Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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one of only 16 players named a con- sensus two-time All-American. Meanwhile, from 1995-98 running back Denson became the school's all- time leading rusher with 4,318 yards (not including bowls). Beyond the numbers on the field, both have an unbridled passion for the school. Since April 1992, Lyght has had an endowed scholarship for undergraduate Notre Dame students. Denson said he "brainwashed" his four children as soon as they exited the womb. "My daughter at the hospital, this is no lie, they took their pictures in their Notre Dame stuff," Denson said. "I'm excited for them because they get to experience Notre Dame the way I knew it." Kelly admitted his initial skepti- cism about the duo. He found numer- ous running back coach candidates with more impressive coaching back- grounds than Denson. "I really didn't think I was going to hire him, quite honestly, until he interviewed," Kelly said. "He blew me away in the interview. His attention to detail at the running back position, techniques, how he was teaching the running backs, the depth and knowl- edge at the position both in the run game and the pass game. His philoso- phy matched mine in terms of devel- opment of the student-athlete both on and off the field. … How he was going to go about that challenge of recruit- ing. "We had a long list of guys that we had ready to interview. We called them up and said that we found our running back coach in Autry Den- son."