Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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THE PIONEER In 1973, Parseghian made Greg Blache the first black assistant coach in the program's history. Recruited by the Irish in 1968, Blache had his play- ing career truncated by an injury, thus beginning a coaching apprenticeship, and by 1973 he was named assistant coach for the junior varsity program. Blache coached in the NFL from 1988 through his retirement in 2009, includ- ing stints as the defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears (1999-2003) and Washington Redskins (2008-09). THE PROS In 2008, Notre Dame had three for- mer assistants who coordinated de- fenses in the NFL: Blache, Carolina's Mike Trgovac (1992-94) and Philadel- phia's Jim Johnson (1977-83). Blache and Johnson were both on Faust's staff from 1981-83 before leav- ing for the newly formed USFL. It just goes to show that even with talented assistants, if the overall direction is not there, you can produce a mediocre 18-15-1 record as the Irish did from 1981-83. SUPER BOWL CHAMPION One Notre Dame assistant became the head coach of a Super Bowl cham- pion. Hank Stram, who guided the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl IV title in 1970, was the backfield coach for Bren- nan's last two teams in 1957-58. NATIONAL CHAMPIONS The record for most consensus na- tional titles by a former Irish assis- tant is three apiece by Rockne (1924, 1929 and 1930) and Urban Meyer (2006 and 2008 at Florida, and 2014 at Ohio State). Meyer was the wide receivers coach at Notre Dame from 1996-2000 before becoming the head coach at Bowling Green State in 2001. With a remarkable 142-26 (.845 win- ning percentage) record, Meyer has the most wins ever by a former Irish assistant in the collegiate ranks. College football Hall of Fame in- ductee Barry Alvarez (1987-89) is sec- ond at 118-73-4 (.615) in 16 seasons at Wisconsin (1990-2005). That's not in- cluding recently serving as the acting coach in aother bowl victory. He was 8-3 in bowls during his stint and won three Rose Bowls for the Badgers — or one more than Bo Schembechler did in 21 seasons at Michigan. ✦ Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer has tied Knute Rockne for most national titles by a former Irish assistant coach, with three. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL