a 10–3 record, a ranking of No. 11 in the AP and No. 12 in the Coaches' Poll and a Fiesta Bowl appearance, a loss to Ohio State.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: The 2016 season ended with a 4–8 record, Brian Kelly's worst win–loss record at Notre Dame up to that point. The tone for the season was set early, with a double overtime loss to Texas in the season opener. On September 24, Notre Dame lost to Duke by a score of 38–35. Just 4 games into the season, Brian Kelly fired defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder. Mike Elko was hired from Wake Forest as VanGorder's replacement. After a 10–3 loss to NC State in Raleigh, North Carolina, during messy conditions due to Hurricane Matthew, Kelly publicly called out his starting center over "poor snapping and atrocious play". At the end of the season, starting quarterback DeShone Kizer declared for the NFL Draft and backup quarterback Malik Zaire announced he would be transferring in the winter after graduation. Offensive coordinator Mike Sanford Jr. left the ND staff after the season to accept the head coaching position at Western Kentucky, making him the third Irish OC under Kelly to accept an FBS head coaching position. Chip Long was hired from Memphis as his replacement. Mike Denbrock also departed the Notre Dame staff, accepting the offensive coordinator position at Cincinnati under new head coach Luke Fickell. Amidst speculation that Kelly's job was in jeopardy and that Kelly was looking to leave Notre Dame, athletics director Jack Swarbrick announced that Kelly would return for the 2017 season.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: The 2017 season ended with a 10-3 record, and a win in the Citrus Bowl over LSU. An early one-point loss to No. 2 Georgia set the tone for the first half of the season. The tough running of running back Josh Adams behind an experienced and talented offensive line allowed Notre Dame to string together 6 consecutive more-than-20-point victories against solid competition like No. 11 USC and No. 14 NC State. But a 41-8 loss to No. 7 Miami in South Florida on Nov 7, 2017 effectively ended the Irish hopes of a playoff run. They went on to struggle in final games to Navy (W 24-17) and Stanford (L 20-38). The strong start and disappointing finish made for mixed feeling among Irish fans after the poor 2016 season.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: The 2018 season ended with a 12-1 record, with the lone loss coming at the hands of the eventual National Champion Clemson Tigers in the Cotton Bowl. This season marked the first time in Notre Dame history that the team would be selected as one of the four teams to participate in the College Football Playoff, as the team was ranked No. 3 heading into the playoffs. After going 12-0 in the regular season, Notre Dame would go on to lose in the 2018 Cotton Bowl Classic by a score of 30-3.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Due to logistical issues created by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States (which resulted initially from the Big Ten and Pac-12 restricting non-conference games), Notre Dame reached an agreement to play a full ACC schedule for the 2020 season. They placed first in the standings and played in the ACC Championship Game. They lost to the Clemson Tigers, 34-10. They then played in the 2021 Rose Bowl, losing to the Alabama Crimson Tide.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: The 2021 campaign saw Kelly lead the Irish to an 11-1 record. Notre Dame's lone loss was at home against Cincinnati, Kelly's former team. The Irish secured wins against rivals, such as Purdue, USC, Navy, and Stanford.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Two days after the Irish beat Stanford, news leaked that Kelly would leave Notre Dame for LSU. Kelly had said a week prior that he would “never” leave Notre Dame.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: On December 3, 2021, Marcus Freeman was named the 30th head coach of the Fighting Irish. Freeman previously served as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach of the Fighting Irish in 2021. Since the Fighting Irish are eligible, Freeman made his head coaching debut in the 2021 post-season where Notre Dame lost to Oklahoma State 37-35.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Following its appearance in the 1925 Rose Bowl, Notre Dame did not play in a post-season game for 44 consecutive years (1925–1968), including after many of the team's most successful seasons from the Rockne era in the 1920s and the Leahy era in the 1940s. The university's stated reasons for its self-imposed hiatus were that bowl games were “glorified exhibitions” that played no part in national championship selections and that they extended the season too far to the detriment of players' academic progress.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Notre Dame has made 715 appearances in the Associated Press poll over 71 seasons. Notre Dame has spent 496 weeks in the Top 10, 277 weeks in the Top 5, and 95 weeks at No. 1. Notre Dame has finished the year ranked in the final Associated Press poll of the season 56 times:


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Notre Dame has participated in eleven "No. 1 vs No. 2" matchups since the AP poll began in 1936. They have a record of 5–3–2 in such games, with a 4–1–1 record as the No. 1 team in such matchups.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Notre Dame has played in many regular season games that have been widely regarded by both the media and sports historians as historic or famous games. Notre Dame has played in many games labeled as "game of the century" games as well as several No. 1 vs No. 2 matchups, It has also participated in several games that ended record streaks in college football. The games listed are widely regarded as of historical importance to the game of college football and are written about by sports historians and make many sportswriters' lists.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Notre Dame has also played in several bowl games considered by many sportswriters to be among the best bowl games played:


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Notre Dame's all-time record after January 2, 2021, stands at 918 wins, 329 losses, and 42 ties. The winning percentage of is 4th All-Time. Its 918 wins are fifth behind Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama and Texas, while its 329 losses are tied with Oklahoma as the second-lowest of any college programs that have been playing football for 100 years or more, behind Ohio State's 326.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: † George O'Leary did not coach a single practice or game, resigning five days after being hired for misrepresenting his academic credentials.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: ‡ Kent Baer served as interim head coach for one game at the 2004 Insight Bowl after Tyrone Willingham was fired.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Notre Dame has made 40 bowl game appearances, winning 18 and losing 21, with one game vacated. After an initial appearance in a postseason contest in the 1925 Rose Bowl, the Fighting Irish refused to participate in bowl games for more than four decades; writers like Dan Jenkins have speculated that Notre Dame might have gone to as many as twenty bowl games during the self-imposed forty-five-year hiatus. It has played in the BCS National Championship Game (1 loss), Rose Bowl (1 win, 1 loss), the Cotton Bowl Classic (5 wins, 3 losses), the Orange Bowl (2 wins, 3 losses), the Sugar Bowl (2 wins, 2 losses), the Gator Bowl (1 win, 2 losses), the Liberty Bowl (1 win), the Aloha Bowl (1 loss), the Fiesta Bowl (1 win, 4 losses), the Independence Bowl (1 loss), the Insight Bowl (1 loss), Hawaii Bowl (1 win), the Sun Bowl (1 win), the Pinstripe Bowl (1 win) and the Citrus Bowl (1 win). From 1994 to the 2006 football seasons, Notre Dame lost 9 consecutive bowl games, tied with Northwestern University for the most in NCAA history. That streak ended with a 49–21 win over Hawaii in the 2008 Hawaii Bowl. In the process, Notre Dame scored its highest point total in post-season play. The record of 9 consecutive bowl losses was later tied by Northwestern in 2011, then that streak was snapped a year later. Currently, the Fighting Irish are in a skid with winless 0-8 record in BCS/Playoff games and 0-10 in their last 10 major bowl games. Notre Dame’s last major bowl win came against Texas A & M in the 1994 Cotton Bowl.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Between 2009 and 2016, and resuming again in 2018, Notre Dame has hosted an annual off-site home football game known as the Shamrock Series. The series promotes Notre Dame's athletic and academic brand, and has brought the Fighting Irish to San Antonio, New York, Greater Washington, D.C., Chicago, Indianapolis, Boston and the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Prior to the 2012 season, Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick announced at a news conference of plans to continue the series through 2016. He confirmed after his news conference that New York is expected to fall in that rotation and then continue to be the one consistently repeating venue for Shamrock Series games. The Shamrock Series was not held in 2017, but resumed in 2018.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: One of the unique aspects of the Shamrock Series is its inclusion of academic and other non-football activities in the area of that year's host city the days and hours leading up to the game, which include pep rallies, drummers' circles, and academic lectures.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Seven Notre Dame football players have won the Heisman Trophy, which ties them with the University of Oklahoma for the most by any university. (Ohio State also has seven trophies but were won by only six players and USC won seven but has been reduced to six trophies, following Reggie Bush's forfeit of the 2005 award due to NCAA violations).


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Forty-six former Notre Dame players and six coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, located in Atlanta, Georgia. Notre Dame leads all universities in players inducted.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Notre Dame's home jersey is navy blue with white numerals, gold outlining, and a small interlocking "ND" logo on each sleeve. The away jersey is white with navy numerals, gold outlining, and the interlocking "ND" on the sleeves. In recent years, neither jersey included the player's name on the back, but names were included during the Dan Devine and Gerry Faust eras. However, for the Irish's Hawai'i Bowl appearance in 2008 vs. the University of Hawai'i, Notre Dame once again wore last names on their jerseys. Gold pants, with a small ND logo just below the left waist, are worn with both home and away jerseys.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Notre Dame's helmets are solid gold with gray facemasks, the gold being emblematic of the University's famed "Golden Dome". Notre Dame's tradition for the team's student managers to spray-paint the team's helmets prior to each game ended in 2011 when the football equipment staff, along with Notre Dame Athletics Director Jack Swarbrick and head coach Brian Kelly outsourced the painting process to Hydro Graphics Inc.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Over the years, Notre Dame has occasionally worn green instead of blue as its home jersey, sometimes adopting the jersey for an entire season – or more – at a time. Currently, Notre Dame reserves its green jerseys for "special" occasions. Often on such occasions, the Irish will take the field for warmups dressed in blue, only to switch to green when they go back to the locker room before kickoff. This tradition was started by Dan Devine in 1977 before the USC game. Notre Dame has also been known to switch jerseys at halftime, as during the 1985 USC game, and in the loss to Nile Kinnick-led Iowa in 1939, although this was to help avoid confusion between their navy uniforms and Iowa's black ones. The current design of the jersey is kelly green with gold numbers and white outlining. For the 2006 Army game, Coach Charlie Weis broke out the Green jerseys as a reward to his senior players, as well finally ending the string of losses by the Irish when wearing green. Notre Dame wore throwback green jerseys in 2007 against USC in honor of the 30th anniversary of the 1977 National Championship team. On at least one occasion (1992 Sugar Bowl) Notre Dame has worn an away variant of the jersey: a white jersey with green numbers. Champion supplied football jerseys for The University of Notre Dame for over 50 years until they switched to Adidas in 2001. On July 1, 2014, the University of Notre Dame Athletic department began wearing uniforms and footwear supplied by Under Armour.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: During Gerry Faust's tenure (1981–85), Notre Dame's blue jerseys switched from the traditional navy to royal blue with gold and white stripes on the sleeves. The navy blue jerseys returned in 1984.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: No uniform numbers have been retired by Notre Dame. Upon being issued a number, each player is given a card that lists some of the more famous players who have worn that particular number. Number 3 is perhaps the most famous number in Irish football history, having been worn by Ralph Guglielmi, George Izo, Daryle Lamonica, Coley O'Brien, Joe Montana, Michael Floyd, Rick Mirer and Ron Powlus, among others. Number 5 is also notable, as it is the only number to be worn by one of the Four Horsemen (Elmer Layden) a Heisman Trophy Winner (Paul Hornung) and a National Title winning Quarterback (Terry Hanratty). Number 7 has been worn by such Irish greats as 1964 Heisman Trophy winner John Huarte, 1970 Heisman runner-up Joe Theismann, Steve Beuerlein, Jimmy Clausen and Jarious Jackson.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: In 2011, both Michigan and Notre Dame wore throwback uniforms in their game against each other. For the Shamrock Series games, Notre Dame and their outfitters have announced that the school will wear specially-designed helmets, jerseys, and pants.


title: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

text: Notre Dame Stadium is the home football stadium for the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. Located on the southeast part of the university's campus in Notre Dame, Indiana and with a seating capacity of 77,622, Notre Dame Stadium is one of the most renowned venues in college football. The "Sporting News" ranks Notre Dame Stadium as # 2 on its list of "College Football Cathedrals". and the stadium experience evokes a more traditional feel. Notre Dame Stadium is used for football-related activities and for Commencement (since 2010). Notre Dame Stadium had no permanent lighting until the expansion project in 1997. NBC paid for the lighting as they have televised all Notre Dame home football games since 1991. On April 12, 2014, it was announced during the annual Blue-Gold Spring Game that a FieldTurf synthetic surface would replace the grass field after the 2014 Commencement Weekend. In November 2014 the University of Notre Dame embarked on a $400 million stadium expansion called the Crossroads Campus Project, which was completed in time for the 2017 season.