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Notre Dame Athletics Notebook: 2021 Football Opener Gets Primetime Spot

Notre Dame’s season will begin in a standalone primetime slot.

ESPN announced Tuesday the Irish’s Sept. 5 opening-week game at Florida State will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC. It’s the lone Sunday game that weekend.

It is the third prime-time slot on the schedule so far. The Fighting Irish will also host USC (Oct. 23) and North Carolina (Oct. 30) for night games. The opener will be the Irish’s first visit to Tallahassee since 2014, when they lost 31-27 to the Seminoles. They have played twice since then in South Bend, with both games ending in Notre Dame wins.

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish football junior running back Kyren Williams
Junior running back Kyren Williams and Notre Dame will open the 2021 season against Florida State Sept. 5 in Tallahassee, Fla. (Notre Dame Athletics)

Notre Dame’s games vs. Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, Virginia and Stanford are the only ones on the 2021 schedule without kickoff times. The Wisconsin game, set for Sept. 25, is a neutral-site meeting at Soldier Field. The other three are road games. Notre Dame’s other home games against Toledo (2:30 p.m. ET), Purdue (2:30), Cincinnati (2:30), Navy (3:30) and Georgia Tech (2:30) are during the day.

Ticketing Change

Entry into Notre Dame Stadium and other athletic events will be entirely electronic going forward.

The university is switching to mobile ticketing starting this fall, it announced Tuesday. Tickets will be on fans’ smartphones. Paper tickets will no longer be sold.

“Mobile ticketing has been fully adopted by our students the past several years for football and men’s basketball games and most recently by members of our faculty and staff,” associate athletics director for ticketing and marketing Brian Pracht said in a release.

“We are confident that all of our fans will find this experience to be user-friendly, efficient and safe. Furthermore, the flexibility of mobile ticketing will allow Fighting Irish fans to manage their tickets anytime and anywhere.”

Notre Dame also released an FAQ on the switch.

Monty Williams Named NBA Coach of the Year

A former Notre Dame basketball player was voted the NBA’s best coach this season.

Phoenix Suns coach and 1989-1994 Irish forward Monty Williams was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches 2020-21 Coach of the Year on Tuesday. The NBA’s 30 head coaches voted on the award.

"I hold the utmost respect and admiration for the coaches in this league, so to be recognized by my peers is an incredible honor," Williams said in a statement (via ESPN). "Every coach in our league sacrifices a ton to make their teams and organizations better, so this is unbelievably humbling."

Williams led the Suns to a 51-21 record this season and the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. The Suns were the fifth team in NBA history to improve their year-over-year win total by at least 15. Their 51 wins were second-most in the NBA this year.

Williams is in his second season as Phoenix’s head coach. He was previously the head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans from 2010-15. He has a 258-281 lifetime record.

At Notre Dame, Williams was an honorable mention All-American in 1993-94 after averaging 22.4 points and 8.4 rebounds. He was the No. 24 pick in the 1994 NBA Draft and played nine seasons in the league.

Softball Gets NCAA Tournament Assignment

Notre Dame softball is headed to its 22nd straight NCAA Tournament.

The Irish are the No. 2 seed in the Lexington (Ky.) Regional, which runs May 21-23. They’re joined by Kentucky, Miami Ohio and Northwestern. Their first game is Friday against Miami Ohio (2:30 p.m., ESPN3).

Notre Dame is one of eight teams to be selected to every NCAA Tournament since 1999. The program has 36 all-time NCAA tournament wins. Since taking the job in 2002, head coach Deanna Gumpf has guided the team to 10 regional finals.

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