Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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The Best In Both Worlds The Irish remember longtime coach and academic leader Mike DeCicco P By Lou Somogyi erhaps no one in Notre Dame's history better embodied the combination of athletic and academic excellence than Mike DeCicco. The fencing coach from 1962-95 guided more victories (680) and won or shared more national titles (five) than anyone else at Notre Dame in any sport. Yet it was as the school's chief academic advisor for thousands of student-athletes — and an NCAA pioneer in his field — that he earned even more adulation and renown. DeCicco, who provided 41 years of service to Notre Dame from 1954-95, passed away March 29 in Holy Cross Village at Notre Dame at age 85 from congestive heart failure. "The next statue that goes up at Notre Dame should be Mike DeCicco," summarized 1966-68 Notre Dame AllAmerican quarterback Terry Hanratty, whose son Conor is vying for the starting right offensive guard position on this year's football team. "He had the biggest heart known to man. He was truly a Notre Dame man." A 1949 graduate of Notre Dame, DeCicco's 45-4 career foil record (.918) as a fencer still ranks fourth on Notre Dame's all-time list for career foil winning percentage. The Newark, N.J., native returned to Notre Dame in 1954 to complete his doctorate and served as a faculty professor in the engineering department — he held patents for his heating and air conditioning designs — and was as an assistant coach in fencing to Walter Langford. From 1962-95, DeCicco was the men's fencing head coach and produced nearly 100 All-Americans. He also represented and coached the United States in numerous Olympic and World Championship events. However, his most profound impact occurred in 1964 when Notre Dame executive vice president Rev. Edmund P. Joyce selected DeCicco for a new position as the chief academic advisor of Notre Dame's student-athletes. The Original No other school had an academic advisor, so DeCicco didn't have a template to emulate. He was the original.