Notre Dame Enters The 2018 Season Ranked 12th

It’s fast shaping up to be a great season for the Fighting Irish, with a recent AP preseason poll giving the team a much-deserved 12th rank.  If anything, the news is a huge psychological boost for coach Brian Kelly’s wards, as this development practically ensures that all of Notre Dame’s opponents for the regular season are lower seeded.  The team likewise took the same 12th spot in the Amway Coaches Poll. 

It’s the Irish’s 55th time to rank in the preseason top 25 teams of the AP and it’s also the fourth most overall.  It’s a huge upgrade in the rankings, given that the team started the past season unranked, before climbing up to 11th in the concluding AP poll after having finished with a 10-3 overall record.  

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This development makes the Irish’s opening game versus the Michigan Wolverine the most important and certainly most anticipated by fans this season, as Michigan is ranked just two tiers lower at 14th.  All in all, Notre Dame will get to play with four teams ranked in the top 20 of the initial polls within its three-month season between September and November: Michigan, Stanford (13th), USC (15th), and Virginia Tech (2oth). 

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Again, the ranking is well-deserved for an Irish club that had a superb showing last year.  But it nevertheless puts a lot of pressure on the team, especially because, in a huge way, this makes its first match versus closest-in-rank Michigan team essentially a must--win.  

My name’s Tom Colton, a University of Notre Dame student. Football season is almost here, and I’m going all out to support our Fighting Irish team. For related football posts, visit this page.

Ranking the best coaches in Fighting Irish football history

The high expectations on current Notre Dame coach (and now official Dodd Trophy watch list inclusion) Brian Kelly is more than understandable, given the school’s rich and long-running tradition of having had some of the most decorated and respected coaches in college football. Hereunder are the most revered coaches in the Fighting Irish program.

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Knute Rockne To say Rockne is the face of college football is no exaggeration. Between 1918 and 1930, he guided Notre Dame to a mind-blowing winning percentage of .881, ending up with a career record of 105-12 before his untimely and tragic passing.

Frank Leahy Leahy helmed the Irish before and after World War II, from 1941 to 1943 then from 1946 to 1953. His .864 winning rate is the second-highest in the history of the program. Some of his most renowned achievements include six undefeated seasons, four national championships, and even a record-setting win streak of 39 games.

Ara Parseghian Coach Ara led the Fighting Irish for 11 years (1964-1974), continuously managing to improve the team in each year of his stay. Just consider this stat: before Parseghian took over, the Irish were 41st and 76th in the national rankings. In just his first two years with the program, he already led his teams to 4th and 6th. He brought two national championships to Notre Dame.

Lou Holtz When Holtz took the helm for Gerry Faust, the Irish could get no higher than a 27th ranking. He was able to lead Notre Dame to nine major bowls in his 11 seasons, including a national championship in 1988. Now among the current faces of ESPN college football coverage, Holtz finished his coaching career with a 100-32 record.

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My name’s Tom Colton, currently attending the University of Notre Dame. I’m an avid supporter of Notre Dame sports, particularly the school’s Fighting Irish football team. For more of my writings on college football, check out thiswebpage.

The short and forgettable era of Gerry Faust

Gerry Faust coached the Fighting Irish for four years. He was Dan Devine’s replacement, and expectations were high given that he had an incredibly impressive record coaching the Moeller High School football team. In 19 seasons with Moeller, Faust garnered a staggering 174 wins, with only 17 losses, and 2 ties. 

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Another reason Notre Dame fans were excited was that Faust would have nine of his former players from Moeller in the Fighting Irish. Many of the Notre Dame faithful thought that their chemistry in high school would translate onto the college level. But things in South Bend didn’t go as planned.

Faust never really met the expectations of Notre Dame fans. His success was both limited and mediocre. In his first year as coach, Faust managed to lead the Irish to a dismal 5-6 record. The following season would see only a slight change, with Notre Dame finishing at 6-4-1. His third and fourth years though were better as his team finished with a 7-5 record for both years. In 1983, he would lead Notre Dame to the Liberty Bowl, and the Aloha Bowl the following year. 

After a crushing defeat at the hands of Miami (58-7), Faust retired and moved to Akron where he became head coach. 

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Tom Colton here, a student at the University of Notre Dame. It almost goes without saying that I’m a huge fan of Fighting Irish football. More Notre Dame football reads here.