Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 29, 2018 53 WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? Meanwhile, a new linebackers coach was also hired: Barry Alvarez. "Barry was the kind of guy that just let players play, and I really thrived under that," Stams said. "We had great chemistry and I gained more and more confidence with him." A severe calf injury in the opener at Michigan that year hampered Stams' playing time while finishing with 14 tackles in a backup role. The following spring, Alvarez was promoted to coordinator and Stewart became Stams' position coach. "I just said, 'I'm going to quit wor- rying so much about every little thing and just go in there and play football like I was 8 years old again and play with a lot of passion,'" Stams said. "I had become a mechanical robot, and that's not who I was." Spearheading the national title run, the 1988 defense finished third nation- ally in scoring defense (12.3 points per game), 10th against the run, and Stams' pass rushing off the edge was vital against top quarterbacks such as Miami's Steve Walsh (with Stams forc- ing two fumbles on sacks plus a tipped pass that wound up a pick-six), USC's Rodney Peete (the Heisman runner- up) and West Virginia's Major Harris in the national title victory. Stams said there might have been better defenses statistically at Notre Dame since then, but none with the perfect blend of chemistry with veter- ans such as himself, Wes Pritchett, Mi- chael Stonebreaker, Ned Bolcar, safety George Street, etc., plus newcomers such as sophomores Chris Zorich, George Williams, Todd Lyght or fresh- man Arnold Ale, all of whom radiated a cocksure edge to them. "We were veterans who had been through the sausage grinder more than once where we didn't take anything for granted, and then we had some young guys who provided a lot of per- sonality too," Stams summarized. A REPEAT OF 1988? In many ways, Stams sees similari- ties in 2018 to 1988. Above all is a rav- enous hunger to atone for past frustra- tions, including the 4-8 record in 2016. In Stams' sophomore and junior years (1985-86), Notre Dame had back- to-back losing seasons (5-6) for the first time in school history, and the infra- structure had to be gutted in order to rebuild. Progress was seen in 1987 with an 8-4 record and several marquee wins, just like in 2017 with a 10-3 ledger and No. 11 finish. Now, it is ostensibly com- ing together. "This team is strong," said Stams, who has game texts with his fellow "Three Amigos" compatriots Pritchett and Stonebreaker, among others, when the Fighting Irish are playing. "What I love about this team is they are finishing games. That's been an area they've needed to improve upon over the past years — not only games but the season. The only thing that is concerning me right now — and I think this team has a very, very good chance of making the playoff — is they are giving up about 20 points a game to lesser teams. "That needs to come down a little bit because that could be a problem in the playoff. You go against some of the top teams like Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State. … Do you really want to get into a scoring contest with those teams? I don't think that's where you want to be." He also has empathy for today's players, including at the high school level, because of the proliferation of social media and non-stop scrutiny. "It's become such an enormity, whereas we had a lot of excitement in Holtz's third year but nothing like you see today," he said. "I feel sorry for these kids today playing in the fish- bowl. "Our fishbowl was really murky. Their fishbowl, that water gets changed every day with the scrutiny on what kids are doing." After a seven-year NFL career mainly with the Los Angeles Rams and Cleveland Browns, the 53-year-old Stams today is back in his hometown and has worked for the Browns orga- nization in a community outreach ca- pacity, handled the insurance business, serves as a high school/Mid-American football analyst and will be running for city council next year in an effort to become mayor about four years down the road. Married to wife Mari for 20 years, Stams said his devotion centers on her and daughter Rhiannon (17), a senior record-setting lacrosse player at St. Vincent-St. Mary who is applying to Notre Dame, and son Mason (16), a lefty pitching prospect who also opted for soccer over football. Mason had wondered how his fa- ther would react to him not playing football — but as a parent he gave his ultimate blessing. "I got lucky," Stams said. "When you have a sticker on the back of your helmet that says, 'Warning: Use of this helmet may cause serious in- jury or even death,' I was thinking, 'Man, what are we doing here?' But you don't question it and you go out there and play the game you grew up playing. "I made the sign of the cross over him and said, 'I release you from foot- ball hell' — because if you're not into it, it can be hell." Once Stams was moved to defense at Notre Dame and beyond, it became quite heavenly. ✦ Stams — with his wife, Mari, and their daughter Rhiannon (17) and son Mason (16) — plans on running for city council in his hometown of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, in an effort to eventually become mayor. PHOTO COURTESY FRANK STAMS