Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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10 JUNE/JULY 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Notre Dame has set up a future two-game series with an in-state opponent. The Fighting Irish and Indiana will play each other in 2030 and 2031, the schools announced in April. The first meeting is set for Aug. 27, 2030 at Notre Dame Stadium in the presumed opener for that season. The second leg of it will be Sept. 27, 2031 in Bloomington, Ind. "I'm looking forward to facing one of the most sto- ried programs in the history of college football," In- diana head coach Tom Allen said in a statement. "It's tremendous for the state of Indiana and for our fans, and it will be a great opportunity for our players." The Irish and Hoosiers have met 29 times, and Notre Dame holds a 23-5-1 edge in the all-time series. They most recently played in 1991, when Notre Dame won 49-27. The 2031 trip to Bloom- ington will be Notre Dame's first since 1950. All told, Notre Dame is 13-1-1 at home and 6-3 on the road against Indiana. Notre Dame has series set with both in-state Big Ten teams in the next decade. The Irish start a six- game set with Purdue this season in South Bend. They will play three times at Purdue and twice more at Notre Dame Stadium every year from 2024-28. Additionally, Notre Dame has set the dates for the final two games its previously agreed-upon series with South Florida. That three-game series began last year, when Notre Dame needed a last- minute non-conference addition to its schedule after temporarily joining the ACC. The Irish hosted the Bulls and beat them 52-0 on Sept. 19. Included in the agreement were two more games, one at each team's home stadium, to be scheduled at a later date. They're now official. The first game will take place Sept. 15, 2029, in Tampa, Fla. The series concludes Sept. 13, 2031, in South Bend. The all-time series is tied 1-1. The Bulls, with Notre Dame graduate Skip Holtz as the head coach, won the teams' first-ever meeting 23-20 in the 2011 season opener. The 2029 game will be the first meeting of the two programs outside Notre Dame Stadium and a rare visit by the Irish to a Group of Five school's home stadium. Notre Dame has not played such a road game since a 2015 visit to Temple. With these games set, far-flung future schedules are taking shape. In 2029, Notre Dame will play ACC opponents Georgia Tech (home), Wake Forest (home), Syracuse (road), Florida State (road) and North Carolina State (road). It will host Navy and likely USC, though an extension of the USC series has not yet been announced. The Irish also have a road game at Alabama and the trip to South Florida. In addition to hosting Indiana, Notre Dame's 2030 schedule also includes home games against Duke, Florida State and North Carolina. The Irish will play at Louisville, Boston College, Navy and presumably USC. The 2031 slate has games against ACC opponents NC State (home), Miami (home), Pitt (road), Clem- son (road) and Virginia (road). Also on the sched- ule are home games against Florida, Navy, South Florida and a presumed home game against USC. In addition, Notre Dame and NBC announced the kickoff times for the Irish's 2021 six-game home schedule April 29. The broadcast team of Mike Tirico (play-by-play), Drew Brees (analyst) and Kath- ryn Tappen (sidelines) will call the games for NBC. — Patrick Engel Notre Dame and South Florida have set dates for the final two meetings of their three-game series that began in 2020 with a 52-0 Irish victory. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS Notre Dame has added an analyst and an offensive assistant to its support staff. The Fighting Irish hired Houston Texans' assistant John Aylward as an offen- sive analyst and Richmond tight ends coach Trevor Mendelson as an assistant offensive line coach earlier in April. Aylward spent the last two seasons as a Texans offensive assistant after serving as a coaching intern with the team in 2018. He played quarterback and receiver for Division II St. Anselm College in New Hampshire and gradu- ated in 2019. He replaces Pat Kramer, who left for an analyst role with the Atlanta Falcons in late February. Kramer was at Notre Dame for three seasons and also served as the assistant quarterbacks coach. Mendelson coached tight ends for Football Championship Series program Richmond during its spring 2021 season. His prior stop was Wake Forest, where he was an offensive assistant. He played offensive line at Marshall from 2010-14 and started as a senior. After that, he spent two seasons as a grad assistant with the Thundering Herd. The assistant offensive line coach job Mendelson took opened when Chris Watt left Notre Dame to become Tulane's offensive line coach. Watt, a start- ing guard for the Irish from 2011-13, spent one year with his alma mater as a coach. Notre Dame still has an analyst opening to be the offensive counterpart to Chad Bowden, who is listed as a senior football analyst on Notre Dame's website but is in touch with a lot of Notre Dame's defensive recruiting targets and works with the defensive staff in their recruiting efforts. Current direc- tor of recruiting Aaryn Kearney is temporarily filling the offensive-oriented version of that role. "We added offensive and defensive analysts who are focused primarily on recruiting efforts," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said, describing Bowden's role. "The best way to put it is they're the offensive and defensive coordinators in recruiting. "They get the whole staff together, coordinate the efforts in recruiting and making sure they're touching base with recruits daily. That's not a nine-to- five job. That's late at night, being on their schedule." — Patrick Engel Two Off-Field Assistants Join Staff Notre Dame Adds New Home-And-Home, Sets Dates For Another NOTRE DAME 2021 SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Time (ET) Sept. 5 at Florida State TBA Sept. 11 Toledo (NBC) 2:30 p.m. Sept. 18 Purdue (NBC) 2:30 p.m. Sept. 25 vs. Wisconsin* TBA Oct. 2 Cincinnati (NBC) 2:30 p.m. Oct. 9 at Virginia Tech TBA Oct. 16 Bye Oct. 23 USC (NBC) 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30 North Carolina (NBC) 7:30 p.m. Nov. 6 Navy (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 13 at Virginia TBA Nov. 20 Georgia Tech (NBC) 2:30 p.m. Nov. 27 at Stanford TBA * at Soldier Field in Chicago