Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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The Fifth Quarter Does One Need The Bad With The Good? By Lou Somogyi There were some mixed reactions to 1982-85 Notre Dame running back Allen Pinkett’s recent cause célèbre regarding the football program’s need of a criminal element. One was a natural righteous indignation about how dare someone think like that about Our Lady’s pristine school. Others understandably viewed it as a misguided sense of values. Another was “I think I know what he’s trying to say, but he articulated it poorly.” Here’s what I think Pinkett was trying to say. During Pinkett’s era, the Irish under head coach Gerry Faust cultivated an image of the good guys who were often floundering but always comporting themselves with grace and class. Conversely, a rising superpower such as Miami basked in the image of supplanting an Oklahoma or USC as the new bad boys of college football. Notre Dame was perceived as the nice kid in a coat and tie who was getting his lunch money stolen regularly to the tune of 37-15, 20-0, 31-13 or 58-7 whippings at the hands of Miami. It was the proverbial “Karate Kid” prior to meeting mentor Mr. Miyagi. Enter Notre Dame’s Mr. Miyagi in the form of Lou Holtz in 1986, after Pinkett had graduated as the school’s all-time leading rusher. At the time, Chicago Sun-Times writer Bill Gleason told Blue & Gold Illustrated how the football culture was about to change at Notre Dame. “[Faust’s players] just were not mean enough,” he said. “I’m sure they were lovely people and exemplary citizens … but you better have a streak of meanness in you. I do think Holtz is going to change that.” Led by the efforts of recruiting coordinator Vinny Cerrato, Notre Dame reeled in four straight No. 1 classes from 1987-90, and many of the blue-chip prospects did not fit the classic “Notre Dame profile.” In 1987 alone, for example, linebacker Chris Zorich was reeled in from the meanest streets of Chicago, where he attended Chicago Vocational School. Running backs Ricky Watters and Tony Brooks had a cocky edge to them that raised the eyebrows — and ire — of some teammates, while defensive tackle George “Boo” Williams and athlete Todd Lyght were plucked from Willingboro, N.J., and Flint, Mich. Their talent, dedication and unbridled cockiness augmented team chemistry and helped bring out the best, or the “edge” in other burgeoning hell-raisers on the roster, notably “The Three Amigos” — linebackers Michael Stonebreaker, Wes Pritchett and Frank Stams — plus other Chicago hard-hat figures such as guard Tim Grunhard and cornerback Stan Smagala. By the late 1980s, Notre Dame displayed a “swag” or could engage in tunnel fracases with the best of them en route to a school-record 23-game winning streak and returning to the summit. Some of the aforementioned figures incurred suspensions for disciplinary infractions, but overall the program and its standards — in the classroom, community and gridiron — remained a model to emulate, even though it had much more edge to it. There was a harmonic symbiosis, with the more "clean-cut" leaders such as Andy Heck, Anthony Johnson, Mark Green or Ned Bolcar helping keep the “rough edge” players in line, while the latter supplied a skill set or attitude to facilitate team chemistry and performance. By 1990, a discomfort began taking place at the school because of some “bad apples” within the program. It was leading to more transfers and negative publicity that led to the infamous 1993 book Under the Tarnished Dome: How Notre Dame Football Sold Its Soul For Football Glory. Some even began to question which was which when the popular “Catholics vs. Convicts” T-shirts resurfaced for the 1990 Notre Dame-Miami game. By 1991, after the administration had put its foot down on some of the players it could admit, Cerrato was no longer with the program and the recruiting was not quite the same. It returned in 1995 — until uber-recruit Randy Moss was not allowed into school for reasons that included trouble with the law. Holtz bid adieu after the 1996 season, and since then — and even in years before — the debate has continued: Can Notre Dame be Ivy League in the classroom and SEC on the football field? The optimist in me will always believe that such a step is forthcoming. If Stanford can finish 12-1 and 11-2 the past two seasons, why can’t Notre Dame? I have seen my share of bad apples in the program over the past 25 years who only brought the program down, not elevated it. The other side does ponder if it’s realistic, even though Notre Dame’s recruiting has collectively ranked in the top 10 percent since 2008. The same was true during Pinkett’s era, when the Irish were in the top three in recruiting three straight seasons from 1981-83, or under Bob Davie, who had back-to-back top-five harvests in 1998-99. Of course, Davie did get into hot water one time when he commented on his need of a “thug” linebacker. At its core, football is a violent game that necessitates fierce aggression and fearlessness. To many, Notre Dame’s inability to maximize the talent on the field is what has been most criminal. Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com