Ranking the 25 best head coaches in college football history
By Zach Bigalke
7. Knute Rockne
Notre Dame had enjoyed successful head coaches prior to Knute Rockne. Rockne himself played on two of the early undefeated Irish teams in 1912 and 1913 for head coaches John L. Marks and Jesse Harper. In 1918, after four years as an assistant under Harper, Rockne took over the program. At that time Notre Dame was a successful Midwestern Catholic program; under Rockne the Irish became a national brand name.
Notre Dame went just 3-1-2 in Rockne’s first year, but then rattled off 18 straight wins to capture the national title in 1919 and 1920. Losses at Iowa in 1921 and at Nebraska in 1922 and 1923 prevented the Irish from capturing three more national titles in succession, but they went 10-0 in 1924 and captured Rockne’s third national championship as well as the school’s first Rose Bowl victory. Even as the school’s success rate tapered off in the late 1920s, Notre Dame was continuing to promote itself nationally thanks to Rockne’s early success.
The school rebounded to win 19 straight and two more national titles in 1929 and 1930. Then Rockne died in a plane crash in March 1931, a tragic and premature end to the life one of the greatest head coaches in football history. Notre Dame did not rebound until Frank Leahy took over the team a decade later.