Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1368856
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JUNE/JULY 2021 65 WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? final Associated Press ranking — his dream came true when he was named Irish head coach. WELCOME TO NOTRE DAME Phelps inherited a healthy program that had won at least 20 games in each of the previous four seasons under head coach John Dee, but had lost most of its talent from the previous year, including Austin Carr, the 1971 AP Player of the Year and the eventual No. 1 pick in the 1971 NBA Draft. With a record of 6-20 in his first sea- son in 1971-72 and 18-12 in his second in 1972-73, Phelps needed a couple of years to get his footing and his players. Once he did, he became one of the best college coaches in the nation. In the eight seasons from 1973-74 through 1980-81, Phelps' Irish finished in the top 10 of the final AP poll. And at one point in the early 1980s, Phelps had 11 former players on NBA rosters at the same time. After 20 seasons, Phelps retired from Notre Dame on April 16, 1991, with a 393-197 record, 14 NCAA Tourna- ment appearances, 14 seasons with at least 20 wins, the program's only Final Four in 1978 and seven wins over top- ranked teams, which ties legendary Maryland coach Gary Williams for the most all time. Of course, no Phelps feature story would be complete without revisiting the best-known toppling of a No. 1 when his Irish scored the last 12 points of the game on Jan. 19, 1974, to upset top-ranked UCLA 71-70, ending the Bruins' record 88-game winning streak. But through all the successes, super- latives and statistics, there is one coach- ing line item that Phelps is proudest of — 56 all-time players, 56 graduates. "For 20 years there were so many great moments in what we did and how we did it," Phelps said. "But the most important thing to me was the 100-percent graduation rate." A WHITE HOUSE WELCOME At about the same time Phelps took the Notre Dame job, he met and de- veloped a friendship with future U.S. President George H.W. Bush during a golf outing in Ohio. Upon his successful presidential run in 1988, Bush often invited and enticed Phelps to come and work for him at the White House. And as the President's term was winding down in 1992 and 1993, Phelps accepted the offer and was put in charge of Weed and Seed, a fed- eral rehabilitation program through the U.S. Department of Justice that focused on weeding out gang activ- ity from neighborhoods by provid- ing gang members a second chance through vocational school. "You can become an electrician, earn $60,000 or $70,000 a year and live to be 80, versus being dead at 20," Phelps explained of the mission statement. Additionally, Phelps briefly worked for the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy under Bush and he even served as an observer in the 1993 elections in Cambodia. When Bush wasn't re-elected in 1992, the 41st U.S. President retired to Houston, Texas, and Phelps began a successful 20-year career as a television basketball analyst with ESPN. The travel and time demands even- tually became too much for Phelps, and during the April 7, 2014, broadcast of ESPN's "College GameDay," Phelps announced that he was done. "It's been a great run," Phelps said. "Twenty years is always my target for everything, and it's time to move for- ward." This time, on his own terms. LIFE AFTER BASKETBALL Phelps is a man of many interests, almost all of which have little or noth- ing to do with basketball. Opera, ballet, stamp collecting and, most recently, painting are a few of his passions. Phelps made a cameo appearance in the Notre Dame student opera perfor- mance of Offenbach's "Orpheus in the Underworld," and he regularly played the part Mother Ginger each Christ- mas in "The Nutcracker" ballet. Today, he's an avid painter and a rabid fan of Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh and French impressionist Henri Matisse. Phelps said he completes about two of his own paintings each month. Phelps' experience as a philatelist provided him an opportunity to serve 25 years on the Citizen Stamp Advi- sory Committee for the U.S. Postmas- ter General, where he helped to orga- nize and celebrate the launch of a 1984 Los Angeles Olympics commemora- tive stamp and then stand alongside President Ronald Reagan at Notre Dame in 1988 to unveil the 100-year commemorative Knute Rockne stamp. Phelps' is a life well lived without a moment wasted. His personal in- terests, university pursuits, coaching contributions and charitable impacts are too many to list. Phelps has three children and 15 grandchildren. "I've always had this diverse life with things on the outside that people didn't know about, the things behind the scenes," Phelps said. "It's been in- teresting, all of it." And a lot to contemplate during those morning campus walks. ✦ Upon his retirement from coaching and broadcasting, Phelps has taken up many eclectic interests, including painting. PHOTO COURTESY DIGGER PHELPS