College Football Elites, Part 1: What makes a ‘blue blood’?
By Dante Pryor
- Conference championships: N/A
- 10-plus win seasons: 20
- Consensus All-Americans: 101
- Heisman Trophy winners: 7
- NFL players: 592
There might be some debate on whether or not the Notre Dame Fighting Irish still belong on the list of blue bloods since it’s been over 30 years since they’ve last won a national title.
Brian Kelly’s tenure in South Bend keeps the Irish in the blue blood conversation. Under Kelly, the Irish have become a legitimate national recruiting program, and they’ve won 10-plus games three seasons in a row. He’s the second coach in Notre Dame history to win 10-plus games three years in a row sharing that distinction with Lou Holtz who did it from 1991-93. Though the Irish have not won a national championship since 1989, they’ve played for two under Kelly in 2012 and 2018.
Evaluating the Irish is difficult for a couple of reasons. First, Notre Dame does not play in a conference. So there are no conference championship banners to fly. What makes it equally difficult is the Irish opted not to play in any postseason games from 1925-1968 since the national championship was decided in the regular season until the Associated Press delayed voting on a national champion until after the bowl season in 1968.
The coaches who patrolled the sidelines in South Bend read like a who’s who of Hall of Fame coaches. Knute Rockne not only coached Notre Dame to their first three national titles; he was also a pioneer in college football. Rockne revolutionized the game by using the forward pass in ways no other coach had before. He also used visual media — newsreels back then — to promote and advertise his football program.
Frank Leahy and Ara Parseghian were both successful during their tenures at Notre Dame. Leahy winning four and Parseghian winning two national titles.
After Parseghian was forced to retire in 1974, Dan Devine took over and won a national championship in 1977. When Devine left, the Irish found themselves in a cycle of mediocrity until Holtz took over in 1986. In 11 years at Notre Dame, Holtz won 100 games, went to nine bowl games winning five, including the1989 Fiesta Bowl and national title.
Can the Irish win another National Championship? Kelly likes to think so. He’s been on the cusp and the Irish have returned to the national conversation under his watch.