Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 AUGUST 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME CHARTING THE IRISH As the fall approaches, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly prepares for his 11th season at the helm of one of the most popular college football programs. This is no small feat, because it ties him with Fighting Irish legends Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz for second all time at the school. They trail only Knute Rockne, who coached Notre Dame for 13 seasons before his career abruptly ended when he died in a plane crash in 1931. Kelly has also become one of the more tenured coaches in the country, with only seven Power Five leaders that have been at their current job longer. This includes two coaches Notre Dame will face in 2020. Both Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and Duke head coach David Cutcliffe have been at their respective schools for 13 seasons. Though not a Power Five head coach, Navy's Ken Niumatalolo is entering his 14th season at the helm of the Midshipmen. The longest-tenured head coach is Iowa's Kirk Ferentz, followed closely by TCU's Gary Patterson. Not far behind Kelly is annual rival and Stanford head coach Da- vid Shaw, who is entering his 10th season with the Cardinal. UNDER THE DOME ✦ GIMME FIVE If a full football season is played this year and fifth-year senior Ian Book leads Notre Dame to 10 wins, he will be the first Fighting Irish quarterback to reach 30 victories as a starter. Notre Dame is the lone school among the 10 winningest Football Bowl Subdivision programs that does not have a signal-caller who achieved the 30-win milestone. Three have 29 apiece, while two others have 28. Among the two who have 28, Rick Mirer easily could have 29 as well because he did not "start" the opening series in a 45-20 win at Purdue in 1991 but played most of the game. Likewise, Tony Rice rallied Notre Dame to a 32-25 win versus Boston College in 1987 after not getting the start. Book is 20-3, but he also is not credited with the "starting" win over LSU in the 2018 Citrus Bowl even though he replaced starter Brandon Wim- bush in the 21-17 comeback victory. Here are the top five win totals in career starts: Rk. Quarterback (Years) Record 1. Tom Clements (1972-74) 29-5 (.853) Ron Powlus (1994-97) 29-16-1 (.641) Brady Quinn (2003-06) 29-17 (.630) 4. Tony Rice (1987-89) 28-3 (.903) Rick Mirer (1990-92) 28-7-1 (.792) Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom Jack Brannigan — Baseball The Orland Park, Ill., product was named a Freshman All-American by Col- legiate Baseball in June, the first Irish player to earn that status since 2016. The pitcher/third baseman started all 13 games in the shortened season. Brannigan hit .255 with 12 hits, 14 runs scored, one home run, 11 RBI and three stolen bases. He allowed just one run and one hit over 4⅔ innings pitched, and finished with a 1-0 record and 1.93 ERA. Alasia Hayes — Basketball The Tennessean tabbed the incoming freshman point guard from Murfreesboro, Tenn., as her state's Girls Basket- ball Player of the Year in June. She wrapped up a stellar four- year career at Riverdale High School by leading her team to a 19-12 record and a region 4-AAA semifinal appearance. Hayes averaged 23.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.9 steals per game, all of which repre- sented new career highs for her. Palmer Jackson — Golf The sophomore from Murrysville, Pa., was honored as the recipient of the Frank Fuhrer III award, which is presented to the Western Penn- sylvania College Golfer of the Year. Jackson won Notre Dame's fi- nal tournament of the year and had a team-best average score of 70.07 on the season. The strong campaign came after a quarterfinal appearance at the U.S. Amateur last August. Hattie Monson — Volleyball The incoming freshman libero from Lisle, Ill., was named to the 2020 U.S. Women's Junior National Training Team roster in June. It marked her second such selection — she also played for the 2018 Girls Youth National Team — though the 2020 inter- national season ended up being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Monson was named a first-team All-American by PrepVolleyball.com and received second-team ac- colades from Under Armour. She also was ranked No. 38 on PrepVolleyball.com's Senior Aces list. TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS THE MOST TENURED POWER FIVE COACHES Rk. Coach, School Years 1. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa 22 2. Gary Patterson, TCU* 21 3. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State 16 Kyle Whittingham, Utah* 16 5. Nick Saban, Alabama 14 6. Dabo Swinney, Clemson 13 David Cutcliffe, Duke 13 8. Brian Kelly, Notre Dame 11 9. David Shaw, Stanford 10 * Programs that have transitioned from Group of Five to Power Five conferences this century MOVING? Call us at 1-800-421-7751 Ian Book enters his third season as Notre Dame's starting quarterback and could become the first at the school to reach 30 victories during his career while taking the opening snap. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL