Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2024 87 under former Irish quarterback, Boiler- maker head coach James Phelan. For five seasons (1925-29), Kizer guided the Boilermakers line; when Phelan took the University of Washing- ton job in 1930, Purdue made Kizer its head coach. For seven seasons (1930-36), Kizer had the Boilers humming. He guided them to Big Ten championships in 1931 (5-1; 9-1 overall) and 1932 (5-0-1; 7-0-1 overall). His .750 winning percentage (42-13-3) remains the highest for any Purdue coach who led the team for more than two seasons. Only Joe Tiller and Jack Mollenkopf have won more games, both with many more seasons than Kizer. Among his honors, Kizer was selected by a nationwide vote of football fans as the first coach of the College All-Star team in its annual meeting with the pro- fessional football champions in 1934. As Purdue coach, Kizer twice faced his alma mater. In 1933, he guided the Boilers to a 19-0 victory at Notre Dame Stadium, one of five losses for the Irish in Hunk Anderson's final season as head coach. The following season, in a battle with 1924 teammate and ex-Horseman Elmer Layden, Notre Dame prevailed, 18-7, giving Layden his first victory as Irish head coach. Illness forced Kizer to give up football coaching duties in 1937. Kizer served as Purdue's athletic director from 1933 until June 13, 1940, when he died at age 40 of a kidney ailment and high blood pressure. As athletic director, Kizer traveled the state extensively, helping high schools without football to start programs and encouraging the overall advancement of the sport. He was inducted into the Indi- ana Football Hall of Fame posthumously in 1977 and to the Purdue Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998. Boilermaker fans were left to won- der what might have been had not poor health shortened Kizer's coaching ca- reer. And Irish fans remember and cel- ebrate a true home-state hero. ✦ For more informa on, please visit: www.RockneSociety.org Throughout 2024, the Knute Rockne Memorial Society will remember and celebrate the centennial of the 1924 Notre Dame na onal champions, featuring Coach Rockne, The Four Horsemen and The Seven Mules. Watch for updates! Jim Lefebvre is an award-winning Notre Dame author and leads the Knute Rockne Memorial Society. He can be reached at: jim@ndfootballhistory.com Kizer was one of the "Seven Mules" that blocked for the "Four Horsemen" on the Irish's undefeated 1924 national championship team. He also was a Notre Dame basketball standout and captained the 1924- 25 Irish squad. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS