It was 29 years ago this week that Gerry Faust was to embark on what he expected to be one of the great coaching runs in the history of Notre Dame football. Why wouldn' he? He had just left Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati after winning 178 of the 203 games he coached. He led the Crusaders to seven unbeaten seasons, four national prep titles, and five Ohio state titles in his last six seasons at Moeller.
Well, if only Gerry could have kept his coaching career to one game at ND -- he would have retired on top. If you recall, Faust's Irish beat LSU in his first game as coach. The 27 - 9 Notre Dame victory over LSU (on September 12, 1981) combined with Minnesota's upset of then top ranked Michigan -- vaulted the Irish to the #1 ranking in the country. Unfortunately, Michigan was next on the schedule and Schembechler's Wolverines beat Notre Dame that week 25 - 7 -- and the honeymoon was over. Gerry did have some moments at Notre Dame in his five-year career; a win over #1 ranked Dan Marino led, Pitt Panthers in 1982, a 52 - 6 win over Purdue to start the 1983 season -- but a five-year career record of 30-26-1 led to his resignation. You can never deny that Gerry Faust loves Notre Dame -- and Notre Dame loves Gerry Faust. In fact, Coach Faust was at the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore this past Saturday (for the umpteenth time) signing copies of his book
The Golden Dream. I don't think we'll be seeing Bob Davie, Ty Willingham or Charlie Weis -- anytime soon -- signing copies of their book about their Notre Dame experience, sitting in the stands at Notre Dame games or walking the campus on a football Saturday. These days, Gerry works as a motivational speaker -- click on the link below to see him tell a very funny story at a conference. There's also two links below to a two-part feature that ESPN ran in 2007 on Gerry Faust's career at Notre Dame - A MUST SEE. Coach Faust, will always be a favorite to many Notre Dame fans. To prove my point, here's a photo taken this Saturday morning of an Irish fan on campus, just hours before kick-off of the Brian Kelly era.
LINK: GERRY FAUST -- TELLING A NOTRE DAME STORYLINK: THE GOLDEN DREAM #1 - ESPNLINK: THE GOLDEN DREAM #2 - ESPN
Some Notre Dame fans online are suggesting a "GREEN OUT" at Notre Dame Stadium for this Saturday's game against Michigan. I believe it's a great idea and I'm going to be asking my gang of sixteen -- who are all sitting in the Michigan section by the way -- to WEAR GREEN ON SATURDAY! So, whether it's green clothing or green body paint -- GET YOUR "KELLY" GREEN ON this Saturday!
The Notre Dame vs. Purdue football game Saturday's preliminary rating was up 77 percent from last year's opener. NBC said Sunday that the Fighting Irish's 23-12 win over Purdue drew a 2.3 overnight rating and 6 share. The 2009 opener against Nevada earned a 1.3 rating and 3 share. A big thank-you to Jim Conway, Jr. '69 -- for sending me an email alerting me to this fact. Here's a link to the ESPN Blog story:
If you were at the game Saturday and like me -- forgot to set the DVR to record the game. Or, you had other conflicts and were unable to see the game on TV -- you still have options! NBC Sports' website has the entire broadcast archived for you to watch at your leisure. Photo courtesy of South Bend Tribune. Here's the link:
University of Notre Dame QB, Dayne Crist, made his Irish debut this Saturday against the Purdue Boilermakers. Crist went 19 for 26 and 205 yards -- and a TD pass. Here is Dayne's postgame comments:
For those of you fortunate enough to be on campus for a Football Saturday at Notre Dame -- and you're looking for something to do before kick-off -- you might just want to stroll over to the Purcell Pavillion and catch the Irish basketball team in action. It's become tradition that the Men's and Women's Notre Dame basketball teams play "pick up" games on either the arena floor or THE PIT -- their practice court in the basement of the Joyce Center on Saturday mornings. This past Saturday we found the Irish Men's team playing in the "Pit" because the arena floor had a large stage occupying it. And, while we were there we saw former Irish stars; Chris Quinn (New Jersey Nets) and Luke Harangody (Boston Celtics) watching the action. You can typically find them playing between 10 AM and Noon on most football Saturdays. Here's a link to some of the action from this Saturday's open gym:
It was 29 years ago this week that Gerry Faust was to embark on what he expected to be one of the great coaching runs in the history of Notre Dame football. Why wouldn' he? He had just left Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati after winning 178 of the 203 games he coached. He led the Crusaders to seven unbeaten seasons, four national prep titles, and five Ohio state titles in his last six seasons at Moeller. Well, if only Gerry could have kept his coaching career to one game at ND -- he would have retired on top. If you recall, Faust's Irish beat LSU in his first game as coach. The 27 - 9 Notre Dame victory over LSU (on September 12, 1981) combined with Minnesota's upset of then top ranked Michigan -- vaulted the Irish to the #1 ranking in the country. Unfortunately, Michigan was next on the schedule and Schembechler's Wolverines beat Notre Dame that week 25 - 7 -- and the honeymoon was over. Gerry did have some moments at Notre Dame in his five-year career; a win over #1 ranked Dan Marino led, Pitt Panthers in 1982, a 52 - 6 win over Purdue to start the 1983 season -- but a five-year career record of 30-26-1 led to his resignation. You can never deny that Gerry Faust loves Notre Dame -- and Notre Dame loves Gerry Faust. In fact, Coach Faust was at the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore this past Saturday (for the umpteenth time) signing copies of his book The Golden Dream. I don't think we'll be seeing Bob Davie, Ty Willingham or Charlie Weis -- anytime soon -- signing copies of their book about their Notre Dame experience, sitting in the stands at Notre Dame games or walking the campus on a football Saturday. These days, Gerry works as a motivational speaker -- click on the link below to see him tell a very funny story at a conference. There's also two links below to a two-part feature that ESPN ran in 2007 on Gerry Faust's career at Notre Dame - A MUST SEE. Coach Faust, will always be a favorite to many Notre Dame fans. To prove my point, here's a photo taken this Saturday morning of an Irish fan on campus, just hours before kick-off of the Brian Kelly era.