Tag: Todd Lyght

Notre Dame Football’s History of August Games

Let’s take a quick look back at five times Notre Dame has played in August, something that dates back to 1989.

Notre Dame helps kick off the college football season this weekend as the Irish will be in Ireland to take on Navy.  It’s rare that Notre Dame has kicked off a football season in Ireland but less that they have in August. The Irish have played a handful of times historically in the year’s eighth month and fared well.

So how well exactly have things gone for Notre Dame in August?  Check out below how the Irish have fared in those five games as we’ll see if they can add another victory to the list in 2023 as they open the season in Saturday against Navy.

 

Former Notre Dame DB nominated for College Football Hall of Fame

Best of luck, Todd!

[autotag]Todd Lyght[/autotag] is a name associated with what many say was the last truly great era of Notre Dame football. He was a defensive back when the Irish won their last national championship in 1988 and got even better in the seasons that followed. Now, he has a chance to be enshrined as he is among 78 players nominated for the College Football Hall of Fame’s 2024 class.

Lyght was a consensus All-American in 1989 and 1990. Eight of his 11 career interceptions came in 1989 and are tied for third-most on the Irish’s single-season list. No Irish defender has picked off eight passes in a season since. He also broke up 20.5 passes in his career, which rank eighth in program history since pass breakups began being tracked in 1956.

More than a decade after finishing a 12-year NFL career, mostly with the Rams, Lyght began a tenure as Brian Kelly’s defensive backs coach. That lasted from 2015 to 2019. As such, he played a key role in the Irish making the 2018 College Football Playoff.

The results of the voting won’t be known until early next year, but let’s hope for the best for Lyght.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Former Brian Kelly Player is Notre Dame’s New DB Coach

Mike Mickens played under Kelly at Cincinnati and was a seventh round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys after suffering a knee injury his senior year.

The long wait for Notre Dame football is over as the search to find Todd Lyght’s replacement as Defensive Backs Coach appears to have ended.

According to Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports, Lyght’s replacement comes in the form of a former Brian Kelly player.

Mike Mickens played under Kelly at Cincinnati and was a seventh round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys after suffering a knee injury his senior year.

He has spent time coaching defensive backs at at Idaho and Indiana State before getting the corner back coaching job at Bowling Green from 2013-17.

He was then hired by Luke Fickell at Cincinnati where he spent the last two seasons.

Notre Dame Football: National and Super Bowl Champs

As we sit just days away from the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers strapping up to hoist the Lombardi Trophy, we’ll be having some sporatic fun here at Fighting Irish Wire in terms of former Notre Dame players and coaches who have had an impact on “The Big Game”.

Notre Dame has had a rich history not only in the NFL but in the NFL’s biggest game, the Super Bowl.

As we sit just days away from the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers strapping up to hoist the Lombardi Trophy, we’ll be having some sporatic fun here at Fighting Irish Wire in terms of former Notre Dame players and coaches who have had an impact on “The Big Game”.

Let’s start this by having a list in regards to Notre Dame trivia:

Are you aware that 10 players have won a national championship at Notre Dame and gone on to win a Super Bowl?

How many can you name?

It’s not an official Sporcle quiz, but perhaps it should be.

We’ll go in chronological order.  Feel free to pass along and share with your biggest Notre Dame/NFL Fan friends:

The first happened in Super Bowl IV, a Kansas City Chief

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10, Page 11

Lyght Officially Steps Down at Notre Dame – Brian Kelly Issues Statement

Lyght had been a member of Brian Kelly’s staff at Notre Dame since 2015.

Earlier this afternoon we passed along the report from Sports Illustrated that said Todd Lyght would not be back coaching cornerbacks in 2019. Since the time of our posting the news has been made official by Brian Kelly and the university.

Kelly released the following statement in regards to Lyght:

As stated previously the decision to leave was Lyght’s and it wasn’t a firing.

Matt Fortuna covers Notre Dame and college football for The Athletic and had a guess as to at least a direction Lyght may be headed:

Lyght had been a member of Brian Kelly’s staff at Notre Dame since 2015.

Report: Todd Lyght Won’t Return to Notre Dame Staff in 2020

As for the corner backs coach, current safeties coach Terry Joseph has spent time coaching the secondaries during his stops at North Carolina, Texas A&M and Nebraska so him overseeing all defensive backs wouldn’t appear to be a ridiculous thought.

Sports Illustrated/Bryan Driskell is reporting that former Notre Dame All-American and corner backs coach Todd Lyght will not return to the coaching staff in 2020.  Driskell’s report cites personal and family reasons as to why and not a firing.

The two-time consensus All-American corner and former Notre Dame captain has been coaching the position since 2015.  In that time he’s seen Irish corner backs KeiVarae Russell and Julian Love selected in the NFL Draft.

What happens next on the Notre Dame coaching staff remains to be seen.  Obviously all eyes are on if Tommy Rees gets elevated to offensive coordinator if someone gets hired from the outside.

As for the corner backs coach, current safeties coach Terry Joseph has spent time coaching the secondaries during his stops at North Carolina, Texas A&M and Nebraska so him overseeing all defensive backs wouldn’t appear to be a ridiculous thought.

As for who the up-and-coming defensive corner back coaches are in college football your thought is as great as mine.  I’ll admit lack of knowledge on such names and save you the b-s others may feed you.

The departure of Lyght comes on the 31st anniversary of Notre Dame winning their last national championship, a title Lyght was a big part of.