Rebounding From A Tragedy - Sports

On April 20, 1999, two deranged teenagers, named Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, led a massacre of their fellow students at Columbine High School. The two boys, who were armed with guns, bombs, and knives, slayed 12 students and 1 faculty member on that fateful day before committing suicide. This article, though, is not about the tragedy that occurred on that April day - rather, it involves a football team who would stop at nothing to remember the lost.

For nearly seven months after the shooting, the small town of Littleton, Colorado, was enshrouded with grief and sadness. Many people wondered if the town and the people would ever recover. However, at the onset of the 1999 high school football season, the people of Littleton united together around the team that had seen so much.

The Columbine Rebels, as they were called, were not expected to do much in the 1999 season. Not only was the grief an overwhelming factor on the whole town, but Columbine simply did not have the talent to do much. This was exemplified by the loss of two key players in the shooting. The first was Isaiah Shoels, a 4' 11' spark plug of a senior who coulld bench press twice his own weight. The other was 16-year old Matt Ketcher, a linebacker that wore No. 70 and anchored the team's defense. Many of the members of the team were extremely close to Ketcher, especially fellow linebacker Zach Rauzi, who went so far as to get a tattoo of his friend;s initials, MJK, and a cross on his arm. Though it seemed that this team would make no noise at all in regards to skill, there is one thing they truly did not lack - heart.

At the beginning of the season, the whole Columbine team dedicated the upcoming season to slain linebacker Matt Ketcher. "You're definitely motivated by Matt because he doesn't have the opportunity to do this and we do," said fellow linebacker Ryan Barrett, who was also Ketcher's best friend. "It's hard when you lose a person, and especially when they belong to a family like the team. We treat ourselves as brothers and when you lose a brother, it's pretty hard." added another member of the team E.R. Wolf. And it seemed that maybe Ketcher's spirit was with them through the whole year, as the Rebels survived the 9-game season and advanced to the Colorado state playoffs, going solely on heart and the dtermination to avenge the losses of their loved ones. This team was not fantastic, but it was a classic example of a group of teenagers tied together by the deep sacrifices that lay within. That team played "Rebelball," and they gave everything they had to win one for Littleton, Colorado.

Columbine was a large enough school to play in class 5A, where they met Rocky Mountain in the first round of the high school football playoffs. In classic Rebelball fashion, the Columbine faithful watched their squad grind out a 19-6 win to advance to the quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinals, though, it seemed that the dream season would all come to a close. Fairview High School of Boulder, Colorado, a football powerhouse, led the Rebels 17-0 in the fourth quarter. The Rebles on the bench and on the field prayed for a win, prayed that they could keep going for Matt and Isaiah and all the others who were killed. And, suddenly, a miracle came. Columbine, not wanting to let this fabtasy season die, and, hoping to unite their town around them, scored three straight touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull of an unprecedented 21-17 win. This set off a flurry of tears among nearly everyone in the stadium, fan or foe alike. The Rebels gathered in a circle, and through tears, chanted, "MJK! MJK! MJK!" Some believed that it was Ketcher's hand that guided the Rebels throughout the whole game. "After that game, I was speechless," Columbine coach Andy Lowry said. "I know God has a lot more important things to do than concern himself with a football te am, but it sure took some kind of divine intervention."

It had been an amazing win for the Rebels, but they still had two wins to go. Inspired by their fantastic quarterfinals victory, the Rebels went on to smash Ponderosa High, 26-8, to advance to the championship game. But it was this task that was the most daunting yet. There, Columbine would face Cherry Creek High School, who most certainly defined the word "dyansty." They were like the Patriots in the NFL, or the Yankees of major league baseball. The Cherry Creek team had already won 7 championships in the 1990s, and they were bidding for an eighth. It was the first time in history that the Columbine Rebels had ever played in a state championship game. To quote the movie 'Dodgeball', it was "a David and Goliath story truer than the Bible itself." There was no hope for the Rebels. But many in Littleton believed that just playing in the game was the spark they needed to regroup after the horrendous tragedy that defined Columbine High School. "The accomplishments of the footb all team are just one of the many that have helped in the healing process," noted Columbine High Principal Frank D'Angelis. "It's nice to see kids smiling and be kids again." But as D'Angelis adds, one football game cannot do everything. "I think we learn to cope, and I think time will heal, but we'll never forget the kids who lost their lives last year," D'Angelis said. "They'll always be with us, and I think the scars will be with us until the day we die." This may have been true, but that team of 16, 17, and 18 year-olds was determined to bring that trophy home to Littleton, Colorado.

In the championship game, which occurred in Denver, Colorado, the Rebels needed to muster one more win to bring home that championship. They started off hot, and never looked back, defeating Cherry Creek 21-14 in a nailbiter. It was over! The Columbine Rebels had won the state championship for Class 5A! But, as the people of Littleton will say to this day, it was so much more than a football game, or just a football team. That season began the healing process on a town that had seen so much, too much. It seems that fate saw that those kids needed something, anything, to get back on their feet, and fate may have just blessed that young football team to a state championship.

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Academics Vs. Athletics - Sports

Earlier today I put up a thread just wanting to know what is high school football like where you live. I got a lot of great comments. One in particular got me thinking. How important is football in high schools, as well as other high school athletics, like around the country? Has high school athletics become more important than the academics? Is all the energy and funding being taken away from our math and science departments to fund that $20 million dollar sports complex? Can there ever be a balance for both education and fine arts and athletics so one side doesn't feel cheated over the other?

For me this an interesting arguement. I am a math teacher as well as a huge sports nut. You can find me every Friday night at our school's football games, Tuesday and Friday nights at basketball games, during the weekends for baseball and softball series. I also make it point to attend choir and band concerts, academic meets, and club meetings. This argument has been huge in the state of Texas. Especially when it comes to football. See, in Texas when it is high school football season the whole state shuts down from August to December. There are great rivalries and traditions all over the state. From the Midland-Odessa area to Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and up and down the eastern portion of the state. The bigger areas have their own districts. Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston have several districts where it's all Dallas schools or all Austin schools and so on. When it comes to the small towns, they will literally be a ghost town Friday afternoons and eve nings. I say all of this to say that football in Texas is a god. Not only in high school but in all levels. Now you have basketball, softball, and baseball almost coming to that same plateau. This in turns lies the problem. Where does the academics fit in?

This arguement came to the forefront in Texas in 1984 when Governor Mark White passed a bill called No Pass No Play. If you were failing at the end of a grading period, you couldn't play or do anything in any extracurricular activities. This put all the coaches up in arms. They didn't what to do. You heard of stories of coaches to trying to get teachers to pass their star athletes so they can play. Principals would even look the other way when it did occur. A lot of teachers were having to feel the pressure of not only teaching, but making sure the athletes passed so they could play. This pressure wasn't only from the coaches. Within the past 5 years this rule as been revised. Now instead of an athlete, cheerleader, band student, whatever failied a class he/she would be able to play after only 3 weeks if he/she was passing instead of waiting the whole grading period to play again. So, again I ask the question what has become more important? Is it athletics or academics?

You can also apply the question to funding. It seems everywhere I look there are more bond issues being voted on for districts to build major sports complexes. I have seen where high school football stadiums look better than some universities in Texas. But yet I don't see many bond issues to have money for band programs needing new instruments or math and english classes needing more technology to help with their teaching. In Texas the junior colleges are getting better football teams because athletes can't seem to get into 4 year schools because they don't meet entrance requirements. A lot of it has to deal with academics.

My next question then is where is the balance? Where can we find equal ground so everyone wins? I really don't know the answer to this question. As a teacher of mathematics I would love to see more money go to resources for teachers to help students meet entrance exams into 4 year colleges and universities. The technology is not in a lot of the smaller districts because the funds aren't there. In some districts, calcultors can't even be bought. That is a major problem. The state exam for high school requires that the students use a calculator on their math exam. These are the same districts, however, that have wonderful team uniforms and sports complexes. On the other hand, I want to see my school win a state championship in any sport. Do whatever it takes to win. Except for cheating of course. So, can there be a balance?

Again, I don't have all the answers. I have only tapped into the top of the iceberg here. I would like to know if people see the same thing in their schools. I wonder what it would be like to have athletics and academics all on the same playing field.

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Friday night lights has spoiled me for all other shows - Entertainment - Television

Friday Night Lights is an American television series adapted by Peter Berg, Brian Grazer and David Nevins from a book and film of the same name. During the first three seasons, the series details events surrounding the Dillon Panthers, a high school football team based in fictional Dillon, Texas, with particular focus given to team coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) and his family. In the fourth season, Taylor becomes coach of the Lions at East Dillon High School, set in the poorer side of Dillon with a larger African American population. The show uses this small-town backdrop to address many issues facing contemporary Middle America, including school funding, racism, drugs, abortion, and lack of economic opportunities.

As a show about the community of Dillon, Texas and how the high school football team affects the town as a whole, Friday Night Lights has an ensemble cast. While screen time of characters varies from episode to episode, the show is most focused on Panthers' football coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler), who strives to balance his emphasis on family, his status in a sometimes confrontational community, and his personal ambitions. His family - wife Tami Taylor (Connie Britton), a guidance counselor turned principal at Dillon High, and teenage daughter Julie Taylor (Aimee Teegarden) - are also central to the show. When Tami becomes pregnant and gives birth to Gracie Taylor, tensions within the family increase and Julie becomes more rebellious.

Outside of the Taylor family, the show focuses on the respective lives of the Dillon's high school football players. In the series' first episode, star quarterback Jason Street (Scott Porter) suffers an injury that leads to an end to his football career and a disability that he resists and then learns to cope with throughout the series. Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly), who at the time of Jason's injury was his girlfriend, parallels his story, as she goes from a Panther cheerleader to a Christian youth leader.

As a result of Jason's injury, shy and nervous Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) becomes the Panthers' starting quarterback and eventually dates Julie. It is also revealed that Matt's father is serving in Iraq and that he must therefore care for his grandmother Lorraine Saracen (Louanne Stephens) by himself, with help only from his best friend Landry Clarke (Jesse Plemons), and eventual live-in nurse and love interest Carlotta Alonso (Daniella Alonso). Brash star running back Brian "Smash" Williams's (Gaius Charles) quest for a college football scholarship and fullback Tim Riggins' (Taylor Kitsch) tale of on-and-off alcoholism and party-life are told as well. Tyra Collette (Adrianne Palicki) also stars as a town vixen who goes from Tim's occasional girlfriend to Landry's lover following Landry's defense of her from a rapist.

As a show about the community of Dillon, Texas and how the high school football team affects the town as a whole, Friday Night Lights has an ensemble cast. While screen time of characters varies from episode to episode, the show is most focused on Panthers' football coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler), who strives to balance his emphasis on family, his status in a sometimes confrontational community, and his personal ambitions. His family - wife Tami Taylor (Connie Britton), a guidance counselor turned principal at Dillon High, and teenage daughter Julie Taylor (Aimee Teegarden) - are also central to the show. When Tami becomes pregnant and gives birth to Gracie Taylor, tensions within the family increase and Julie becomes more rebellious.

Outside of the Taylor family, the show focuses on the respective lives of the Dillon's high school football players. In the series' first episode, star quarterback Jason Street (Scott Porter) suffers an injury that leads to an end to his football career and a disability that he resists and then learns to cope with throughout the series. Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly), who at the time of Jason's injury was his girlfriend, parallels his story, as she goes from a Panther cheerleader to a Christian youth leader.

As a result of Jason's injury, shy and nervous Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) becomes the Panthers' starting quarterback and eventually dates Julie. It is also revealed that Matt's father is serving in Iraq and that he must therefore care for his grandmother Lorraine Saracen (Louanne Stephens) by himself, with help only from his best friend Landry Clarke (Jesse Plemons), and eventual live-in nurse and love interest Carlotta Alonso (Daniella Alonso). Brash star running back Brian "Smash" Williams's (Gaius Charles) quest for a college football scholarship and fullback Tim Riggins' (Taylor Kitsch) tale of on-and-off alcoholism and party-life are told as well. Tyra Collette (Adrianne Palicki) also stars as a town vixen who goes from Tim's occasional girlfriend to Landry's lover following Landry's defense of her from a rapist.

I just recently became addicted to Friday night lights, which has long haunted perhaps some metaphysical fantasy set in a desert island and about a certain style melodrama about the family of a man of the mafia. This show has no mob hits, not the sixties nostalgia on Madison Avenue, not housewives (or chemistry teachers) drug trafficking, no musical numbers, no hidden references to the Egyptian hieroglyphics or quantum physics. However, despite all these terrible failures, (Intelligent sarcasm) is a masterpiece. I'm not anti-Lost. I enjoyed the show immensely, with all faults. However, this show is somewhat higher. It is, in fact, a photo-realistic image of life in a small town in Texas, very well written and beautifully acted. The range with some other programs that are overlooked and sadly forgotten by all but some people with good taste: The Call to Glory, Homefront and I'll Fly Away, among others. Somehow, this is a show worthy of the golden age of television "sooial d rama" Naked City, The Defenders, Mr. Novak, Ben Casey, The Fugitive (a social commentary disguised as a thriller), Route 66, People Slattery and West Side East Side. Like the best episodes of the shows, Friday Night Lights offers more questions than answers. This show is one of the best ever. I pray sometimes enigmatic Providence not disappear from the airwaves.

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College Football Week 2: Carolina Blue - Sports

The University of North Carolina football team plays 17 home games a year and wins none of them.

At least that's the way it seems, right? Don't you picture mustachioed head coach John Bunting charging onto the field with thousands of sky-blue-clad fans waving slightly effeminate-looking pompoms, the natural grass in Chapel Hill contrasting nicely with both the cornflower-blue of the team's home jerseys and the gas-light blue of the crisp autumn sky...only to watch Carolina get absolutely waxed? In actuality, since Bunting replaced Carl Torbush (who replaced Mack Brown) at UNC in 2001, Carolina is 24-36, putting it right up there with the University of Illinois and the University of Arizona, pretty nice company in college hoops, but pretty crummy cohorts here in the land of college pigskin.

Those who say North Carolina is a tough place to win college football games (because of the school's emphasis on basketball) never told Brown, who post three 10+ win seasons in his tenure at Carolina, including back-to-back 10-2 and 11-1 seasons in 1996 and 1997 that got him the University of Texas job. Whether Torbush destroyed the program before Bunting got there or whether Bunting participated in the job, the school hasn't posted a winning season since Bunting's first year ('01), and if last weekend's icky home loss as a favorite against Rutgers is any indication, things aren't any better this year down Tar Heel way.

This week, Carolina is home yet again (surprise!) against Virginia Tech, who's coming off a season-opening mauling of Northeastern, 38-0, in which (surprise!) Tech blocked a punt, making it the 109th time in coach Frank Beamer's (and his goiter's) 228 games that the team has blocked a kick. This may be something of a down year by the Hokies' lofty standards, as Marcus Vick's dismissal from the quarterback role left a void that sophomore Sean Glennon, who'd never started a collegiate game, will have to fill, and the departure of tailback Cedric Humes means Branden Ore will have to handle backfield duties mostly by himself. But there are few reasons to believe Tech doesn't have enough in '06 to handle Carolina, and then some. They defeated the Tar Heels 30-3 last season in Blacksburg (though to be fair, Carolina kept the previous season's meeting closer, losing only 27-24).

But here's the thing: Beamer is mercy-free. His teams are 9-2 against the spread in their last 11 games where they were favored by 10.5 points or more, 5-0 in their last five against the spread as a road favorite, and 7-0 against the spread overall in their last seven road games. Carolina is better as a home 'dog (5-1 ATS) than as a favorite, but in the recent past are 0-4 ATS overall, 0-3 ATS in their last three conference games, and 0-3 ATS in their last three home games (including the loss as a fave last week to New Jersey's finest). Really, the Rutgers loss last week wasn't as close as the score indicates; the Scarlet Knights led 21-10 midway through the fourth quarter, and had the ball, but nearly choked away the win late. Most troubling was the fact that Rutgers' tailback, Ray Rice, rushed for a career-high 201 yards. Ore is quite a bit more heralded than Rice (he was a prep All-American), and is one of the more explosive open-field players in the ACC.

I don't think Carolina can contain Ore, and I don't worry that the Hokies will let down after a big opener. I am eyeballing that Carolina record as a home 'dog, but in the end, I'm relying on Beamer's lack of mercy and taking Virginia Tech at Carolina (-11.5).

Last Week: Oops. Color me fooled by the California Golden Bears. Rarely has a team looked less-prepared than Cal did last week traveling across the country to be humiliated on national TV by the Tennessee Volunteers. I'm not quite ready to anoint the Vols as the favorite in the SEC East just yet; I think last weekend's whooping (which I picked against, by the way) was more a product of unbelievable and utter flatness on the part of Cal. But Bears fans have to be concerned about a QB situation that, contrary to my assertions last weekend, are absolutely not solved by Nate Longshore's return from injury. Joe Ayoob probably actually looked better than Longshore, and even seemed as though he might lead a fiery comeback, but then his old inaccuracy reared its head, and the game was sealed. Either way, it was a bad pick, and I'm 0-1 on the young season against the number.

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Notre Dame Football Tickets - A Lineage Of Legendary Coaches - Sports

Notre Dame football tickets are a treasure, as millions of fans around the world sit on the edge of their seats every time the Fighting Irish play a game. The Irish can boast of a long and incredibly successful football history, and the academic reputation of the school is commensurate with the team's on-field success. The best way to look at the history of this storied program is to break it down into periods of coaching, as the team has been competing at a high level for over 100 years.

Early Years

The Irish endured humble beginnings, and were beaten regularly by what would become their arch-rival, the University of Michigan. However, the team finally broke through against the Wolverines in 1909, and Michigan refused to play Notre Dame again for 33 years. Their 11-3 win represented their biggest triumph since the program began in 1887, and set the stage for the arrival of their first coaching legend.

The Rockne Era

Kenneth "Knute" Rockne arrived on campus in 1918, and immediately took the program to new heights. Rockne posted a record of 105 wins and 12 losses with 5 ties in his 13 seasons as coach, and the Irish won six national championships and enjoyed five undefeated seasons. Rockne also coached several playing legends, including George "The Gipper" Gipp and the Four Horsemen. Thanks to Rockne, the Irish had become the premier college football program in the United States. However, Rockne tragically died in a plane crash in 1931, and the program suffered for a time because of this unexpected loss.

The Leahy Era

Frank Leahy arrived in South Bend in 1941, and he coached Notre Dame until 1953. However, Leahy did leave the program in 1944 and 1945 to fight in World War II. Leahy posted a record nearly equal to Rockne's, and he posted six undefeated seasons. Leahy also guided the team to 39 games without a loss, and oversaw one of the greatest eras in the history of Notre Dame football. Much like after Rockne left, Notre Dame football struggled for ten years until another legendary coach arrived.

The Parseghian Era

Ara Parseghian arrived in 1964, and he, like Leahy, immediately restored Notre Dame to its customary place at the top of the college football world. Parseghian won nearly 100 games in only nine seasons, and he ushered in a new phenomenon in Notre Dame football tickets by helping to end the policy of not playing in bowl games in 1969. Under Parseghian, the team won two more national championships and its first bowl games.

Modern Era

Several other coaches have followed these legends with varying degrees of success. Dan Devine continued the success with another national championship, but his successor, Gerry Faust, never enjoyed more than seven wins during the regular season.

Lou Holtz followed Faust, and he led the Irish to their most recent national championship to date in 1988. Following Holtz, the Irish struggled with the likes of Bob Davie and Tyrone Willingham, but their current coach, Charlie Weis, has shown great promise during his short time in South Bend.

Notre Dame football has also allowed fans to see a plethora of great players, but their program was put together by a string of Hall of Fame coaches. These transcendent leaders are the main reason that Notre Dame football tickets are so special, and why Notre Dame is still seen as the premier college football program in the country.

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Get More Information on New York Summer High Schools - Education

Getting an internship while in high school is not common practice, but it can pave the way for the student's future career. High school work experience in an area of career interest will provide the student with valuable skills and experience. Very few high school state champions or NCAA champions wrestle only during the regular scholastic season. Most elite wrestlers do not simply wrestle three or four months out of the year. Per iodization is simply the planning of your training for a specific period of time. Different types of Periodization exist including linear, undulating, concurrent, and conjugate. Periodization consists primarily of three phases: the preparatory, competitive, and transition phases.

Whether looking for a Christian academy, Jewish academy, private high schools or private elementary schools, taking a school tour is usually the first step in the application process. Tours, or open houses, are done differently in each school. Therefore, touring with a purpose is important in finding and getting into the private school of your choice. Touring a private school is much more than seeing if you get that "good" feeling about the place. Going on a tour is like looking for a job. You want a place where you can grow, be challenged and that will be fun. To do that you need to... rock your private school tours!

Free New York online high schools are becoming increasingly common. Less than three years ago, a student would have to look far and wide to find a program that was not either a commercial school or a university-based school. There are three basic kinds of free online high schools. They are: Charter schools, Department of Education-sponsored or school-district-sponsored schools, Corporate-sponsored, but state-approved schools. It's no surprise that New York high-school football is a dangerous sport. Permission for child to play means accepting the increased risk of torn ligaments, broken bones, and head injuries. But most recently, child safety experts have suggested that the risk of head injuries could be much higher than originally thought. But High School Football was the greatest preparation for the challenges that life could deliver. Participating in high school football sports is important for motor skill development, maintaining a healthy exercise program and provide s for a release of anger when the academic stressors become overwhelming.

If you are serious about making college coaches aware of you and your basketball abilities and skills, attend a fall NCAA-certified event. An NCAA-Certified event is a basketball tournament or camp that college coaches attend to see play of girls basketball high school. The NCAA has to approve the event in order for it to be considered certified. Once your basketball season is over don't sit down and do nothing. This creates stagnation in your performance and development. If possible, find a team to play with. Playing with a team during the summer months in New York provides great benefits for a player.

The point is that New York junior Middle Schools recognize younger kids shouldn't be treated like older kids. Many of the original concepts have fallen by the way side, but much of the core, like interdisciplinary courses, Connections courses, common planning time, and the team centered scheduling approach remain an active part of schools today. Before summer truly begins a special occasion must take place for it to really be summer vacation, and that's graduation. A graduation gift for a Middle School/Junior High Grad has to be something that your pre-teen or new teen will enjoy.

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Notre Dame Football Tickets - A Lineage Of Legendary Coaches - Sports

Notre Dame football tickets are a treasure, as millions of fans around the world sit on the edge of their seats every time the Fighting Irish play a game. The Irish can boast of a long and incredibly successful football history, and the academic reputation of the school is commensurate with the team's on-field success. The best way to look at the history of this storied program is to break it down into periods of coaching, as the team has been competing at a high level for over 100 years.

Early Years

The Irish endured humble beginnings, and were beaten regularly by what would become their arch-rival, the University of Michigan. However, the team finally broke through against the Wolverines in 1909, and Michigan refused to play Notre Dame again for 33 years. Their 11-3 win represented their biggest triumph since the program began in 1887, and set the stage for the arrival of their first coaching legend.

The Rockne Era

Kenneth "Knute" Rockne arrived on campus in 1918, and immediately took the program to new heights. Rockne posted a record of 105 wins and 12 losses with 5 ties in his 13 seasons as coach, and the Irish won six national championships and enjoyed five undefeated seasons. Rockne also coached several playing legends, including George "The Gipper" Gipp and the Four Horsemen. Thanks to Rockne, the Irish had become the premier college football program in the United States. However, Rockne tragically died in a plane crash in 1931, and the program suffered for a time because of this unexpected loss.

The Leahy Era

Frank Leahy arrived in South Bend in 1941, and he coached Notre Dame until 1953. However, Leahy did leave the program in 1944 and 1945 to fight in World War II. Leahy posted a record nearly equal to Rockne's, and he posted six undefeated seasons. Leahy also guided the team to 39 games without a loss, and oversaw one of the greatest eras in the history of Notre Dame football. Much like after Rockne left, Notre Dame football struggled for ten years until another legendary coach arrived.

The Parseghian Era

Ara Parseghian arrived in 1964, and he, like Leahy, immediately restored Notre Dame to its customary place at the top of the college football world. Parseghian won nearly 100 games in only nine seasons, and he ushered in a new phenomenon in Notre Dame football tickets by helping to end the policy of not playing in bowl games in 1969. Under Parseghian, the team won two more national championships and its first bowl games.

Modern Era

Several other coaches have followed these legends with varying degrees of success. Dan Devine continued the success with another national championship, but his successor, Gerry Faust, never enjoyed more than seven wins during the regular season.

Lou Holtz followed Faust, and he led the Irish to their most recent national championship to date in 1988. Following Holtz, the Irish struggled with the likes of Bob Davie and Tyrone Willingham, but their current coach, Charlie Weis, has shown great promise during his short time in South Bend.

Notre Dame football has also allowed fans to see a plethora of great players, but their program was put together by a string of Hall of Fame coaches. These transcendent leaders are the main reason that Notre Dame football tickets are so special, and why Notre Dame is still seen as the premier college football program in the country.

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