Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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22 APRIL/MAY 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED used it on back-to-back (1989-90) All- American Chris Zorich when the future College Football Hall of Fame inductee was just a freshman, leaving the first- year soon-to-be standout flabbergasted and stunned at first but ultimately humbled and thankful in the long run. The story starts with Zorich admitting he might've gone to Michigan had he not heard head coach Bo Schembechler wanted him to be a defensive linemen for the Wolverines. He moved off U-M quite quickly at that realization. "I said, Hell, no. I'm a linebacker," Zorich said. "I went to Chicago Voca- tional. That's the home of Dick Butkus and Keena Turner. I want to be that type of linebacker when I'm in college. So, I was like, Michigan? Hell no. I'm not going there because I don't want to play D-line." Little did he know, Holtz was of the same thinking as Schembechler. "He didn't tell me that until Week 6 of my freshman year," Zorich said. "We were playing against Michigan State. And for those of us that are of a certain age, there was a linebacker by the name of Percy Snow. Phenomenal, phenom- enal player. College Hall of Fame, a great player. Their defense they ran, there was one linebacker and like 30 defensive line- men. And so for practice on the scout team, we needed a bunch of D-linemen. And so Lou was like, 'This is a perfect op- portunity to get his ass on the ground.'" Zorich played scout team that day in- deed. And at the end of practice, Holtz declared him the team's new nose guard. Zorich wasn't happy about it then. He sure is happy about it now. "Fortunate enough to be in the College Hall of Fame, two time All-American and all that other stuff," Zorich said. "He saw that, I did not. So, God bless Lou for not telling me during my recruiting trip that I was going to be playing nose guard." 'THAT CHANGED MY LIFE' Darrell "Flash" Gordon almost didn't get his happy ending at Notre Dame af- ter arriving in 1985 and not leaving until 1990. Gordon was there for the final two years of the Gerry Faust era and the first three of the Holtz regime, but Holtz al- most made it so that it was only two and two. He nearly dismissed him from the team prior to Gordon's fifth year of eligi- bility, which he had been anxiously an- ticipating because he knew the potential of the team. And because he knew of his own budding potential as a late bloomer. "He says, 'Flash, I don't think you need to come back here. I got my guys I recruited and I promised them they're going to play. And as a result, you don't need to come back,'" Gordon said. "I said, 'Coach, this is already March and I don't have an agent and the combine has already passed. And it's too late for that.' He said, 'I'm sorry.' And I was dev- astated." After some pleading from Gordon, Holtz decided he'd think on it during a recruiting trip he was about to set off on and he'd have a final decision for Gor- don when he got back. Gordon pouted for some time, admitting to throw- ing things all over his dorm room, but eventually got to a place of wanting to appease his head coach. If Holtz was pondering not letting him stay for a fifth season, the only way he could change his mind was by changing his ways. "I decided at that point in time that I was going to change, and I wasn't go- ing to be prideful, but I was going to be a guy that gave 100 percent every day," Gordon said. Gordon promised to work out with Notre Dame's strength coach for two hours a day in the summer. He arranged film sessions of the same length with defensive coordinator Barry Alvarez. "And I said, and I'll also guarantee you this, Coach, when I go to practice every day, I'm going to give you 120 per- cent," Gordon said. "That may mean some kids in practice are going to get hurt, but I'm going to show them the model and the culture that we need to have here to win a national champion- ship. And he said, 'If I hear one bad word from you, you're out.' And I'm thinking, he can't kick me out once I'm in. "And sure enough, everything went well. We went 12-0, won a national championship, and come to find out later during my conversations with him, he said, 'Flash, I needed to get you at your highest level. And that's how I did it.'" It was all a mind game the entire time, a page that might as well have been pulled from the book of 1980 U.S. men's hockey head coach Herb Brooks. If you know, you know. Like goaltender Jim Craig, Gordon definitely didn't. "I just thought he didn't want me anymore," Gordon said. "I'm a competi- tive individual. And I felt like I needed to step my game up. I practiced every day. I worked every day. And I gave him ev- erything I got. So that changed my life. But I think it also changed the culture of the team." ✦ After his players lifted him up on the gridiron, Holtz spent the next four decades supporting them and lending a helping hand whenever needed. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME