Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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IRISH ECHOES JIM LEFEBVRE 42 SUMMER 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED T he 1973 Notre Dame football team was Ara Parseghian's 10th Fight- ing Irish squad and, coming off an 8-3 season and a 40-6 Orange Bowl thrashing at the hands of Nebraska, it had something to prove. A maximum effort by all players and coaches would be needed to regain the level of excellence achieved by prior Parseghian teams, including the 1966 national champions. A key member of the offensive effort was junior quarterback Tom Clements, in his second season as the Irish starter. Deeper on the organizational chart was 24-year-old freshman coach Greg Blache, whom Parseghian made the first Black coach in the program's history. The '73 Irish averaged 35.8 points and 461.4 yards per game, both astounding to- tals for the time, en route to an 11-0-0 re- cord and the national championship. The regular season was bookended by 44-0 victories over Northwestern and Miami. The closest call was a 14-10 win over Michigan State, and a midseason, 23-14 victory over Southern Cal proved pivotal. Both Clements and Blache would go on to lengthy careers as assistant coaches in the National Football League, including coaching for the Green Bay Packers. And in Green Bay Sept. 5, both will be honored with Rockne Awards at the 10th annual Knute Rockne Spirit of Sports Awards Celebration, the day before Notre Dame kicks off the 2026 campaign against Wisconsin at iconic Lambeau Field in a Shamrock Series game. Clements, from McKees Rocks in football-crazed western Pennsylvania, took over as Notre Dame starting quar- terback as a sophomore in 1972, when he completed 83 of 162 pass attempts for 1,163 yards with 8 touchdowns. He was known for having a good arm and quick rushing skills. His greatest asset? "He was tough and could execute exactly what Ara wanted on the field, which was not an easy thing to do," cap- tain Frank Pomarico said. As a junior in 1973, Clements was more in sync with Parseghian than ever, guid- ing a bevy of backs that rolled up 3,502 yards rushing — led by Wayne Bullock (750 yards) and Art Best (700) and in- cluding Eric Penick (586) and Clements himself (360). Clements attempted only about 10 passes per game, completing 60 of 113 for 882 yards with 8 touchdowns. He was accurate when he needed to be, never more so than in the 1973 Sugar Bowl, facing a third-and-9 from deep in Irish territory against Alabama. He hit tight end Robin Weber with a 36-yard completion to seal a 24-23 victory, giving Notre Dame the national championship. In his senior year, and Parseghian's last season guiding the Irish, Clements was called upon to pass much more, flinging 215 aerials, completing 122 for 1,549 yards with another 8 scores. He received some All-America recognition. He then went on to a stellar 12-year career in the Canadian Football League, winning rookie of the years honors and leading the Ottawa Rough Riders to the 1976 Grey Cup championship, a feat he repeated in 1984 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He was the Grey Cup MVP both years, as well as CFL Most Outstanding Player in 1987 and a seven-time CFL all- star. And while still a CFL star, he earned a law degree from Notre Dame in 1986. Clements returned to Notre Dame to start his coaching career, guiding the Irish quarterbacks under Lou Holtz in 1992-95. He then moved to the NFL ranks, coaching for New Orleans, Kan- sas City, Pittsburgh and Buffalo before becoming Green Bay's quarterbacks coach in 2006. He mentored Aaron Rodgers when the Packers won Super Bowl XLV over Oakland on Feb. 6, 2011. Green Bay elevated Clements to of- fensive coordinator for the 2012 season and he became Packers assistant head coach in 2015. After a brief stint with the Arizona Cardinals, he returned to Green Bay for three more seasons as quarter- back coach (2022-24), working again with Rodgers and then new signal-caller Jordan Love before retiring in 2025. BLACHE PAVED THE WAY FOR FUTURE COACHES Parseghian held a principled vision of equal opportunity in college athletics, and he had it tested well before he ar- rived at Notre Dame. When he was head coach at Miami (Ohio) in 1955, his team rejected an invitation to the Tangerine Bowl in Florida, where integrated teams were not welcomed. Parseghian recruited many of the ini- tial wave of Black standouts at Notre Dame, including two freshmen on the 1973 team that would rank among the greatest Irish defenders ever — defen- sive lineman Ross Browner and safety Luther Bradley. He recruited Blache to join the Irish in 1968 out of New Orleans, but injuries ended his playing career. Parseghian saw a keen football intellect and gave Blache encouragement and mentoring Quarterback Tom Clements And Assistant Greg Blache Went On To Long NFL Coaching Careers Clements — a three-year starter for the Irish from 1972-74 — had a 28-year coaching career (1997-2024) in the NFL, most prominently with Green Bay, where he worked with quarterbacks Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love, plus helped the Packers win Super Bowl XLV. PHOTO COURTESY GREEN BAY PACKERS