Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/102697
Under the Dome Anniversaries In Notre Dame Athletics History: February 100 Years Ago: Feb. 2, 1913 Edward Walter Kraucuinas is born in Chicago. His last name would be legally shortened to "Krause," and in later years he would be better known as "Moose" or "Mr. Notre Dame." Recruited to play football at Notre Dame by Knute Rockne and a freshman on the 1930 national champs, Krause would earn second-team All-America notice as a tackle and also become a three-time first-team All-American in basketball and get inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. A line coach for Frank Leahy, he would help Notre Dame to national titles in 1943, 1946 and 1947, and go 3-0 as the acting coach when Leahy was too ill to be on the sidelines. A United States Marine during World War II, including a 14-month stretch as an air combat intelligence officer in the South Pacific, Krause continues his duties as an assistant football coach and is the basketball head coach from 1946‑51. On March 22, 1949, he succeeds Leahy as the school's athletic director for the next 32 years. 25 Years Ago: Feb. 11, 1988 For the second straight year, Notre Dame signs the nation's No. 1-ranked recruiting class with a 23‑man haul (although two would not get admitted). Headlining the group is tight end and Parade National Player of the Year Derek Brown, whose presence leads head coach Lou Holtz to shift two-year starting tight end Andy Heck to left tackle. Speed is featured with six tailbacks that are champion high school sprinters, including Raghib "Rocket" Ismail from Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and Rodney Culver from Detroit. After a disappointing end to the season with three straight losses, Holtz also announces major renovations on his staff, especially with the promotion of Barry Alvarez to defensive coordinator and three new hires in Chuck Heater (defensive backs), John Palermo (defensive line) and Joe Moore (offensive tackles and tight ends). 20 Years Ago: Feb. 3, 1993 National Player of the Year Ron Powlus signs with Notre Dame and is the crown jewel of a 22-man harvest ranked No. 2 nationally by SuperPrep and No. 3 by Tom Lemming. Powlus arrives as, perhaps, the most touted recruit in school history and is deemed maybe the best quarterback to come out of the high school ranks since Dan Marino and John Elway in 1979. He joins the "Dream Backfield" of USA Today first-team All-American Randy Kinder, Parade All-American Robert Farmer and fullback Marc Edwards, who was Ohio's "Mr. Football." "I can hear it already — 'We aren't using his talents and abilities … we aren't doing this, we aren't doing that,'" Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz said on National Signing Day on whether Powlus' drop-back skills fit his ground-oriented offense. 5 Years Ago: Feb. 6, 2008 Despite a wretched 3-9 campaign — the most losses in one football season at Notre Dame — fourth-year head coach Charlie Weis and his staff join Alabama in signing one of the nation's top two classes. The offense includes five-star prospects such as quarterback Dayne Crist, wide receiver Michael Floyd and tight end Kyle Rudolph. The Fighting Irish also excel in signing premier defensive prospects, including linemen Ethan Johnson, Sean Cwynar and Kapron Lewis-Moore, linebackers Steve Filer and Darius Fleming, and defensive backs Robert Blanton and Jamoris Slaughter. "This is the type of day where everyone has got to feel good and say, 'God, what a good day!'" Weis said. "And I think we all needed that — especially me." — Lou Somogyi