Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 25, 2021 11 UNDER THE DOME Notre Dame graduate student quarterback Jack Coan was selected as one of the first three nominees for the Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year award. By season's end, there will be 30 nominees from across all three divisions of college football. Three of them will be chosen as winners in December and honored at a ceremony during the Fiesta Bowl Jan. 1. Coan came to Notre Dame from Wisconsin as a graduate transfer, an avenue he never expected to use. He was the Badgers' starting quarterback in 2019, throwing for 2,727 yards with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions while completing 69.6 percent of his passes. In 2020 preseason practice, though, he broke his foot on a non-contact play. He had surgery that sidelined him for the season. In his absence, Wisconsin turned to redshirt freshman Graham Mertz — the highest-rated quarterback recruit in program history — and kept him as the starter. Coan entered his name in the transfer portal after the season and chose Notre Dame as his destination. Coan completed 47 of 68 passes (69.1 percent) for 605 yards with six touch- downs and two interceptions in his first two games as Notre Dame's starting quarterback. Meanwhile, sophomore tight end Michael Mayer was the John Mackey Tight End of the Week following his performance in a 32-29 win over Toledo on Sept. 11. Mayer caught seven passes for 81 yards and a pair of touchdowns, includ- ing the game-winner on an 18-yard pass from Coan with 1:09 left. Through two games, Mayer is second among Football Bowl Subdivision tight ends in targets (24), receptions (16) and yards (201). He is tied for the FBS tight end lead with three touchdown catches — one more than he had in 12 games as a freshman in 2020. — Patrick Engel Terry Brennan, a two-time national champion as a Notre Dame player and later the Fighting Irish's head coach, died Sept. 7 at the age of 93. He had been suffering from congestive heart failure. Brennan rushed for 1,716 yards in his four seasons at Notre Dame and played on the 1946 and 1947 national cham- pionship teams. The Milwaukee native averaged 5.8 yards per rush in his ca- reer and went 33-2-3 as a player. One of those ties was the 1946 scoreless game versus Army, dubbed the "Game of the Century." Brennan was a fifth-round pick in the 1949 NFL Draft, but passed on a pro- fessional playing career to become a coach. He spent four seasons (1949-52) as the head football coach at Chicago's Mount Carmel High School, winning three straight city championships. He returned to Notre Dame in 1953 to lead the freshman team and work as an as- sistant under Frank Leahy, his college coach. Leahy retired after the 1953 season, and Notre Dame elevated Brennan to replace him. At 25 years old, Brennan became the youngest head coach in pro- gram history, a distinction that still be- longs to him. Brennan's head coaching debut was a 21-0 win over No. 4 Texas, the Long- horns' first shutout in 77 games. Follow- ing the victory, the Irish ascended to No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25. They posted a 9-1 record in his first season and earned the No. 4 ranking in the final AP poll. Notre Dame went 8-2 and finished ninth in Brennan's second year. The Irish finished 2-8 in 1956, their first losing season since 1933. There was, though, an individual highlight. Running back Paul Hornung won the Heisman Trophy that season, the fifth of seven players in program history to earn that honor. The following season brought a turn- around under Brennan. The Irish's 1957 team, known as the "Comeback Com- ets" went 7-3, finished No. 9 in the AP poll and topped No. 1 Oklahoma 7-0 to at end the Sooners' 47-game win streak. It still stands today as one of Notre Dame's greatest upset victories. Brennan was dismissed from his posi- tion following a 6-4 record and No. 14 finish in 1958. He departed with a 32-18 record and four AP top-15 finishes in his five seasons. He left coaching and went on to become an investment banker in Chicago and later was a college football broadcaster. Brennan and Mary Louise Kelley were married for more than 50 years until her death in 2001. He is survived by six children, 25 grandchildren and 32 great- grandchildren. — Patrick Engel JACK COAN, MICHAEL MAYER EARN INDIVIDUAL WEEKLY HONORS Former Notre Dame Running Back And Head Coach Terry Brennan Dies At 93 Brennan, a two-time national champion as a Notre Dame player and later the Fighting Irish's head coach, passed away Sept. 7. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS