Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1359205
12 MAY 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Former Purdue quarterback and recently retired 20-year NFL veteran Drew Brees — a 13-time Pro Bowl pick and lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame — will be the new game analyst on Notre Dame's NBC telecasts. Brees will be replacing Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy, while play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico will continue in the role he has held since 2017 after also filling in for Dan Hicks three times in 2016. The New York Post first reported back in 2020 that Brees had reached a deal with NBC to become part of its broad- cast team when he retires. His other duties will include serving as a studio analyst for Football Night In America and working the Olympics and Super Bowl LVI, per NBC's release. Brees finished his NFL career as the league's all-time leader in passing yards with 80,358. He also set a league record by throwing a touchdown in 54 straight games and is second all time in career touchdown passes with 571. Brees led the Saints to a win in Super Bowl XLIV and was named the game's MVP. His first game in the Notre Dame booth will be against Toledo Sept. 11 — followed by his alma mater, Purdue, Sept. 18. Brees started three times against Notre Dame from 1998-2000, all of which came down to the closing seconds, if not final play. The Boilermakers won 28-23 in 1999 at home, but lost at Notre Dame in 1998 (31-30) and 2000 (23-21), the latter when Nicholas Setta booted a field goal as time expired. Purdue went on to win the Big Ten and made its second-ever (and most recent) Rose Bowl appearance that year. After a lull in the series from 2015-20, the longtime in- state rivals are scheduled to meet six times in the 2020s. Brees will be the 13th different color commentator/ analyst in the 30-year affiliation between Notre Dame and NBC Sports. Chronologically, his predecessors were: multiple Super Bowl champion Bill Walsh (1991), Cris Collinsworth (1992-94), with Todd Christensen (1993), Bob Trumpy (1993 and 1995-97) and Randy Cross (1994-96) mixed in, Paul McGuire (1995), Phil Simms (1995), Bea- sley Reece (1996), Pat Haden (1998-2009), Mike Mayock (2010-14), Doug Flutie (2014-19) and Dungy (2020). — Lou Somogyi The Brian Kelly reunion tour with former teams he coached will con- tinue when Notre Dame hosts Central Michigan on Sept. 16, 2023. Kelly coached the Chippewas from 2004-06, improving each year from 4-7 to 6-5 — the school's first winning season in seven years — and then 9-4 and a Mid-American Conference championship in 2006, another first in 12 years. That success earned him the head coaching job at Cincinnati, where he was 34-6 from 2007-09 that in turn enabled him to become the Notre Dame head coach. The Fighting Irish will host Cincinnati Oct. 2 this year. The matchup with Central Michigan will be the first ever between the two football programs and continues a yearly meeting with a MAC represen- tative. In 2017 it was Miami (Ohio), followed by Ball State (2018) and Bowling Green (2019). This year Notre Dame will host Toledo on Sept. 11 and in 2022 it will be Marshall on Sept. 10. Last year it was supposed to be Western Michi- gan on Sept. 19 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced a restructuring of the schedule that in- cluded nine ACC games. The MAC had originally announced canceling their season in August, but played an abbreviated one starting in November with Central Michigan finishing 3-3. Guiding the Chippewas is third-year head coach Jim McElwain, who was 22-16 at Colorado State before accepting the head coaching post at the University of Florida. McElwain started 10-4 and 9-4, but then he and the Gators mutually agreed to a parting of ways after a 3-4 start in 2017. He coached the University of Michigan wide receivers in 2018 before accepting the head coach- ing position at CMU, where he de- buted with an 8-6 record in 2019. So far, here is how the 2023 schedule looks: Sept. 16 — Central Michigan Sept. 23 — Ohio State Oct. 14 — USC Oct. 28 — Wake Forest Nov. 4 — at Clemson Nov. 11 — Navy Nov. 25 at Stanford Four other ACC opponents are scheduled, with dates still to be determined: at Duke, at Louis- ville, at North Carolina State and Pitt at home. Notre Dame also announced on April 5 it will have home-and-home meetings with the Uni- versity of South Florida in 2029 (at Tampa, Fla.) and 2031 (at South Bend). More information on those two games will be provided in next month's edition of Blue & Gold Illustrated. — Lou Somogyi Central Michigan Added To 2023 Schedule Drew Brees Is The New Analyst For Notre Dame's NBC Games Brees will be the 13th different color commentator/analyst in the 30-year affiliation between Notre Dame and NBC Sports. PHOTO BY MICHAEL C. HEBERT/NEW ORLEANS SAINTS