After the worst football season in their history two years ago, the Fighting Irish hit the
I his could be the season in which Notre Dame finds
. the right fork in the road on its long jour
ney back to national football laurels.
The Squth Bend, Ind., school, one of the pioneers
of big-time college football, isn't doing too much
talking about this at least not for publication.
It's been 10 years since the Irish have won the
national title. And though some observers close to
the Notre Dame scene say that 1958 still will be part
of the rebuilding program, there are solid reasons
why the Irish might wind up on top of the heap. In
any case, they should be very strong contenders.
Though he's starting his fifth season at what is
generally regarded as the toughest job in college
football, Notre Dame's coach Terry Brennan, at 30,
' is the youngest of the game's major skippers.
Yet Terry already has carried as heavy -a load of
problems, pressures, and headaches as many of the
old salts of the college coaching fraternity..
After winning 17 of its 20 games in the first two
seasons under Brennan, Notre Dame blew a big
gasket in the 1956 season, loping eight of 10
games in its worst season in history.
Buzzards could be seen circling over Terry's head.
There were cries of "Fire the coach " from many
corners; charges that Notre Dame was de-emphasizing
the sport she had made famous; that Brennan
had been a good coach while he was using the ma
terial of his predecessor pilot, Frank Leahy; that
Brennan was a baby trying to do a man's work.
The ignoble '56 season hit its dramatic peak on
the eve of the final game when Leahy stepped into
the picture with a public statement that the legend
ary "Fighting Irish" lacked fight. Brennan was
deeply hurt by the remark of his former coach, and
there has been a reported coolness between the two
ever since.
Brennan had been a bread-and-butter halfback
under Leahy, whose explicit instructions to the
Notre Dame quarterback were: "Remember, when
it's fourth down within striking distance of the goal
and you only need a few yards, give the ball to
Terry." Brennan, who never lacked fight, almost
always delivered.
Losing kootbali, seasons at Notre Dame are about
as rare as Democrats in Vermont. There
was the 0-1 record in 1S87, the 1-2 season in
1888, the 3-5-1 one in 1933, and the worst of them
all, the 2-8 misery in '56.
So it figured that this school, founded by the
French, made famous by a Norwegian immigrant
coach, Knule Rocknc, and identified as "Irish,"
would be a target for questions before last season.
Father Hesburgh, the school's president, fenced
beautifully with the big question of de-emphasis.
He said simply: "You can only de-emphasize that
which you have emphasized, and we have never
emphasized football here at Notre Dame. We like
having good football teams but will not lower our
scholastic standards to have them. The passing grade
at Notre Dame is 70, but our athletes must average
77 to be eligible for competition with the varsity." distinct underdog. Even her die-hard, loyal "sub
But for the hardened sports buff, who counts sue- way alumni" di'dn't see any hope of better than an
cess in wins and losses, Brennan and his -Notre . even split in 10 games. But what she accomplished
Dame players answered the question with action in became the comeback story of the sports year.
'57, posting an amazing 7-3 record against a mur- "Sleepy" Jim Crowley of Four Horsemen fame,
derous schedule. who knew many hours of Notre Dame grid glory,
In many ways, Notre Dame, long accustomed to called it "my favorite Notre Dame team of all."
taking the bows, regarded this as its greatest season Among the wins were dramatic performances
of glory even better than a national title. over Army and the big blast which stopped Okla-
She had gone into last season in a rare role, a homa's winning streak. Those two .games would
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fgmg Irish, with their all-out brand of football, may have the horses to drive to the 1958 title.
8 Tamil Weekly, Seplcmbrr 21. IMS
comeback trail in '57; here's why they may win the national title this season.
family
Weekly
by Dave Warner
have been worthy of successful-season consideration
in themselves.
The week after beating Oklahoma, the Irish took
on a powerful Iowa team and almost worked the
miracle of toppling two giants in a row. Notre Dame
had a chance of beating the Hawkeyes going into the
fourth quarter, but finally succumbed, 21-13. A key
play in the hard-fought game was a touchdown pass
that was touched by five players, two of them Notre
Dame's, before it wound up in the hands of an Iowa
player in the end zone.
"Brennan gets my vote
as Coach of the Year,"
Forrest Evashevski, the
- Iowa coach, commented.
Ed (Moose) Krause,
Notre Dame's mammoth
sized director of athletics,
who played and assisted
in coaching football at
. Notre Dame, summed up
the comeback: "We, of
course, hoped for im
provement over that dis
mal '56 record. But what
a job Terry did! It was
astounding. He's going
into the '58 season with a
raise in salary, and no
body deserved it more ."
In appraising prospects
for this season, Brennan,
acting in the manner of a
smooth politician, says, "1
think we have a good
start on the way back to
bid for national honors.
We're on the way .back,
but it will take another
year or so before we are
in a position to be fighting
for the national cham
pionship. Our main prob
lem now is finding depth
for a truly dependable
second unit one that we
can send in without worry
anytime during a game."
There are many reasons
why this 70th
Notre Dame foot
ball team may be a mem
orable one:
1. Brennan's experi
ence begins to pay off
more each season. A
coach has to stay super
alert when he plays Notre
Dame's schedule.
2. Brennan's coaching
staff is getting stronger
r , - ' ii -
;
Athletic Director
Ed Krause gives
coach credit for
team's comeback.
A W in 1956. !
; Terry Brennan is;
riding high after j
r great 1957 season.
Dave Warner
received hia
, journalism
training at Notre '
,' Dame in the
post-war era
when the t
Fighting Irish
: tocre in the habit
,? :! of winning
national titles;.
: .Warner is now a
sports writer for ,
the Rochester ,
(N.Y.) Democrat
. and Chronicle.
,, He has written .
magazine article!
on numerous
; sports subjects
and is also the
author of a book
on Notre Dame
coach Terry
Brennan. -
each year. Latest addition is Hugh Devore, who was
brought in to coach the freshmen. Devore has 20
years of college and professional coaching experi
ence. Last year Bernie Crimmins was rehired as a
Notre Dame assistant after holding down a head
coaching job. With such men as these on the staff, it
wouldn't appear that Notre Dame is de-emphasizing.
3. Those sophomores who got pushed around in
the '56 season are all seniors now, the nucleus of the
'58 squad, and ready to finish their college playing
careers in style. '
4. Easier schedule. This
calls for quick explana-.
tion. No Notre Dame
schedule is ever easy, for
there's a long line of
schools which consider
their season a success if
they can beat Notre
Dame. Two toughies
Oklahoma and Michigan
State are not on the ND
schedule this year. The
slate of Indiana, Southern
Methodist, Army, Duke,
Purdue, Navy, Pitt, North
Carolina, Iowa, and
Southern California,
while rugged, doesn't
measure up to 1957.
5. The possibility of
strong All-American can
didates at five positions:
co-Capt. Al Ecuyer of
New Orleans at guard;
Bronko Nagurski, Inter
national Falls, Minn., at
tackle; Monty Stickles,
Poughkeepsie, N. Y., at
end; Bob Williams,
Wilkes-Barre, Pa., at
quarterback; and Nick
Pietrosante, Ansonia,
Conn., at fullback.
6. Dependable quarter
backing. Any Notre Dame
team which has made its
mark always has had
strong quarterbacking.
This year the Irish have
Williams, a senior, backed
up by a fine junior,
George Izo of Barberton,
Ohio. Maybe neither is a
Johnny Lujack or Paul
Hornung, but both can do
a great job.
7. Restored confidence
with that 7-3 record after
the 2-8 season. Brennan
says the win over Army
when the game seemed
hopelessly lost lifted the squad a long way last
season. Confidence is half the battle.
8. Good squad balance. There are 25 returning
lettermen, with monogram winners at all positions.
Eight of the Irish's 10 top ground-gainers last season
are back this year.
Enthusiasm is definitely on the upswing at Notre
Dame, not that it ever really died. When Brennan
called for Spring football candidates, 104 of them,
largest in five years, turned out. '
In Jim Colisimo, Eveleth, Minn.; Stickles, hero of
the Army game last year; Gary Meyers, Spokane;
Dick Royer, Cincinnati; and Bob Wetoska, Minne
apolis, Notre Dame may have five of the best ends
in the country.
And in breakaway runners Patrick Doyle of Sioux
City, Iowa, and Jim Crotty of Seattle, the Irish may
have two of the fleetest since Bob Livingstone,
Creighton Miller, and Coy McGee were blazing the
gridiron 10 to 15 years ago.
The winning tradition has a strong flavor at Notre
Dame, whose record of 185 wins, 49 losses, and 14
ties is the best of all major college football teams
over the last 26 years.
When Rockne was coaching Notre Dame teams,
the wins very often- used to come as a result of deft
psychological pitchforking. "Rock" had the knack of
getting his players fighting mad with such needles
as "Okay, girls, let's go." Or by opening the door of
the Notre Dame dressing room after a poor first half
and saying, "Sorry, I thought this was the Notre
Dame dressing room," then closing the door on his
stunned squad.
Leahy got great results with a combination of
perfecting his squad to the last detail while weeping
to the press about a lack of material. He was a
master at crooning the blues even while Notre Dame
was racking up a record of 39 consecutive victories
over a period of four years.
Brennan, whose record is 26 wins, 14 defeats, plays
it with a more matter-of-fact approach, neither try
ing to kid himself, his players, or the press. He gets
better results playing it straight.
"Psychology in the dressing room is all right
sometimes," he says, "but the game has changed so
much that all you've got time for is to prepare your
team for each game as best you can, then make the
necessary changes at half-time. Besides, I can see
where a lot of that psychology could backfire."
His players have great respect for Terry. One of
them recently summed it up this way: "If he asked
me to run through a brick wall, I'd do it, because
I'd figure he had a good reason."
As for the football coach's time-honored crying
towel, Brennan, who has a law degree, doesn't per
mit himself the luxury of tears, instead rests his
case on: "Excessive moaning never gained a yard
on a football field yet."
So this may be the year for the Fighting Irish to
regain the national crown they abdicated 10 years
ago. At any rate, they'll be the team to watch. They
always have been.
Family Weekly, September 21, 19SS
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