Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SUMMER 2026 15 40 Years Ago: June/July 1986 In what was believed to be a first at the Uni- versity of Notre Dame, two freshman football players — quarterback Tony Rice from Woodruff, S.C., and linebacker Rod West from New Orleans — enrolled in summer classes. The caveat was that they received no academic credit for their work, but the purpose was to get them acclimated to a collegiate curriculum, spon- sored by the Freshman Year of Studies, under the supervision of esteemed chemistry professor Dr. Emil Hofman. The admission of Rice in particular spurred con- troversy because he was a Prop 48 casualty who had to sit out his freshman year of football, along with USA Today Defensive Player of the Year John Foley and basketball player Keith Robinson. Con- sequently, the school was accused of lowering its standards so that first-year head coach Lou Holtz could build around a quarterback who can engineer his option offense. Blue & Gold Illustrated caught up with Rice on campus, and his summer curriculum included algebra/trigonometry at 8 a.m., English/com- munications at 9:15 a.m., chemistry at 10:30 a.m. (under Hofman's tutelage) and a study skills seminar in the afternoon. "A lot of people told me that I'll never make it at Notre Dame," Rice said, also revealing much hate mail for not choosing in-state Clemson. "They told me it's too tough, and why don't I just go to some all-black college where I belong. … It's hard at times, but it's been a very good experi- ence and I know I can do it." 25 Years Ago: June 2001 The Notre Dame baseball program had a his- toric showing in the 2001 MLB Draft, with six players selected. Star right-handed pitcher Aaron Heilman was drafted by the New York Mets in the first round as the 18th overall pick to lead the way. In addition, outfielder Steve Stanley was taken by the Florida Marlins in the second round (67th overall), right- handed pitcher Danny Tamayo went in 10th round (295th overall) to the Kansas City Royals, short- stop Alec Porzel was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 13th round (393rd overall), and both outfielder Brian Stavisky and catcher Paul O'Toole went to the Chicago Cubs in the 33rd (978th over- all) and 48th rounds (1,418th overall), respectively. The 2001 draft highlighted a peak period for the program under head coach Paul Mainieri. Heilman's selection made him only the third Notre Dame player ever taken in the first round. The success of this class was fueled by a domi- nant season where the team achieved its first- ever No. 1 ranking during the regular season. 20 Years Ago: June 2006 Citing Notre Dame's return to prominence un- der first-year head coach Charlie Weis in 2005, Sporting News and Lindy's ranked the Fighting Irish No. 1 in their 2006 football annuals. Weis' inaugural campaign saw the Irish finish 9-3, "highlighted" by a 34-31 last-second loss to No. 1 Southern Cal to earn him a 10-year contract extension. Still, Notre Dame finished in the As- sociated Press top 10 (No. 9) for the first time in 12 years. The return of Heisman Trophy candidate Brady Quinn at quarterback, consensus All-America wide receiver Jeff Samardzija, 1,000-yard rusher Darius Walker and nine of the 11 starters on defense — led by future second-round picks Victor Abiamiri and Trevor Laws along the line, and Tom Zbikowski at safety — had Notre Dame ranked in the top four in five of the seven annual college football pre- views, and no lower than No. 9 (The Gold Sheet). Weis said the high preseason projections pro- vided him the perfect opportunity to hone his sarcasm and deflate some egos. "Don't worry about them trying to live up to the hype — because I will be unmerciful," he said. "Every time there's a mistake I'll say, 'I guess you're reading the papers again, huh? That's right, you're an All-American, you're an up-and-coming Heis- man Trophy winner, you don't need to listen to me.' "It's going to be a bad training camp. It's going to be good for me, but bad for them." Five Years Ago: July/August 2021 Athletes with ties to Notre Dame won a total of seven medals at the Tokyo Olympic Games from July 23-Aug. 8. Fencer Lee Kiefer, a 2017 graduate and medi- cal student, made history as the first American woman fencer to win an individual Olympic gold medal in foil. On the men's side, Gerek Meinhardt and Nick Itkin — the only current student-athlete from Notre Dame to medal during the Tokyo Games — both earned bronze medals in the men's team foil competition. In only her third competitive marathon ever, for- mer Irish track star Molly Seidel won a bronze medal in the marathon. She was the first American woman to medal in that Olympic event since 2004 and the first Notre Dame runner to medal since 1976. The Notre Dame women's basketball program featured a trio of alumnae that contributed gold medals in two different formats. Jackie Young was part of the U.S. squad that won the inaugu- ral Olympic gold medal for 3x3 basketball, while Jewell Loyd and Skylar Diggins-Smith helped the U.S. Women's National Team secure its seventh consecutive Olympic gold medal. UNDER THE DOME Anniversaries In Notre Dame Football History: Summer ✦ 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. Quarterback Tony Rice was one of two freshman football players that enrolled in summer classes in 1986, which was believed to be a first for Notre Dame. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHELTICS