Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FAN FORUM SACRED RECORD? Now that Brian Kelly has had his contract extended through 2021, and currently has 55 wins, he certainly has the potential to break Knute Rockne's all-time Notre Dame record of 105 wins. I have heard that the 105 record is a sacred one and Notre Dame will never let it be broken. Have you ever heard of such a thing? The person I heard this from said that's the real reason why Lou Holtz at 100 wins, and Ara Parseghian with 95, had to retire/re- sign. Any truth to it? Maybe Notre Dame wouldn't say anyway. Could you check into this? Dan Makowski Grand Rapids, Mich. Mr. Makowski, no, that is not the rea- son why Ara Parseghian stepped down in 1974 and Lou Holtz in 1996. Parseghian became so burned out from stress and coaching at Notre Dame that even though he was approached by the NFL, he opted to not coach again after age 51 for health reasons. We asked him several years ago if he had any regrets leaving the game so early, and he replied no, because if he hadn't he wouldn't have been around to talk with us now (he turns 93 on May 21). Athletics director Ed "Moose" Krause preferred that Parseghian not leave, reportedly even of- fering him the AD position in an effort to have him stay, but he understood his need to leave the profession. Now with Holtz, he did admit that he had some unease about surpassing Rockne's win total, but athletics director Mike Wadsworth told him that would be a ridiculous reason to depart and indicated it was absolutely not a factor, nor should it ever be. Here's what needs to be understood: there's a difference between having the most wins and being the "winningest" coach. "Winningest" to us is defined by per- centage. Rockne's .881 winning percent- age — the best in Football Bowl Subdivi- sion history — will not be surpassed at Notre Dame, no matter how many total wins any other coach accrues. Bear Bryant's legacy success at Ala- bama has not been mitigated by Nick Sa- ban winning four national titles the past BE HEARD! Send your letters to: Letters Blue & Gold Illustrated P. O. Box 1007 Notre Dame, IN 46556 or e-mail to: lsomogyi@blueandgold.com Brian Kelly needs 51 more wins to break Knute Rockne's school record of 105, but nobody is likely to even approach Rockne's remarkable .881 career winning percentage. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND