Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 15, 2025 51 a fundamental understanding of the importance of blocking and tackling. When he took over as BC head coach, he added many other aspects of Rockne- type leadership, to make himself a suc- cessful coach. But above all was a relentless drive. And it led to four national champi- onships in the first seven seasons he coached Notre Dame, an unprecedented string of success. "As a player," Maisel wrote, "Leahy's drive cost him his health. His body could not withstand what he put it through. When he coached, his drive cost him his health again, which in turn cost him his coaching career at the age of forty-five, cost him the one job he ever really wanted. "As a coach, the more Leahy won, the more pressure he applied to himself to match public demand. Leahy drove his players hard, and in return they played so fiercely that his Fighting Irish teams lived with accusations of dirty play. They fought hard because Leahy de- manded it. "He tried so hard to live up to the Notre Dame legacy of success that los- ing devastated him. At the end, winning did, too." Maisel masterfully takes the reader through each season of Leahy at Notre Dame — the success on the field against substantial opponents from coast to coast … and the intrigue, pressure and sometimes conflict behind the scenes. Leahy drilled into his players his dis- taste for what he called his Five Car- dinal Sins of Football: laziness, missed assignments, penalties, fumbles and a lack of team play. Committing such sins, he said, "would not be tolerated!" Maisel quotes Leahy reflecting about the pressure of coaching Notre Dame: "All jobs have tensions. But coach- ing eats out a man's insides. At Notre Dame, the pressure is the worst. Not from within the school. My bosses were always telling me not to worry if we lost some games. But Notre Dame's millions of followers expect us to win. Our foot- ball tradition was built on victory under Knute Rockne, the greatest coach who ever lived. I felt I should try to maintain that tradition." The pressure would play out in hos- pitalization over a myriad of health is- sues, eventually leading to Leahy's re- tirement after the 1953 season, in which the Fighting Irish finished 9-0-1 and narrowly missed another national title, finishing second in the final AP ranking behind 10-0 Maryland. Leahy's final record: 87-11-9 in 11 seasons at Notre Dame, 107-13-9 over- all, a winning percentage of .864, the second-highest in major college foot- ball history, behind only Rockne's .881. Ten finishes in the top six in the country, nine of them at Notre Dame. A plethora of All-Americans and future NFL players. In "American Coach," Ivan Maisel tells in gripping detail the human story behind the numbers. ✦ Jim Lefebvre is an award-winning Notre Dame author and leads the Knute Rockne Memorial Society. He can be reached at: jim@ndfootballhistory.com Your book order supports the Knute Rockne Memorial Society. Order your autographed, inscribed copy TODAY by visi ng www.RockneSociety.org/Shop/ Special Centennial Commemorative Edition LOYAL SONS: The Story of The Four Horsemen and Notre Dame Football's 1924 Champions Winner – Independent Publisher Book Awards Get the full story on these iconic Notre Dame figures A great read for any Notre Dame fan! "A must-read real jewel… wonderfully researched and detailed." --SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE SPECIAL CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATIVE EDITION National Award-Winning Author Jim Lefebvre T h e s t o r y o f T h e F o u r H o r s e m e n a n d N o t r e D a m e F o o t b a l l ' s 1 9 2 4 C h a m p i o n s Loyal Sons