(This article was originally published in the 7/31 issue of Irish Today.)

Gerry Faust will not go down in history as one of the great coaches at Notre Dame. But, he did his very best and gave his heart and soul to the school and that is worth something. I had the privilege of spending some time talking with the former head of Irish football.

What was it like when you received the opportunity to coach at Notre Dame?

"Well, I got the job in Dec of 1980, so I was coaching my high school football team in the state playoffs until late November," Coach Faust told me. "Father Joyce called on November 24th at 3:30 and offered me the job. I promised my kids that since they had given four years to me that I would give them myself through the season. I kept my mind off it until we won the state championship, which we won 30-7."

"What was the next step?" I asked.

"When I got offered the job, the first thing I had to do was put together a coaching staff which took two weeks," he said. "That was a mistake, I should have taken longer. Don't get me wrong, it was a great staff. We just didn't have that chemistry that you need. That was my first big mistake. I was so concerned with recruiting that I rushed putting together my staff. They were all great coaches but looking back, I know now that one recruiting class won't kill you. I should have worked to put together a more harmonious staff, a staff that had the chemistry to win at Notre Dame."

It is clear that Coach Faust believes this was his first and, maybe, biggest mistake. Out of curiosity, I asked how that first class ended up.

"We had an unbelievable class that first year, despite the late start," he said. "It included Mike Golic and Mark Bavaro. In the five years I was there, twenty-three players were drafted into the pros."

Recruiting was never Coach Faust's problem. As far as the recruiting aspect goes, he's still considered one of the best that the university has had. Negative recruiting, unfortunately, is a part of coaching at Notre Dame and Coach Faust saw his fair share of it.

"Everyone negative-recruits on you. Notre Dame is the school everyone feels they have to beat," Faust said.  "Here's an example, you're recruiting a kid from the state of Michigan. Michigan is telling him negative stuff about Notre Dame and so is Michigan State. Now, this kid has already heard it from two sources, his two in-state schools. Michigan and Michigan State are more afraid of losing a kid to Notre Dame than they are to each other. That's what you're up against."

So, how do you combat that?

"You really have to work to find the right type of young man to achieve at Notre Dame," Faust said. "Not just on the field, but academically at Notre Dame too.   You look for the right type of young man. You have to look around for the right kind of Notre Dame kid, the guy who can make it in class and be a real Notre Dame man."

I asked him about the process to find the right kind of Notre Dame kid.

"These kids want to play right away and the Irish are on TV every week so they all know that playing here they will be seen," Coach Faust said. "I was simply honest will them. I said, 'I can't promise you a down of football, I promise you a great education at a great school and you'll be on the team for the best football program in the country.' That's what I would tell them."

Did you ever lose top recruits because they weren't Notre Dame men?

"Sure, we dropped a kid because his dad asked me when his Heisman campaign would start," Faust said with a chuckle. "And another because he spoke bad to his mother. I didn't want a kid like that."

Coach Faust probably embodied the spirit of Notre Dame as well as anyone who has coached here. While his record may never win him accolades, his spirit and love of Our Lady's University and everything that it stands for should. With his first-hand knowledge, I wondered what his thoughts were on Coach Willingham coming on board for his first season.

"Coach Willingham is probably better prepared than most people, except for maybe Ara coming from Northwestern," Faust said. "Most of the coaches have come from schools that aren't academically reputable and have no idea how to recruit at Notre Dame. Now, I don't know if anyone can even be ready for Notre Dame, but Tyrone Willingham is probably as prepared as you can get."

This helps explain what many of us were slow to learn, Coach Willingham is a great fit at Notre Dame.  Frankly, just as most of us would want it, Notre Dame IS different and it takes a special person to come to South Bend and succeed. Lou Holtz was one of the special people who succeeded here and Coach Faust recounted their first conversation.

"When Coach Holtz came, we spent hours one afternoon talking about the experience at Notre Dame," Faust said. "I tried to help him overcome some of the obstacles that I didn't know about. There are things like academics and recruiting that are specific to Notre Dame and I tried to help him with that."

I tried to find out more about this particular conversation. But, as I kind of knew, this was a special conversation between two men transferring over the biggest job in all of college football. Coach Faust told me only, "I don't want to go through the specifics."

Coach Holtz's successor, Bob Davie, was probably more similar to Coach Faust.

How do you think Coach Davie feels right now?

Showing what a good man that he is, Coach Faust responded, "He probably looks at it the way I did, I gave it my best and worked my hardest and he can say he was the 26th head coach at Notre Dame, just like I can say I was the 24th. There have only been 27 of us, so that alone is pretty special."

Indeed, it is.

Is Coach Faust still involved with the Notre Dame community? You bet.

"I'm going to five home games this year," Faust said "Last year I got in a verbal argument with a guy in the stands who was yelling at a player. I told him that this kid was playing his heart out and he couldn't do any better. I felt bad and so I had to go back up at halftime and apologize to the guy. Now I try to stay up in the boxes."

What is undeniable is how much Coach Faust loved Notre Dame. He has always done, and still does, his part to try and reflect the Notre Dame image in his own life.

"When you look back, what would you have done differently?" I asked.

"I'd have done most of it differently," Faust said, almost laughing. "My problem at Notre Dame was myself.  You can say this or you can say that, but it was Gerry Faust that didn't get the job done. I went in after the LSU game and stepped down because it was best for the players and it was best for the university. I knew that. I'd do it again in a second, even if you told me that it would work out the same way, I'd do it again."


Gerry Faust is truly a Notre Dame man, independent of anything else, he represents what the university is all about.

"How do they treat you now?" I wondered.

"They treat me first class at Notre Dame, you'd have thought that I won a National Championship," Faust said.

My final question was this: When people look back, what do you hope that your legacy at Notre Dame is remembered as?

"I want them to remember that I was honest and up front with young men and up front and honest representing the university," Faust said. "I worked my hardest and gave it my best and in the end. I just love Notre Dame."

That's all anyone could ask. You'll always be a Domer in my book, Coach.