Blue and Gold Illustrated

Oct. 22, 2022

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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6 OCT. 22, 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FAN FORUM STOP THE BARNSTORMING College games are meant for college campuses and the game against BYU should have been played in Provo or South Bend. Barnstorming games in places like Las Vegas might be great fun for some fat cat alumni, but they are an affront to true lovers of college football who re- spect the sanctity of a college football Saturday on campus. Tom Derengoski, ND '70 Lansing, Mich. NO LAUGHING MATTER Well, here we go again. Hire a coach who was never a head coach anywhere else. Can't anyone out there see by past history that doesn't work. Not that Marcus Freeman is a bad person, but he doesn't belong there as a head coach. Not only are we in for a losing season, but a few years of losing seasons. Well, we have to be ready to have other teams' fans laugh at us, like Penn State fans. Be- lieve me, they can't wait to laugh at us. Cornelius Mahoney Lykens, Pa. Mr. Mahoney, it is true that hiring a first-time head coach has not worked out well for Notre Dame in the past. This summer in our 2022 Blue & Gold Illus- trated Football Preview, our own Patrick Engel wrote the following on the subject: "Notre Dame went the first-time head coach route when replacing the retired Lou Holtz in 1996. It did the same when national title winner Dan Devine stepped down following the 1980 season . The Irish turned to another rookie to pull the wheel around after they ousted Tyrone Willingham in 2004. "Those three first-timers — Bob Davie, Gerry Faust and Charlie Weis, respec- tively — saw their tenures end involun- tarily after five seasons. Each failed to finish above .500 in his final season. "The shaky track record was no de- terrent for director of athletics Jack Swarbrick in hiring Marcus Freeman to be Brian Kelly's replacement last winter. Nor has it prevented other Power Five and blue-blood programs from rolling the dice on a first-time head coach. Free- man is one of eight men this offseason to get his first college head coaching oppor- tunity at a Power Five school." Just because it hasn't worked for Notre Dame in the past doesn't mean it can't work now with Freeman , though . The two most notable recent success stories for first-time head coaches at the Power Five level are Ryan Day at Ohio State and Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma. In his first three seasons with the Buckeyes, Day went 31-4 and made two College Football Playoff appearances. Riley went 55-10 in five seasons in charge for the Sooners before bolting to USC. Freeman still has plenty to prove, but he has already elevated Notre Dame's recruiting and demonstrated additional traits you'd like to see in a head coach. However, only time will tell whether he will join Day and Riley as a success story or be mentioned in the same breath as Faust, Davie and Weis. BE HEARD! Send your letters to: Letters Blue & Gold Illustrated P. O. Box 1007, Notre Dame, IN 46556 or e-mail to: sdowney@comanpub.com Junior Michael Mayer's dominant performance (11 catches for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns) in Notre Dame's 28-20 win over BYU Oct. 8 sparked some debate about his place among the best Irish tight ends of all time. Here is part of that conversation from our message board at BlueandGold.com: Alperry: He really is special, and it's a joy watching him both block and catch. I'll always have a soft spot for Mark Bavaro; he was a fantastic All-American TE during my time at ND, and it was cool to be in American Military History with him, too. Of course, if Lou were still with us, he'd most likely mention Leon Hart when we're talking GOAT at tight end, even though Hart was simply listed primarily as "end." But he won the Heisman Trophy, one of only two linemen ever to earn that distinction, and the latest to do so in 1949. Regardless, I'm so glad that with Mayer we can still proudly stake a claim to be "Tight End U." Maloy49: My first thought was that Rudolph and Eifert were as good. My next thought was that those guys played with stud WRs. Mayer is doing this on his own. I also think Mayer was as dominant as a freshman as I have ever seen. et1513: Dave Casper NFL HOFer and ND offensive MVP on the 1973 national championship team. KevinPS: I'm actually going with McAfee, though you couldn't go wrong with any of the names in this thread. Ken McAfee won the Walter Camp POY award as the best player in CFB his senior year and was a 3X first team AA. He was also a two-time consensus AA. No one has yet said — and backed it up with the votes — that Mayer is the best player in CFB. McAfee hands down. fedman: It is hard to believe that it has been 45 years since McAfee last suited up for Notre Dame. For the younger fans who never saw McAfee play, you are seeing MacAfee redux with Mayer. Mayer looks like someone was able to clone McAfee. Their size and playing styles are almost identical. JOIN THE CONVERSATION AT BLUEANDGOLD.COM! GET ACCESS UNTIL NEXT SEASON FOR JUST $10 FROM THE WEBSITE .com .com Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman is one of eight first-time head coaches at the Power Five level this season. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER

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