Tag: Gerry Faust

Former Notre Dame coach Gerry Faust dies on same day as USC’s John Robinson

Former Notre Dame football coach Gerry Faust and former USC football coach John Robinson both died on the same day. They both died at age 89. Wow.

Some events in life — and death — are improbable in ways which defy description. This is incredible and eerie: On the same day that USC football legend John Robinson died at the age of 89, former Notre Dame football coach Gerry Faust also died at age 89. Can you believe it? Fighting Irish Wire has more on Faust:

Over his five seasons in South Bend, Faust accumulated a record of 30-26-1, good for a .535 winning percentage. Under his leadership, the Irish won the 1983 Liberty Bowl over Doug Flutie and Boston College. The following year, they lost the 1984 Aloha Bowl to SMU in its last game before it was handed the death penalty a few years later.

A disappointing 1985 season in which the Irish went 5-6 prompted Faust to announce that he would resign after the final game against a Miami team coached by Jimmy Johnson. The Irish lost that game, 58-7, and the university would go on to hire Lou Holtz as Faust’s successor.

Faust and John Robinson did coach against each other as part of the Notre Dame-USC football rivalry. They met in 1981 and 1982 before Robinson went to the NFL and the Los Angeles Rams in 1983. USC won 14-7 in South Bend in 1981 and then won 17-13 in the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1982.

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Former Notre Dame football coach Gerry Faust dies at age 89

Rest in peace, Coach.

Sad news for longtime Notre Dame football fans broke Monday. [autotag]Gerry Faust[/autotag], who coached the Irish from 1981 to 1985, has died at age 89.

Over his five seasons in South Bend, Faust accumulated a record of 30-26-1, good for a .535 winning percentage. Under his leadership, the Irish won the 1983 Liberty Bowl over Doug Flutie and Boston College. The following year, they lost the 1984 Aloha Bowl to SMU in its last game before it was handed the death penalty a few years later.

A disappointing 1985 season in which the Irish went 5-6 prompted Faust to announce that he would resign after the final game against a Miami team coached by Jimmy Johnson. The Irish lost that game, 58-7, and the university would go on to hire [autotag]Lou Holtz[/autotag] as Faust’s successor.

After his Irish tenure ended, Faust went to coach at Akron, where he did so for nine seasons and compiling a 43-53-3 record. But he never lost his love for the Irish no matter how much time passed:

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Faust family during this difficult time.

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Notre Dame swaps jerseys at halftime of 1985 blowout win over USC

Remember this game?

One of the most famous games in the Notre Dame-USC rivalry came in 1977. The Irish warmed up on the field in their regular blues, but they returned for the game wearing green, and they won that game.

Fast forward to the teams’ 1985 meeting. [autotag]Gerry Faust[/autotag] decided to do what predecessor [autotag]Dan Devine[/autotag] did, but he didn’t do it in the same way. Rather, the Irish played the first half in their blues before sporting green for the second half of a 37-3 blowout win. Faust explained his decision-making afterwards:

The victory came in the middle of a four-game winning streak, but all it ultimately did was make the Irish’s 5-6 season look better. Faust resigned at the end of the year and was replaced by [autotag]Lou Holtz[/autotag], who would lead the Irish to their most recent national championship in 1988. It was a reminder that even though a jersey swap might seem cool, people won’t care as much if you’re a so-so team.

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Notre Dame Football: All-Time Losingest Coaches

The program has lost more than 300 times in its history. So which coaches are responsible for most of those?

Notre Dame has a long football history that fans nationwide flock to.  “Win one for the Gipper”, the Four Horsemen, and the “Play Like a Champion Today” sign are all parts of Fighting Irish lore.  In that long football history that has been played at the university since an 8-0 loss to Michigan in November of 1887, it hasn’t always been national championships and 10-win seasons.

In fact, Notre Dame has lost a total of 330 times in the more than 13 decades they’ve been playing football.  We know which coaches won the most of those games as Brian Kelly set that record before leaving in 2021.  But who has lost the most as Notre Dame’s head coach?

Marcus Freeman isn’t there – yet – but with five in 13 career games he’s already in the top 16.

We went ahead and listed the the top 13 in program history as that’s how many have lost double-digit games at Notre Dame.  Here they are, the all-time losingest coaches at Notre Dame.

The day after: Lasting thoughts on Notre Dame’s loss to USC

What stood out in your mind?

It was a good effort but not quite enough for Notre Dame to get an upset on the road against USC. The game was closer than the score, even if the Irish failed to get the game within one score late in the game. There were positive and negatives and here are my thoughts that have lingered in my mind since the game finished last night.

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Notre Dame head coaches who also played college football

What Notre Dame coaches have played at the collegiate level?

It’s amazing to think that for all of its rich history, Notre Dame has had only six former college football players as head coach. To make it even more amazing, you have to go all the way back to the beginning of the program’s history of coaches to find half of them. What’s more, it has been 36 years since the Irish had a former college player in their head coaching role. With Brian Kelly only four wins away from passing Knute Rockne on the program’s all-time list, it doesn’t appear the Irish will be adding to this short list anytime soon.

Whichever former college football player eventually ends up as Notre Dame head coach will be joining some rare company. We’re talking three apiece in the 19th and 20th centuries with none coming in the 21st yet. Until then, Irish fans will have to settle for these men holding what is a rare distinction in South Bend:

Former Notre Dame Football Player/Coach Dies at 79

Former Notre Dame tight end and assistant football coach Brian Boulac has died at 79 after spending his life with Notre Dame.

Former Notre Dame football player and assistant coach Brian Boulac has died.  He was 79 years old.

Boulac arrived at Notre Dame in the fall of 1959 and played for the Fighting Irish football team from 1961-63, a run where the team went just 9-20.  The tight end would go on to become a graduate assistant at Notre Dame that kicked off a career in coaching and ultimately in the Notre Dame athletic administration.

Boulac would serve as an assistant coach under Hugh Devore, Ara Parseghian, Dan Devine and Gerry Faust and was also the first recruiting coordinator for the Notre Dame football team.

From 1959 through at least 2009, Boulac either played in or attended every Notre Dame home football game as a fan.

 

Boulac was also the first varsity softball coach at Notre Dame and led the Irish to four 30-win seasons and a pair of conference titles despite having only two scholarships to offer.

To learn more about Boulac, check out the write-up about him from the 2009 Notre Dame vs. Boston College game program.