Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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54 APRIL 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED T his winter marked the 20th anniver- sary of Sports Illustrated's famous "We're Notre Dame And You're Not" headline from its Feb. 19, 1990 edition. The five-page spread highlighted the university's landmark decision to fly solo and land the NBC contract that would televise all Irish home games. Righteous indignation was spewed from other universities regarding Notre Dame's greed. However, many of those same schools were guilty of another of the seven deadly sins: envy. If they could have had a similar op- portunity, chances are they would have brokered such a deal. Hence, the "we're Notre Dame and you're not" premise. The feature story by William F. Reed concluded by saying, "So jeer, jeer for old Notre Dame, if you must, but also un- derstand that Joe Fan might benefit from the Irish's power play. As Paul Hornung, one of the school's Heisman winners, said, 'Money is the name of the game, and people want to see Notre Dame … but there's plenty of room out there for football on TV, and I think we've only touched the tip of the iceberg.'" Indeed, 20 years later Joe Fan is bene- fiting. In 1991, the first year Notre Dame home games were actually televised by NBC, ESPN reportedly televised 44 col- lege football games. Now, it's in excess of several hundred per season, with reg- ular fare being offered starting on Tues- days. Furthermore, the Big Ten Network is making its own financial killing. The once submerged television ice- berg, among many other factors, has dramatically altered the landscape of collegiate sports. Notre Dame still possesses its brand name … but it no longer corners the market. It's like the gorgeous model in Smalltown, Ind., suddenly moving to Los Angeles. She still might be a looker, but there is a cornucopia of other options. Consequently, Notre Dame director of athletics Jack Swarbrick, has been se- riously mulling the "seismic" ramifica- tions that can occur with the ostensibly inevitable move toward super confer- ences and how his alma mater maybe can no longer be its own island. Will Notre Dame relinquish its foot- ball independence? Years ago, my thoughts were "it will never happen." At the same time, I re- called a statement by former Notre Dame director of athletics Dick Rosenthal (1987-95), who landed the NBC deal: "Only a fool says 'always' or 'never.'" After this year's football loss at Pitt on Nov. 14, I wondered whether Notre Dame football in the last couple of de- cades was on the same path the men's basketball program was from 1981-2000 (leading to joining the Big East in 1995). Beginning with Austin Carr's eligibility in 1968 and the opening of the new Ath- letic & Convocation Center arena, Notre Dame basketball was in the catbird's seat during the 1970s, from the smaller NCAA Tournament (25 to 32 teams), to its inde- pendent status (conferences were allowed to send only its champion to the tourney until 1976, when it could send two teams), to scheduling advantages that allowed them to earmark marquee matchups on weekends (UCLA, Maryland, San Fran- cisco, Marquette, etc.) to be frequently on NBC's Game of the Week — and thereby facilitate recruiting efforts. By the early 1980s, the landscape changed. ESPN and other cable outlets had emerged to cover the sport nightly, the NCAA Tournament expanded to 48 and 64 teams and was taking mul- tiple conference teams, the Big East was evolving and becoming a force … It's not that Notre Dame basketball be- came destitute in the 1980s. The Irish still regularly made the NCAA Tournament, and even advanced to the Sweet 16 in 1987. However, it wasn't like the 1970s, when Notre Dame finished in the top 10 seven times and was regularly a legitimate Final Four, if not national title, aspirant. Football has had a similar road the past two decades. At the start of 1990 and the NBC deal, Notre Dame was at the summit, coming off a 24-1 stretch while taking on all comers. By 1993, following another 11-1 season with a controversial No. 2 finish, Notre Dame had peaked with its NBC ratings (6.1) … but since its 6-5-1 campaign in 1994, the program has gradually mud- dled along, including a 1.9 rating in 2007. Similar to basketball in the 1980s, it's not like football has been a wasteland since 1994. The Irish have had four nine-win seasons (1995, 1998, 2000 and 2005) and even two 10-win campaigns (2002 and 2006) with four different coaches … but it's nowhere near what legions of faith- ful grew up with from 1988-93, 1964-80, 1941-55 — in those 38 combined years, the Irish finished outside the top 10 only eight times. That's when finishing outside the top 10 constituted a dismal year. In the 1990s, Fighting Irish basketball easily had its worst decade ever, same as Notre Dame football in the 2000s. Television, conference movement, scheduling, bowl alignments (a No. 5 Irish team couldn't play No. 1 in a bowl now the way it did in 1977), among other factors, helped change the landscape. From the outside looking in, one solu- tion is finding the Messiah Coach, another Frank Leahy, another Ara Parseghian, an- other Lou Holtz. That wouldn't be a bad start, but such men are not dime a dozen. Being Notre Dame is still an honor, but it isn't enough anymore in the re- vised landscape. ✦ Being Notre Dame is still an honor, but it isn't enough anymore in the revised landscape. PHOTO COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME BEST OF THE FIFTH QUARTER ✦ LOU SOMOGYI ✦ APRIL 2010 'We Are ND' … But The Landscape Has Changed EDITOR'S NOTE: The late, great Lou Somogyi possessed an unmatched knowledge of Notre Dame football and it was his mission in life to share it with others. Those of us at Blue & Gold Illustrated would like to continue to share his wisdom and unique perspective from his more than 37 years covering the Fighting Irish for this publication.