Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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10 PRESEASON 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME The past 50 seasons of Notre Dame football have produced plenty of highs, even if they have also brought some low points. Three national titles. Fourteen Associated Press top-10 finishes. Sixteen 10-win seasons. The current program health is at its best in at least 25 years. That's a lot of success — and it doesn't come without good leadership. Three former Irish head coaches were recognized for exactly that. ESPN's Bill Connelly ranked the best 101 coaches of the last 50 years and included three from Notre Dame in the top 50. His list considers a coach's entire résumé, but a successful tenure at Notre Dame is usually the most compelling part of someone's career. Current boss Brian Kelly — who is four victories away from passing Knute Rockne as the Irish's all-time winningest coach — is No. 36 on the list. He will also jump Rockne as the longest-tenured coach in program history (13 seasons) if he stays through 2022. Kelly is 102-39 in 12 seasons at Notre Dame, with two Col- lege Football Playoff appearances, a BCS National Championship Game berth and six 10-win campaigns. In his college career, he is 273-96-2 and built one of Division II's most dominant programs at Grand Valley State from 1991-2003. He won a combined three conference titles in Division I stops at Cen- tral Michigan (2004-06) and Cincinnati (2007-09) before coming to Notre Dame. "From Allendale, Michigan, to South Bend, Kelly is one of the few coaches who has both gotten the opportunity to win big, and done so, in multiple divisions," Connelly wrote. "He nearly brought Cincinnati to the BCS Cham- pionship and has brought sustained, high-level success back to Notre Dame." Dan Devine, Notre Dame's head coach from 1975-80, made the list at No. 24. His Irish tenure contains his great- est career accomplishment — a national title — but he had an impressive 12-year stint at Missouri (1958-70) before that and broke in as a head coach at Arizona State (1955-57). "He went 10-0 in his last year at ASU, won Mis- souri its last two conference titles (among four top- 10 finishes) and, after a brief NFL dalliance, led Notre Dame to three top-10 finishes and, behind Joe Mon- tana, its second-to-last na- tional title," Connelly wrote. The coach who most re- cently won a national champi- onship in South Bend is ranked No. 19. Lou Holtz spent 11 of his 33 seasons as a head coach at Notre Dame (1986-96), posting a 100-30-2 record with five 10-win years. All told, he went 249-137-2 at six Division I schools. His most successful stop outside of Notre Dame was Arkansas (1977-83), where he led the Razorbacks to three top-10 finishes. "He won conference or na- tional titles at four schools and took six to bowls," Con- nelly wrote. "A journeyman for decades, he found his home in South Bend, where, with a title and five top-five [finishes], he became the greatest Notre Dame head coach of the past 40 years." — Patrick Engel As has become the norm in each Olympic year, Notre Dame was well represented for two weeks at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games that ran from July 23-Aug. 8. In all, a school-record 21 current and former Irish athletes made the trip halfway around the world, and eight brought medals back to their home countries. Following are the Notre Dame medal win- ners — a list that includes five gold and three bronze medalists, and also one gold medal- winning coach. Skylar Diggins-Smith, United States, Basketball — Gold Making her first Olympic appearance after a serious knee injury kept her off the U.S. team for the Rio Games in 2016, Diggins-Smith (2009-13) and her teammates earned gold with a 90-75 win over Japan in the championship game. Jewell Loyd, United States, Basketball — Gold Also making her first Olympic appearance, Loyd (2012-15) played 11 min- utes and scored three points in the gold medal win over Japan. It was the U.S. women's seventh straight gold in basketball. Jackie Young, United States, Three-On-Three Basketball — Gold Another first-time Olympian, Young (2016-19) was part of the four-woman team that captured gold in this inaugural Olympic event. Lee Kiefer, United States, Fencing — Gold (Women's Individual Foil) A veteran and decorated international competitor and a three-time Olympian, Kiefer (2013-17) became the first U.S. woman ever to win gold in this event. Adriana Leon, Canada, Soccer — Gold A professional soccer player in Canada, Leon (2010-11) is best known at Notre Dame for scoring the only goal in the 2010 national championship game, a 1-0 win over Stanford. The Canadians upset Team USA in the semi- finals and went on to win gold with a shootout win over Sweden in the final. Molly Seidel, United States, Track & Field — Bronze (Marathon) A four-time national distance champion, a six-time ACC title winner and the 2016 National Cross Country Runner of the Year while at Notre Dame, Seidel (2012-16) claimed bronze while competing in her first-ever marathon. Gerek Meinhardt, United States, Fencing — Bronze (Team Foil) A four-time Olympian, Meinhardt (2009-14) was part of the four-man third-place U.S. foil team. The husband of Kiefer, Meinhardt won bronze in the same event at the 2016 Rio Games. Nick Itkin, United States, Fencing — Bronze (Team Foil) A foil teammate of Meinhardt's in Tokyo and a Notre Dame senior, Itkin is already a multiple-time individual and team national champion with the Irish, and now an Olympic medalist. Angie Akers (Coach), United States, Beach Volleyball — Gold Making her second Olympic appearance as the U.S. women's beach volley- ball coach, Akers (1984-88) improved on her bronze medal finish at the 2016 Rio Games with the first gold in the event for the U.S. women since 2012. Also, two more Irish athletes will represent Notre Dame at the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo Aug. 24-Sept. 5, and both will be making their second appearances at the games. Sam Grewe, who won silver in the high jump at the 2016 Rio Games, will be one of the favorites to win gold for the U.S. in Tokyo. Ilija Tadic, who also competed in Rio, will swim in the 50 freestyle for his home country of Montenegro. — Todd D. Burlage Five Irish Athletes And One Coach Strike Gold In Tokyo The legendary Lou Holtz led all former Irish mentors in ESPN's ranking of the top college football head coaches in the last half-century, checking in at No. 19. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS Lee Kiefer became the first U.S. woman to win a gold medal in the individual foil. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS NOTRE DAME PLACES THREE AMONG COLLEGE FOOTBALL'S BEST HEAD COACHES OF THE LAST 50 YEARS