Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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IRISH ECHOES JIM LEFEBVRE 50 OCT. 17, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED N inety years ago this month — on Oct. 19, 1936 — the very first Asso- ciated Press Poll for college football was released about a third of the way into the season. AP sports editor Alan J. Gould, who in 1925 had created the first AP All- American team, took a poll of sports editors from AP newspapers across the country and published the results. The top five would open some eyes if they were ranked this way today: 1. Minnesota 2. Duke 3. Army 4. Northwestern 5. Purdue Particularly notable is the fact that seven of the 20 ranked teams were led by head coaches who had played under Knute Rockne at Notre Dame, indica- tive of the tremendous influence he held over the sport even five years after his death. They were: Noble Kizer • No. 5 Purdue (3-0) Kizer, one of the Seven Mules on Notre Dame's 1924 national champions, was in his seventh and final season of a highly successful run as the Boilermak- ers coach. Purdue had early victories over Wisconsin and Chicago and would go on to lose only at No. 1 Minnesota and then No. 3 Fordham, finishing 5-2-1. Elmer Layden • No. 7 Notre Dame (3-0) Layden, one of Notre Dame's Four Horsemen, had great success at Duquesne from 1927-33, setting him up to coach at his alma mater starting in 1934. His Fight- ing Irish opened the 1936 season with vic- tories over Carnegie Tech, Washington University of St. Louis, and Wisconsin. James Phelan • No. 8 Washington (3-1) Phelan, Notre Dame's quarterback when Rockne was assistant coach in 1915-17, was in his 17th season as a col- lege head coach (2 at Missouri, 8 at Pur- due, and in his seventh year at Wash- ington). The Huskies lost their season opener to defending national champion Minnesota, 14-7, then defeated Idaho, UCLA and Oregon State. John "Clipper" Smith • No. 11 Duquesne (4-0) Smith, a guard at Notre Dame from 1925-27, was in his first season as the Dukes' head coach after serving as the line coach in 1935. Their 4-0 mark included a 7-0 victory against crosstown rival Pitts- burgh, the Panthers' only loss in a season in which they finished third in the nation. Edward "Slip" Madigan • No. 12 St. Mary's (3-0-1) Madigan played center for the Irish in 1916, '17 and '19, and became head coach at tiny St. Mary's of California in 1921. The Gaels had lost their final game of 1920 to Cal, 127-0. But under Madigan and his Rockne system, St. Mary's became one of the football powers of the West Coast, regularly defeating Cal, Stanford, UCLA and Southern Cal. They began 1936 with wins over Gonzaga, Cal and Loyola. Jim Crowley • No. 16 Fordham (3-0) Former Four Horseman Crowley was in his fourth season guiding Fordham and had the Rams on the rise. They were big news in New York City, with their mar- quee games held at the Polo Grounds. A crowd of 57,000 would turn out for their Halloween battle with No. 2 Pittsburgh, a 0-0 tie. Fordham's line, the famous Seven Blocks of Granite, included future legendary coach Vince Lombardi. Eddie Anderson • No. 17 Holy Cross (4-0) An All-American end during his playing days at Notre Dame (1918-21), Anderson found similar success in the coaching ranks, first at DePaul in Chi- cago (1925-31), then at the small Jesuit college in Worcester, Mass. The Crusad- ers were coming off an undefeated sea- son (9-0-1) in which they defeated Har- vard, Carnegie Tech and Boston College and were on a 17-game unbeaten streak. MORE SUCCESSFUL COACHES WITH IRISH TIES Amazingly, two more squads led by Rockne proteges who were not in the initial top 20 would finish among the top six teams in the nation when the final poll was released Nov. 30. Frank Thomas • No. 4 Alabama (8-0-1) Thomas, Notre Dame's quarterback in 1920-22, was in his sixth season lead- ing the Crimson Tide. The only blemish on their record was a scoreless tie with Tennessee. They had whipped then No. 10 Tulane, 34-7, and finished second in the SEC behind unbeaten LSU. Buck Shaw • No. 6 Santa Clara (7-0) Shaw, a tackle for the Irish from 1919-21, was in his first year guiding the Broncos after serving as the line coach for seven seasons under Maurice "Clip- per" Smith. Santa Clara had shutout wins over Stanford (13-0), No. 16 Au- burn (12-0) and St. Mary's (19-0). They would lose a Dec. 12 game against No. 16 TCU, 9-0, before rebounding to defeat No. 2 LSU, 21-14, in the Sugar Bowl. FINAL RESULTS Phelan's Washington Huskies fin- ished between Alabama and Santa Clara First AP Poll In 1936 Had Many Notre Dame Ties Of the 20 teams ranked in the inaugural AP Poll, seven were led by head coaches who had played under Knute Rockne at Notre Dame. Among them was Elmer Layden (above), who had the Fighting Irish at No. 7. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS Frank Thomas was one of two former Irish play- ers who led their teams to a top-six finish in the final AP Poll after not appearing in the initial rankings, guiding Alabama to a No. 4 finish. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS