Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2024 13 50 Years Ago: Dec. 15, 1974 At an age when most football coaches just begin to reach their prime, in a hastily called Sunday night press conference, 51-year-old Ara Parseghian officially announced he is resigning after 11 seasons at Notre Dame because he was "physically exhausted and emotionally drained." The news broke when Parseghian's succes- sor Dan Devine, on the verge of getting fired by the Green Bay Packers after four seasons there, leaked the story to Minneapolis Star Tribune journalist Sid Hartman. A week earlier, Parseghian had informed Notre Dame executive vice president Rev. Ned Joyce, C.S.C., of the decision, and the plan was not to re- veal his departure until after the Jan. 1, 1975 Or- ange Bowl versus 11-0 Alabama, the team Notre Dame had defeated a year earlier in the Sugar Bowl to capture the national championship. Parseghian's career record of 95-17-4 (.836 win percentage) with the Fighting Irish is highlighted by consensus national titles in 1966 and 1973, and a shared one in his remarkable debut cam- paign in 1964 after the program had finished 2-7 a year earlier. One day later, after the news of Parseghian's de- parture, Devine was officially announced as the new coach by Joyce. Devine had posted a glittering career college record of 120-40-4 in three seasons at Arizona State (27-3-1 from 1955-57) and Missouri (93-37-3 from 1958-70) before heading to the NFL. Joyce had developed a friendship with Devine and met with him in 1963 when head coach Joe Kuharich abruptly resigned that March and fresh- man coach Hugh Devore was promoted to interim head coach. When Parseghian was hired that De- cember, Joyce purportedly told Devine the next time the job opened it would be his, helping ex- plain the quick transition in the coaching "search." 20 Years Ago: Dec. 13, 2004 New England Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis became the first Notre Dame gradu- ate (1978) named full-time head coach at his alma mater since Joe Kuharich in 1959. After striking out on the sweepstakes for Utah head coach Urban Meyer and also considering former Notre Dame quarterback Tom Clements (1972-74), the school turned to Weis, who was on the threshold of seeing his organization win their third Super Bowl in four years. He coached with the Patriots through the playoffs. "You are going to have a hard-working, intel- ligent, nasty football team on the field because the attitude of the head coach will be perme- ated through the players," Weis said at the press conference introducing him as head coach. "And I hate to include the 'nasty,' but that is part of being a winning football team. "… It comes down to X's and O's. To be honest with you, when it gets to that point, I think that's when we have the greatest advantage. … If it comes down to everything being [even] and it's X's and O's, I have to believe we're going to win most of the time." 15 Years Ago: Dec. 10, 2009 Named the consensus 2009 National Coach of the Year while leading the University of Cincinnati to a 12-0 record — and a missed Texas field goal away from playing Alabama for the national title — Brian Kelly was named the new Notre Dame football head coach. He replaced Charlie Weis, who was fired 10 days earlier with a 35-27 career record, 16-21 in his last three seasons, and four straight losses to end 2009. Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops reportedly was considered the top choice before the school turned to the 48-year-old Kelly. "There is a football coach — and then there's the football coach at Notre Dame, because nobody, nobody does it like Notre Dame," Kelly said at his introduction. "… That is the mission of Notre Dame: excellence in academics and athletics, and I wanted that challenge, and I'm excited about that chal- lenge — that you can do it both in the classroom and be prominent in the athletic arena, as well." 10 Years Ago: Dec. 30, 2014 Notre Dame upset No. 22 LSU 31-28 in the Music City Bowl on senior kicker Kyle Brindza's 32-yard field goal as time expired. The Irish (8-5) got the ball with 5:41 left and never gave it back to the Tigers (8-5), driving 71 yards in 14 plays before Brindza finished off the win. Sophomore quarterback Malik Zaire made his first career start for the Irish but senior Ever- ett Golson also saw action, and both were used during the game-winning drive. Golson com- pleted 4 of 5 passes for 50 yards on the drive, including a 12-yard completion to Ben Koyack on third-and-10. Zaire finished off the drive with a couple of rushes to set up Brindza. Zaire rushed 22 times for 96 yards and 1 score and completed 12 of 15 throws for 96 yards with 1 touchdown. Golson finished 6-of-11 passing for 90 yards. "This was a matchup that we had wanted at Notre Dame, and I know LSU felt the same way," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said. "We wanted to be challenged. We were disappointed in the way we played obviously at the end of the year, and our guys wanted the opportunity to finish the season the right way." UNDER THE DOME Anniversaries In Notre Dame Football History: December ✦ Your home address will be automatically changed to the mailing address on file with the US Postal Service? ALL addresses are cross-referenced with the USPS National Change of Address database. ✦ Your postal forwarding order expires in 60 days or less? Most forwarding requests expire in 60 days and DO NOT include periodical mail. Issues are discarded at their discretion. ✦ It can take up to 7 days for the USPS to update your address in their database? Don't assume the post office knows your vacation or moving schedule! To prevent missed issues, please notify the US Postal Service ASAP and verify your delivery address with your local post office. DID YOU KNOW... AVOID COSTLY DELAYS & REPLACEMENTS! Blue & Gold Illustrated Customer Service: 1–800–421–7751 (Monday – Friday, 10 am to 4 pm) We are happy to assist, but due to privacy laws all postal address changes must be completed by you. Sophomore Malik Zaire got the start at quarter- back and helped the Irish knock off LSU in the 2014 Music City Bowl, compiling 96 yards both rushing and throwing while accounting for 2 touchdowns (1 on the ground, 1 through the air). PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA