Tag: tyrone willingham

Marcus Freeman wins second Coach of the Year award, is finalist for another

Congrats again, Coach!

[autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] recently earned a contract extension as Notre Dame’s coach, and we’re continuing to see why. He’s really good at his job, and the honors keep coming in to reflect that.

Already named the Dodd Coach of the Year, Freeman has been named the recipient of the George Munger Award, which has been presented by the prestigious Maxwell Football Club since 1989. As surprising as this might be to some Irish fans, the only other coach in the program’s history to win this award was [autotag]Tyrone Willingham[/autotag] in 2002.

If that wasn’t enough, Freeman has been announced as a finalist for the Bear Bryant Award, another coach of the year award. The only Irish coach to win this award was [autotag]Lou Holtz[/autotag] in 1988. Holtz himself was on a video call with Freeman to tell him he won the Munger Award.

Freeman has no time to celebrate though. He has to carry out duties ahead of the Orange Bowl, including conducting this joint news conference with Penn State’s James Franklin:

Whatever happens, it’s been a successful season for Freeman. In fact, this is the season that will go down as the one where he truly arrived as a top coach.

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

Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89

Notre Dame Football Coaches Historically in All-Important Third Season

Marcus Freeman is getting set for his third season as Notre Dame’s head coach and its safe to say the training wheels are off for the still young head coach. Gone are the excuses of being a new head coach and done are the looking past of no-shows …

Marcus Freeman is getting set for his third season as Notre Dame’s head coach and its safe to say the training wheels are off for the still young head coach.

Gone are the excuses of being a new head coach and done are the looking past of no-shows against the likes of Marshall and Stanford.

Freeman enters his third season at Notre Dame with sky-high expectations. Getting to the College Football Playoff seems like the bare minimum most Notre Dame fans are looking for in 2024. They’re looking to win a game and make some noise once there.

So as Freeman enters his third season at Notre Dame, how has the all-important third season gone for Fighting Irish coaches over the years?

Regardless of how that third year has gone historically, what you will see is that it will essentially tell the story of the overall tenure each head coach at Notre Dame. Here’s a look back at how each fared in their third year leading the Fighting Irish since the Frank Leahy era.

Freeman’s first two seasons (2021-22): 19-7
Third Season (2024): TBD

[autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] provided a spark to the Notre Dame fan base when [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] left for LSU at the end of the 2021 regular season. So far that spark has resulted in more major recruiting wins for Notre Dame but in year-three the expectation is that more of those recruiting wins will turn into big-time wins on Saturdays.

Kelly’s first two seasons (2010-11): 16-10
Third Season (2012): 12-1, lost BCS National Championship to Alabama

Say what you want about [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] but you can’t argue what he did in short order at Notre Dame. The Irish had been mostly out of the college football spotlight for almost 20 years before his arrival. Kelly’s first two seasons in South Bend were an improvement from the end of the Charlie Weis era, but no great shakes. Kelly would lead Notre Dame to an improbable 12-0 regular season in year-three however and eventually win more games as head coach than anyone else in program history.

Weis’ first two seasons (2005-06): 18-6
Third Season (2007): 3-9

After reaching back-to-back BCS games for the first time, Notre Dame took a huge step back in the third year under [autotag]Charlie Weis[/autotag]. After losing stars [autotag]Brady Quinn[/autotag], [autotag]Jeff Samardzija[/autotag], [autotag]Darius Walker[/autotag], and others, Notre Dame stumbled to a 3-9 season where they were non-competitive often. Weis was have alright starts to each of the next two seasons before November stumbles would cost him his job at the end of 2009.

Willingham’s first two seasons (2002-03): 15-10
Third Season (2004): 6-5 (fired at end of regular season)

[autotag]Tyrone Willingham[/autotag] was the sweetheart of the college football world in 2002, leading Notre Dame to an 8-0 start and No. 4 national ranking. After losing at home to Boston College to end that perfect season, Willingham and the Irish would go just 14-15 the rest of his time in South Bend, resulting in his firing following the a 6-5 regular season in 2004.

Davie’s first two seasons (1997-98): 16-10
Third Season (1999): 5-7

Bob Davie started just 1-4 in his first five games at Notre Dame so by comparison a 15-6 streak heading into year three didn’t seem as bad. After thrashing a poor Kansas team to open the season though the Irish would drop three-straight to Michigan, Purdue, and Michigan State. Despite a couple of comeback wins over Oklahoma and USC that year, the Irish would still finish just 5-7 despite entering November 5-3. Davie would have a bounce back season in 2000, leading Notre Dame to their first BCS appearance (where they were thrashed by Oregon State) but would be fired after another clunker in 2001.

Holtz’s first two seasons (1986-87): 13-10
Third Season (1988): 12-0, National Champions

[autotag]Lou Holtz[/autotag] was missioned with rebuilding Notre Dame football after the woeful Gerry Faust era and rebuild he did. His first season saw the Irish be competitive in nearly every game despite finishing just 5-6 and in year two they earned a Cotton Bowl berth despite getting beat up by Texas A&M while there. Holtz’s third season would cement him in Notre Dame lore forever as he led the Fighting Irish to a 12-0 season which remains their most recent national championship.

Faust’s first two seasons (1981-82): 11-10-1
Third Season: 7-5, Liberty Bowl Champions

Just how bad was the Gerry Faust era at Notre Dame? Consider this: The Fighting Irish going 7-5 and winning the Liberty Bowl in his third season of 1983 was the highpoint. One of the most bizarre coaching hires of all-time was also an all-time backfire. Faust would be let go after a 5-6 1985 season that saw the Irish close the year with a 58-7 defeat at Miami.

Devine’s first two seasons (1975-76): 17-6
Third Season (1977): 11-1, National Champions

Devine took over for [autotag]Ara Parseghian[/autotag] and had incredibly massive shoes to fill. Devine lost three regular season games each of his first two seasons, something Parseghian never did in his 11 years as head coach. With the pressure especially on following an early season loss at Ole Miss, Devine took advantage of the talents of Ross Browner, Joe Montana and others and ran the table to the 1977 national championship in his third season. Devine would last three more years in South Bend, announcing before the 1980 season that he would be stepping down at season’s end.

Parseghian’s first two seasons (1964-65): 16-3-1
Third Season (1966): 9-0-1, National Champions

[autotag]Ara Parseghian[/autotag] was minutes away from coaching the greatest turnaround in football history as he took Notre Dame from 2-8 in 1963 to unbeaten and No. 1 nationally at USC in late November. The Irish lost a late lead in that game that cost them a national championship. Two years later however Parseghian would get his first of two championships in South Bend as the 1966 squad pitched six shutouts and allowed more than 10 points just once all season, a 26-14 win over No. 7 Purdue in the opener.

Hugh Devore coached the 1963 season at Notre Dame as the Fighting Irish went just 2-7 in his forgettable year. The season did however feature a 17-14 win over No. 7 USC so at least he had that?

Kuharich’s first two seasons (1959-60): 7-13
Third Season (1961): 5-5

Joe Kuharich didn’t get the backing from administration that coaches to follow would get but that wasn’t excuse still wasn’t good enough. He started slow his first two years, improved to perfectly average (5-5) in year three, and was gone after another 5-5 campaign in his fourth season.

Brennan’s first two seasons (1954-55): 17-3
Third Season (1956): 2-8

[autotag]Terry Brennan[/autotag] capitalized on following the legendary Frank Leahy and rode it to an impressive first two seasons (although it wasn’t compared to what Leahy did). Reality would come in year three as the Irish bottomed out at 2-8. Brennan’s most memorable moment as Notre Dame head coach was leading the Irish to a legendary upset of unbeaten Oklahoma in 1957 as the Sooners had rode a 47-game winning streak into the contest.

Leahy’s first two seasons (1941-42): 15-2-3
Third Season: 9-1, National Champions

At any other program Frank Leahy would have gone down as the runaway greatest coach in program history. At Notre Dame however he of course would never be able to surpass the man that made college football what it is, Knute Rockne. Leahy started with a bang, coming from Boston College in 1941. He had the Irish in the top-five both of the first two seasons before winning the national championship in year-three. Leahy would go on to lead Notre Dame to three more national championships in his time while also taking time away to serve in World War II (while trying to recruit for his football program, too).

Notre Dame Football: Reliving Pete Carroll’s Dominance Over Irish

These were some tough years to be a Notre Dame fan.

It was a massive football news day Wednesday as word came out [autotag]Pete Carroll[/autotag] was stepping down as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.  He led the Seahawks to a championship in Super Bowl 48 but before his run in the Pacific Northwest, Carroll oversaw a dynasty at USC.

And that dynasty came largely at the expense of Notre Dame.  Sure he wasn’t exactly coaching against Ara Parseghian or Lou Holtz, but dominance is dominance.

The years from 2001-2009 aren’t particularly fun for Notre Dame fans to look back on but with Carroll stepping down let’s take a quick stride down memory lane and remember just how bad things were in this rivalry when he was leading USC.

Former Notre Dame captain on Tyrone Willingham: ‘This guy’s full of —-!”

Hardly surprising to hear looking back…

Oh, what a time the early-2000s were for Notre Dame football. After an unexpected Bowl Championship Series appearance in 2000, 2001 produced a major regression and Bob Davie’s dismissal.

In came George O’Leary from Georgia Tech. Days later, O’Leary went out: He was fired for lying on his resume.

The man chosen to fix the Notre Dame football mess was Tyrone Willingham who the Irish hired away from Stanford. Willingham had success early, but he was fired three years into his tenure as head coach.

How quickly did some guys in the room see that coming?

Former Notre Dame captain and linebacker Mike Goolsby was on “The Two Irish Brothers” podcast and shared it didn’t take long for him to feel out on Willingham.

“I can truly remember sitting there having that inner dialogue with myself saying ‘this guy is full of —-,” said Goolsby, “But I was like, I’ve got to go along with it because I haven’t started yet.”

When you hear a story like that it’s hardly a surprise Willingham’s tenure ended like it did. We’ve heard the stories about his passion for golf, and how it was reflected in Notre Dame’s awful recruiting rankings under him. But to hear from one of the Irish leaders from that time puts those three seasons in even a worse light.

How the heck did he get Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija and Tom Zbikowski to buy into his act?

That was perhaps the most impressive thing he did while at Notre Dame.

Check out the full cut of Goolsby discussing Willingham here.

Massive news: Notre Dame lands Mike Denbrock as next offensive coordinator

Ladies and Gentlemen: We got him

For the last two years we’ve called the unspoken feud between Notre Dame and LSU college football’s current cold war.

You can add another chapter to that today.

Reports are out that Marcus Freeman has landed his number-one target to take over as offensive coordinator – LSU play caller [autotag]Mike Denbrock[/autotag].

Denbrock turns 60 in January and has had two stints at Notre Dame previously.  One was for three years as the offensive tackle and tight ends coach under [autotag]Tyrone Willingham[/autotag], the other featured a variety of offensive roles under [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] from 2010-2016.

Denbrock is fresh off a regular season that he helped take LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels to epic levels as Daniels became the third Heisman Trophy winner in Tigers history.

Denbrock also coached at Cincinnati from 2017-2021 where he spent four seasons with [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag].

We’ll have more on this absolutely huge story as it develops.  In the meantime, find out more about Denbrock’s career with the writeup we did Wednesday.

Notre Dame football: Frontrunner emerging for offensive coordinator replacement?

Will it happen?

Could a frontrunner be emerging for Notre Dame just days into their search for a new offensive coordinator?

According to Pete Sampson and Bruce Feldman of The Athletic, LSU offensive coordinator [autotag]Mike Denbrock[/autotag] has “legitimate interest” in returning to Notre Dame in the same role.

Denbrock has coached at Notre Dame twice before.  From 2002-2004 he oversaw the tight ends and offensive tackles on [autotag]Tyrone Willingham[/autotag]’s staff while he filled a number of roles under [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] from 2010-2016, including being the primary play caller.

Denbrock spent 2017-2021 at Cincinnati where he coached with Marcus Freeman for four seasons.

Denbrock has had an incredibly strong run of late including this season where he helped turn quarterback Jayden Daniels into the third Heisman Trophy winner in LSU program history.

More on this as it develops and if you’re interested, we took a deeper look at Denbrock late Thursday morning.

Social media reaction to Deion Sanders being named Sports Illustrated ‘Sports Person of the Year’

This actually brings back a Notre Dame memory of sorts…

It doesn’t seem like that long ago that Tyrone Willingham was the talk of college football.  In 2002 he helped jumpstart Notre Dame an 8-0 start and No. 4 ranking before being upset by Boston College at home.

Notre Dame would get crushed at USC at the end of November to finish the regular season 9-2.  Despite the tough November, The Sporting News named Willingham their Sportsman of the Year for 2002.

Memories of that immediately came to mind to me Thursday morning when Sports Illustrated announced Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders as their 2023 ‘Sports Person of the Year’.

Sanders was certainly the story of college football for the first half of September as the Buffaloes were 3-0, but they’d finish the year with just a 4-8 mark and were blown out far more often than they were competitive.

Regardless, Sports Illustrated still named him and as you can probably guess, social media had a field day reacting.

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.

Watch: 2004 highlights of Notre Dame win over Stanford

Were you at this game?

2004 was a so-so year for Notre Dame, ultimately finishing 6-6. One game came one week after losing to No. 15 Purdue as Stanford came to Notre Dame Stadium. It looked like the 3-2 Irish might drop to .500 sooner as they trailed the Cardinal, 15-10, going into the fourth quarter. But two touchdowns and one incomplete Hail Mary at the end later, the home fans could be content with a 23-15 Irish victory:

[autotag]Ryan Grant[/autotag] scored the go-ahead touchdown, his second of the game, early in the fourth quarter. [autotag]Brady Quinn[/autotag] threw for 173 yards and ran for the Irish’s other fourth-quarter touchdown. Quinn did not have any touchdown passes, and neither did Cardinal quarterback Trent Edwards despite throwing for 267 yards.

By all accounts, this was far from the prettiest game in this rivalry, and most fans probably have forgotten about it. But this still was a bright spot at a time when [autotag]Tyrone Willingham[/autotag] was fighting for his job, which he ultimately lost. At least he was victorious on this afternoon.

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

Photos from last Gator Bowl to feature Notre Dame

If you don’t remember this game, you probably have blocked it from your memory.

The bowl matchups are out, and where Notre Dame is headed should come as no surprise. Almost every bowl projection before Sunday had the Irish in the Gator Bowl, and that’s exactly where they’re headed. The Irish will meet South Carolina, a program they have clashed with four times before but not at all since 1984. This year’s game will be played at 3:30 p.m. EST on Dec. 30 in Jacksonville, Florida.

This will be the Irish’s fourth Gator Bowl, and they have no place to go but up after their last appearance in the 2003 edition. [autotag]Tyrone Willingham[/autotag] had led the Irish to a 10-2 regular-season record in his first season, but that didn’t matter to Philip Rivers and NC State. Rivers threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns in a 28-6 trouncing of the Irish. It didn’t help that [autotag]Pat Dillingham[/autotag] threw three interceptions.

Here are some images from a game that proved to be a sign of things to come for the rest of Willingham’s tenure: