Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/998819
146 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY LOU SOMOGYI W ill Notre Dame football ever win another national title? This has become a common lamentation among Fighting Irish faithful, one that becomes more highlighted when 2018 marks the 30th anniversary of the most recent such achievement. That number is now almost double the pre- vious longest drought of 16 years that occurred from 1950-65 (from a "consensus" perspec- tive). In the last 24 years, Notre Dame has had only one season with less than three losses, has not won a "major" bowl game since 1993, and finished in the Associated Press top 10 only twice (No. 9 in 2005 and No. 4 in 2012). In the 65 seasons from 1924-88, Notre Dame captured 11 consensus national titles and was close on about 10 more. Entering the 1988 season under third-year head coach Lou Holtz, the Fighting Irish os- tensibly were "a year away" from returning to prominence after seven years of struggle. So when they unexpectedly won it all in 1988, several more seemed inevitable to follow. Here it is 30 years later, and angst, paranoia and perhaps even defeatism prompts one to wonder whether Notre Dame indeed will finish at the summit again. Maybe solace can be taken in the fact that in the same way Notre Dame faithful in 1989 felt there was no possible way for the Irish not to finish No. 1 again for nearly three decades, somewhere in the 30 years hereafter another 1988-like journey can come out of nowhere. How Did It Happen? There were two sides to Lou Holtz's per- sona when he was Notre Dame's head coach (1986-96). One was what he said publicly, and the other was what he conveyed to his team privately. In public, the folksy Holtz would stress the value of forbearance: "Remember, it takes nine months for a woman to have a baby, no matter how many men you put on the job." In private, Holtz had a far greater sense of urgency. In his office was a cartoon-like image of a vulture quietly waiting for prey — and underneath it was the caption: "Patience, my OUT OF THE BLUE Notre Dame's most recent football national title occurred 30 years ago