Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1271864
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com AUGUST 2020 47 but its specter looms into this fall and probably beyond. When normalcy will return re- mains a huge work in progress. SUSTAINED SUCCESS With an 11-2 finish in football that was capped by a six-game winning streak — the longest to end a season since seven in a row in 1992 — the Fighting Irish are now 33-6 the past three seasons. Among 130 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, that is the sixth- best mark, and the finest three-year record for the program since the 33-4 ledger from 1988-90. There is a caveat: From 1988-90, the Fighting Irish defeated 10 teams that finished in the Associated Press top 10, while the 2017-19 editions have no such conquests. The lone victory in 2019 against a team that finished ranked was versus No. 20 Navy. A true "one for the ages" triumph still has not been recorded since van- quishing No. 1 Florida State 31-24 on Nov. 13, 1993. Still, the sustained success is high- lighted by … THE STREAKS In an under-the-radar manner, Notre Dame football has continued three no- table streaks entering the 2020 season: • It has won 18 consecutive home games, the third most since Notre Dame Stadium's opening in 1930. One more ties the 19 straight from 1987-90 for second place, while the standard is 28 from 1942-50. • There have been 24 consecutive victories recorded against unranked teams. That might not sound glam- orous, but only Alabama has a lon- ger streak (dating back to 2007). The longest at Notre Dame was 29 from 1990-94. • Following a second straight un- beaten November (5-0), the current nine-game winning streak in that month is the longest since the nine in a row from 1972-74 — excluding a loss at USC in December 1972. The school record is 16 from 1946-50. The longest November/December regular-season winning streak since the current one was 10 from 1953-55. Clemson this Nov. 7 could threaten it. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT After a 4-8 fiasco in 2016, head coach Brian Kelly made sweeping changes on his staff that included hiring and turning over the keys on offense to rising 33-year-old Mem- phis assistant Chip Long, who had no previous ties to Kelly. Long played a prominent role on the recruiting trail and as a play caller in Notre Dame's 33-6 turnaround the past three years. Unfortunately, low marks also were issued — particularly this year — with how he interacted with play- ers and fellow coaches. This espe- cially came to a head during the 45- 14 debacle at Michigan Oct. 26, which necessitated Kelly to announce on Dec. 14 that Long would no longer be part of the Fighting Irish's operation. "I've had to make other tough de- cisions," Kelly said. "I made them a few years ago. I had to let go of guys that stood up in my wedding. I'm not afraid to make tough choices. "I'm going to make decisions that are in best interests of Notre Dame's football program and give us the best chance to win a national champion- ship." Long is now the offensive quality control analyst at the University of Tennessee, while Notre Dame moved forward with … PROMOTIONS AND HIRINGS The ouster of Long resulted in promoting fourth-year quarterbacks coach Tommy Rees, who started 31 games at signal-caller for Kelly from 2010-13, to the coordinator role. Having turned 28 in May, Rees is the youngest coach ever at Notre Dame to hold the coordinator title — although Terry Brennan was only 26 when he was the head coach for his first Fighting Irish game in 1954. In addition, second-year running backs coach Lance Taylor was given the "run game coordinator" title. Cynics contend Kelly stayed End Of An Era About a month after the cancel- lation of winter and spring sports, Notre Dame women's basketball coach Muffet McGraw announced on April 22 she was calling it a career after 33 years at the helm. Inducted into the Naismith Bas- ketball Hall of Fame in 2017, she fol- lowed that up with a dramatic run to a second national title in 2018 and a fifth runner-up finish in 2019. The departure of all five starters and several injury setbacks resulted in a disappointing 13-18 swan song and deep reflection during the pan- demic. "This was a great opportunity for me to sit back and say, 'What's life without basketball going to look like?' — and I thought it looked re- ally good," she explained. "… To- morrow is promised to no one. … I'm excited about knowing that I can handle not having basketball in my life." Hired as the successor was Niele Ivey, the point guard for the 2001 national champs plus a prized assis- tant coach and recruiter for McGraw from 2007-19, before a one-year stint in the NBA. Fighting Irish women's basketball coach Muffet McGraw called it a career in April after 33 years in charge, nine Final Four appearances and a pair of national championships. PHOTO BY JOSH BATES