Notre Dame Assistants: Fun Facts
While it’s common knowledge that this will be head coach Brian Kelly’s ninth season at Notre Dame, it’s been overshadowed that associate head coach/defensive line coach Mike Elston has been here that whole time as well.
He is he lone remaining assistant from Kelly's original staff hired in 2010.
Since the start of Blue & Gold Illustrated in 1981, Gerry Faust’s first season as head coach, Elston’s tenure ties 1988‑96 offensive line coach Joe Moore for the longest stint at Notre Dame by a football assistant.
The longest over consecutive years as an on-field assistant are 17 apiece by 1964‑80 defensive line coach Joe Yonto and 1969‑85 linebackers coach George Kelly, both Notre Dame graduates. Yonto and Kelly both moved to administrative positions in the office later, although Yonto also returned for a two-year stint as the defensive line coach in Lou Holtz’s first two seasons in 1986‑87.
Here is some other trivia on Notre Dame assistants
The Original
The first Notre Dame coach to have the assistant title was line coach Howard “Cap” Edwards in 1913 under first-year boss Jesse Harper.
Edwards coached only one year — so then 1914 Notre Dame graduate/wide receiver Knute Rockne was named “first assistant” by Harper from 1914-17. There is no record of a “second assistant” after him.
Succession Plan
Rockne is one of four Notre Dame assistant coaches who were promoted to the Irish head coach position. The Rock did well for himself, but he didn’t have to chase ghosts as did the others:
• Hunk Anderson (1931-33) – Named “senior coach” after Rockne’s tragic death on March 31, 1931, he and “junior coach” Jack Chevigny weren’t on the same page during their one season together in 1931, and Anderson was fired after a 3-5-1 finish in 1933. He faced a virtually impossible task as Rockne’s successor amid tragic circumstances.
• Terry Brennan (1954-58) – Speaking of the impossible … the 26-year-old Brennan, after just one season as the 1953 freshman coach, was the hand-picked successor by school president Rev. Theodore Hesburgh C.S.C., for Frank Leahy, who had six unbeaten campaigns in his 11 years.
Brennan finished in the top 10 three times in five years (and No. 17 in a fourth), but in his final three seasons the Irish were 15-15, resulting in his firing.
* Bob Davie (1997-2001) – Similar to Brennan, he had to replace a Hall of Fame coach (Holtz) who was at the Notre Dame helm for 11 years. Like Brennan, he lasted five years (35-25 overall, and 19-18 in his last 37 games).
Davie has been the head coach at New Mexico since 2012, where he is 30-45. He steered the once moribund program to a 9-4 record and bowl win in 2016, but fell to 3-9 last year. New Mexico is scheduled to play at Notre Dame Sept. 14, 2019.
The Loyalists
No Irish head coach had greater continuity in his staff than Ara Parseghian. Three of his assistants – backfield coach Tom Pagna, defensive backs coach Paul Shoults and defensive line coach Yonto – were with him all 11 seasons from 1964-74.
In Parseghian’s final six seasons from 1969-74, he had only one change on his staff. Offensive line coach Jerry Wampfler took the head coaching job at Colorado State in 1970 and was replaced by Bill Hickey.
Coordinating Efforts
The word “coordinator” was not used until head coach Dan Devine came aboard in 1975. He gave the offensive coordinator title first to Merv Johnson that year, followed by recruiting coordinator to Brian Boulac in 1976, and finally defensive coordinator to Yonto in 1977.
Moore Or Less
The most popular surname among Irish assistants was Moore, with three total.
Wally Moore was first the freshman coach and later offensive line assistant for Parseghian from 1966-74.
Mal Moore, a Bear Bryant disciple and the late Alabama athletics director who hired Nick Saban, was the running backs coach from 1983-85 and assistant head coach his last two years under Faust.
Finally, Joe Moore was hired to coach Notre Dame’s tackles and tight ends in 1988, took over the entire line the following year, and had an indelible impact through the final year of the Holtz era in 1996.
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’s playing career was truncated by an injury, thus beginning a coaching apprenticeship, and by 1973 he was named assistant coach for the junior varsity program.
A long-time fixture in the NFL, Blache became a defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins from 1999-2009.
The Pros
Notre Dame at one time had three former assistants who coordinated defenses in the NFL. One was the aforementioned Blache. The others were Mike Trgovac (1992-94) and Philadelphia’s Jim Johnson (1977-83). Trgovac coordinated the defense at Carolina from 2003-08 and is currently the defensive line coach for the Oakland Raiders. Johnson was the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive coordinator from 1999-2008 before his death in 2009.
Blache and Johnson were both on Faust’s staff from 1981-83 before leaving 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
Can you name the only Notre Dame assistant who was a head coach for a Super Bowl champion?
The answer would be Hank Stram, who guided the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl IV title in 1970. Stram was the backfield coach for Brennan’s last two teams in 1957-58.
National Champions
The record for most national titles by a former Irish assistant, with three apiece, is a tie between Rockne (1924, 1929 and 1930) and Urban Meyer (2006 and 2008 at Florida, and 2014 at Ohio State).
The most wins ever by a former Irish assistant in the collegiate ranks used to be Barry Alvarez (1987-89), who was 119-74-4 at Wisconsin (1990-2005, plus two later bowls as interim coach). He was 9-4 in bowls and won three Rose Bowls for the Badgers – one more than Bo Schembechler did in 21 seasons at Michigan.
That honor now belongs to Meyer, who is 177-31, including 11-3 in bowls/Playoffs. His career winning percentage of .851 is not far from the 1-2 tandem of Rockne (.881) and Leahy (.864).
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