Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1407743
8 SEPT. 11, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Fire Up The Forge Now By Todd D. Burlage Barring something cataclysmic, Brian Kelly will have already become the program's all-time winningest head football coach before he even turns 60 on Oct. 25. Entering the 2021 season, Kelly had 102 career wins while the legendary Knute Rockne recorded 105, meaning the all-time victory mark could fall as early as Sept. 25, if the Irish beat Wisconsin that afternoon and start 4-0. Kelly is working his 12th season at Notre Dame. Rockne leads the program's longevity list with 13 seasons, leaving little doubt that Kelly will eventually leave here as both Notre Dame's winningest and longest- tenured coach. Kelly is 43-8 since 2017, he has six double-digit winning seasons at Notre Dame — including a program-record four straight entering 2021 — and he has made three BCS/College Football Playoff appearances. "That's consistency of performance," Kelly told Blue & Gold Illustrated in the preseason. "I'm proud of the fact we've had that." What Brian Kelly doesn't have — at least not yet — is a national champi- onship. Rockne won three. And that's where this debate begins. Each of the five coaches who have won titles at Notre Dame — Rockne, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, Dan Devine and Lou Holtz — have a com- memorative statue outside of Notre Dame Stadium to celebrate their championship achievements. But title or no title, Kelly still deserves a statue for becoming the win- ningest coach in Irish history after transforming a flat-lined program that couldn't beat Tulsa or Navy 12 years ago into a regular playoff participant, while carrying a near 100 percent graduation rate. A Ring Must Come First By Tyler Horka No. Championships equal statues. Nothing short of the ultimate goal is worthy of one. Not at a place like Notre Dame, anyway. That doesn't take anything away from Kelly entering the season less than a handful of wins from passing Knute Rockne to sit atop the all-time Notre Dame wins list. That surely is an impres- sive feat worthy of celebration. Worthy of a statue, though? Not quite. Notre Dame has adopted the mantra "Graduating Champions." Not Sun Bowl champions. Not Pinstripe or Music City Bowl champions. Not Citrus Bowl or Camping World Bowl champions either. Winning those bowls also was worthy of celebration, but those probably aren't the games Kelly had in mind when com- ing up with his program's slogan. Kelly could coach for nine more seasons and stay in South Bend for an unprecedented 20-year tenure. His total wins number might not ever be reached again at that point. But if Notre Dame does not win a national championship in that time, the Kelly era will long be remembered for com- ing up short of winning it all. Sure, that grand prize is hard to acquire. Only six schools – Auburn, Ala- bama, Florida State, Ohio State, Clemson and LSU — have won national titles since Kelly took over at Notre Dame. Four of those programs only won it once. But that's all Kelly needs, too. Just once, Kelly needs to win the big one. If he does, then the statue question will be a no-brainer. It's also a no-brainer as it currently stands, though. No championship, no statue. Point ✦ Counterpoint: HAS NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH BRIAN KELLY EARNED A STADIUM STATUE? Notre Dame senior Michael Vinson unintentionally became the most popular team member and a bit of a cult figure at a practice/scrimmage inside Notre Dame Stadium during fall training camp. Vinson, the Irish starting long snapper, was summoned by the Notre Dame coaches to line up at midfield to field a booming kick from junior punter Jay Bramblett, with the entire team, its coaches and the media looking on. Catch the punt cleanly, and the team would be spared from an extra conditioning period under the hot summer sun. Drop it, and the drill was on. Vinson was even warned — presumably jokingly — by his teammate and roommate, graduate student linebacker Drew White, that if he dropped the kick, he would be kicked out of the house they share. The first attempt slipped through Vinson's hands and fell to the turf. Merci- fully, Vinson was given a mulligan and he made good. His teammates erupted, Vinson was mobbed and a legend was born. Affectionately known as "Milk" — a nickname given to Vinson as a freshman in 2018 for his work with the Irish specialists once called "The Cheese Unit" — this Chicagoland native has endeared himself to his teammates and coaches through his hard work, selfless attitude and sharp sense of humor. Vinson turned down a scholarship offer from West Point to walk on at Notre Dame where he's become a two-year starter and an important part of the program. Blue & Gold Illustrated and other media caught up with Vinson to talk about his journey to and his time at Notre Dame. BGI: How did it feel to have the fate of the entire team in your hands fielding that punt? Vinson: "That was the most pressure I have ever faced on a football field. That was more pressure than Clemson, the PAT snaps in overtime. I had to catch the punt to get the guys out of a really tough period." BGI: You became "Milk" as a freshman four years ago, and the nickname stuck, how did that happen? Vinson: "It was at Wake Forest for the 2018 game and I was standing in the way of Coach Kelly and he said, 'Get out of my way, Milk,' and that just kind of indoctrinated my name as Milk forever." BGI: From walk-on to starter playing in some of the biggest games in the country, how does that make you feel? Vinson: "When I saw my name on top of the depth chart, it felt really good but I had to keep working hard to keep earning it every day because nothing is given to you here. "This is Notre Dame, one of the top programs in the country. Everything is earned and then I really wanted to keep earning the respect of my teammates and the respect of [special teams coach Brian Polian] and Coach Kelly, and then prove to them why they can trust me to go in the game." BGI: What ultimately pulled you to Notre Dame? Vinson: "With all due respect to West Point, that lifestyle just wasn't for me. And then being from the Chicago area originally, the Notre Dame connection, it was just a no-brainer." BGI: In addition to long snapping, you also spend some practice time working with the linebackers, what goes into that? Vinson: "At some schools, long snappers don't really do a whole lot. But I'm in charge of covering punts so I have to go get guys to the ground. [The defensive coaches] have been really nice to me in letting us snappers come along and work with the linebackers in the tackle drills and it's been really, really helpful." — Todd D. Burlage Five Questions With… SENIOR LONG SNAPPER MICHAEL VINSON VINSON Kelly is on the verge of becom- ing Notre Dame's all-time leader in wins by a head coach. Is his body of work worthy of a statue outside Notre Dame Stadium? PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER