Notre Dame Fighting Irish National Championship Seasons
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Notre Dame played its first football game in an 1887 contest against Michigan and hasn’t looked back
since. The Fighting Irish have laid claim to an unprecedented 11 national championships under the
direction of legendary coaching figures such as Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, Dan Devine
and Lou Holtz.
Famed sportswriter Grantland Rice, helped usher in the legendary status of Notre Dame’s first national
championship team in 1924. Writing for the New York Herald, Rice wrote about the dominating Four
Horsemen backfield that led the Fighting Irish’s 13-7 victory over a powerful Army squad.
“Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, The Four Horsemen rode again.”
“In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases.
Their real names are Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend
cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this
afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down on the bewildering panorama spread out on the green plain
below.”
Led by the Seven Mules who did the blocking, the Four Horsemen backfield continued to roll as Notre Dame
gained its first recognized national championship in 1924. The season concluded with a 27-10 Rose Bowl
win over a Stanford team that featured two legendary figures, Coach Pop Warner and Ernie Nevers.
Because of a self-imposed bowl ban this bowl trip would be the last one taken by the Irish until 1970.
Notre Dame overcame great adversity in 1929 to claim its second national championship. Because their
stadium was being built, the Fighting Irish played no home games and Knute Rockne coached the team
despite there being a 50-50 chance that phlebitis would take his life.
Whether it was from a phone in a hospital bed or while sitting in a wheelchair on the sidelines, Rockne
coached his squad through a series of dramatic victories and a national title.
While playing in new Notre Dame Stadium, the Irish won their second straight national title in 1930 after
cruising to a 10-0 record. Under the direction of Rockne, Notre Dame had pushed their winning streak to 19
games by season’s end. However, the Irish lost their Rock the following winter when the legendary figure
died in a plane crash.
A successful transition to the T-formation offense helped Frank Leahy’s 1943 squad claim a national title.
The task was difficult since Notre Dame returned only two starters from the year before and had seven
teams scheduled from the previous season’s top 13 rankings. The Irish outscored opponents 340-69 and
won a national title despite losing to Great Lakes in the season finale.
Notre Dame established themselves as the team of the decade by winning three more national
championships in the 1940s. A scoreless tie with a dominating Army team was the only red mark on Notre
Dame’s 1946 squad that outscored opponents by a 271-24 margin. The Fighting Irish were even more
dominating the next season, as Johnny Lujack’s Heisman winning performance helped propel the Golden
Domes to an undefeated season and the 1947 national title.
Frank Leahy’s squad added an exclamation point to the 1940s being the decade of the Irish when they won
their fourth national title in 10 years. On their way to an undefeated 1949 season, Notre Dame rode the
coattails of Heisman winner Leon Hart. By the time Notre Dame upended SMU at the end of the 1949
campaign, the Irish had a 38 game unbeaten streak that dated back to 1946.
The Ara Parseghian era began in fine fashion when Notre Dame’s new coach led the school to a national
championship claim in 1964. Parseghian’s first campaign also produced Heisman winner John Huarte as
the Irish went 9-1 after losing to USC in the season finale.
Notre Dame was near perfection in 1966 when they outscored their opponents 362-38 while tossing six
shutouts. A late season contest featuring the top ranked Irish against No. 2 Michigan State was fought to a
10-10 tie and hailed by many as the “Game of the Century.”
Ara’s final national title was gained in 1973 when the Irish swept through all 12 opponents before beating
Alabama in a classic Sugar Bowl. The game pitted the No. 3 ranked Irish against the nation’s top ranked
team led by Bear Bryant. The lead changed six times before Notre Dame sealed a 24-23 victory in the fourth
quarter.
The Fighting Irish got a Divine performance in 1977 when they earned their second national title of the
1970s. Dan Devine’s squad had to overcame a loss to Ole Miss in the second game of the season. A 49-
19 whipping of fifth ranked USC in mid season followed by an upset win over top ranked Texas boosted the
Irish.
Notre Dame’s final national championship team was led by Lou Holtz in 1988. Holtz’s squad benefited from
the luck of the Irish as they narrowly beat Michigan 19-17 in the season opener and Miami 31-30 midway
through the season. A 34-21 whipping of West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl sealed a unanimous title
selection.
REC COACH
1924 10-0 Knute Rockne Unanimous
1929 9-0 Knute Rockne Unanimous
1930 10-0 Knute Rockne HAF, NCF
1943 9-1 Frank Leahy Unanimous
1946 8-0-1 Frank Leahy AP
1947 9-0 Frank Leahy Unanimous
1949 10-0 Frank Leahy Unanimous
1964 9-1 Ara Parseghian NFF
1966 9-0-1 Ara Parseghian AP, UPI, FWAA, NFF,
1973 11-0 Ara Parseghian AP, UPI, FWAA, NFF,
1977 11-1 Dan Devine Unanimous
1988 12-0 Lou Holtz Unanimous
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