Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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IRISH ECHOES JIM LEFEBVRE 42 DECEMBER 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED D uring his time as athletics di- rector and head football coach at Notre Dame, Knute Rockne was held in high regard by those in- volved in athletics across the coun- try. He was constantly being asked to recommend former players to be- come coaches and athletics direc- tors at colleges and universities, prep schools and high schools nationwide. It is not an overstatement to say that his office in the Main Building at Notre Dame became a de facto employment agency for athletics administration. Regular correspondence from Rockne's office connected aspiring coaches to openings, often with some advice from Rockne on salary. "They're offering $2,500 (annually), but I think you can get $3,000," he would write a player he recommended for a job. The result was the greatest coach- ing tree in football history. Here are the Notre Dame men who played football with or under Rockne and where they became college football head coaches. It includes 65 coaches at 88 colleges in 35 states and Washing- ton, DC. Collectively, they won more than 3,400 college football games. Dozens more Rockne men were col- lege assistant coaches or coached at high schools and prep schools across the na- tion. (Members of the College Football Hall of Fame are indicated in italics.) Coach College(s) Record Eddie Anderson Loras, DePaul, Holy Cross (Mass.), Iowa 201-128-15 Hunk Anderson St. Louis U., Notre Dame, NC State 34-34-4 Joe Bach Duquesne, Niagara, St. Bonaventure 45-28-4 Charlie Bachman Northwestern, Kansas State, Florida, 137-83-24 Michigan State, Hillsdale Harry Baujan Dayton 124-64-8 Arthur Bergman New Mexico State, Catholic U. 71-36-5 Joe Boland St. Thomas (Minn.) 22-9-2 Joe Brandy St. Thomas (Minn.) 27-7-1 Marty Brill LaSalle, Loyola (Calif.) 40-35-6 Glen Carberry St. Bonaventure 6-9-0 Frank Carideo Missouri 2-23-2 Jack Chevigny St. Edward's, Texas 20-16-2 Walter Clinnen DePaul 6-4-1 Stan Cofall Loyola (Md.), Wake Forest 12-22-3 Chuck Collins North Carolina 38-31-9 Forest Cotton St. Ambrose 26-31-6 Clem Crowe St. Vincent, Xavier, Iowa 71-66-5 Charles Crowley Dallas, Columbia 44-21-6 Jim Crowley Michigan State, Fordham 78-21-10 Hugh Devore Providence, Notre Dame, St. Bonaventure, 58-65-7 NYU, Dayton Gus Dorais Loras, Gonzaga, Detroit 151-70-12 Gene Edwards St. Vincent 60-29-12 Mal Elward Grinnell, John Carroll, Purdue 32-42-8 Rex Enright South Carolina 64-69-7 Christie Flanagan Duquesne 6-3-0 Tom Hearden St. Norbert 40-14-0 Barry Holton Trinity (Texas) 17-21-3 Ed Hunsinger Niagara 3-11-1 Cy Kasper Alfred, Columbia (S.D.), South Dakota State 48-39-4 Bill Kelliher Kenyon 5-13-0 Luke Kelly Christian Brothers (Mo.), Holy Cross (Mass.) 26-20-4 Roger Kiley Loyola (Ill.) 26-15-2 Thomas King Louisville 27-21-0 Noble Kizer Purdue 42-13-3 John Law Manhattan, Mt. St. Mary's 14-23-3 Elmer Layden Loras, Duquesne, Notre Dame 103-34-11 Frank Leahy Boston College, Notre Dame 107-13-9 Jay Lee Penn (Iowa), Buffalo 17-20-4 Jim Leonard St. Francis, Villanova 29-22-2 Tom Lieb Loyola (Calif.), Florida 67-59-5 Slip Madigan St. Mary's (Calif.), Iowa 119-58-13 Matty Mathews St. Edwards, Kenyon, Willamette, Idaho, 78-69-11 St. Louis, Gonzaga, Portland, Lewis & Clark Dan McGinnis Christian Brothers (Tenn.) 5-2-0 Jack Meagher St. Edwards, Rice, Auburn 96-83-14 Harry Mehre Georgia, Mississippi 98-60-7 Edgar "Rip" Miller Navy 12-15-2 Moon Mullins St. Benedict's, Loyola (Calif.), St. Ambrose 89-28-3 Gene Murphy Columbia (Ore.)/Portland 30-30-3 Harry O'Boyle St. Anselm 4-7-4 Gene Oberst Washington & Lee, Canisius, John Carroll 9-25-5 James Phelan Missouri, Purdue, Washington, St. Mary's (Calif.) 137-87-14 George Philbrook Whittier, Nevada 15-21-7 Marchy Schwartz Creighton, Stanford 47-50-6 Buck Shaw NC State, Nevada, Santa Clara, 72-49-12 California, Air Force Rockne Coaching Tree Extended From Coast To Coast And Lasted For Decades Eddie Anderson compiled an aggregate record of 201- 128-15 while coaching at Loras, DePaul, Holy Cross (Mass.) and Iowa, and he went on to become a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS Charlie Bachman, another Hall of Famer, coached Northwestern, Kansas State, Florida, Michigan State and Hillsdale to a combined record of 137-83-24. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS