Former Notre Dame football coach Gerry Faust dies at 89

Gerry Faust, the successor to Dan Devine and Lou Holtz‘s predecessor as Notre Dame football’s head coach, has passed away, per a statement from his family. Faust was 89.

“Throughout an extraordinary life driven by an unwavering and deep devotion to his Catholic faith, he was a beloved mentor to countless young men on and off the playing field,” the Faust family statement said. “His work ethic, optimism, leadership and humility were legendary. He leaves behind a legacy of perseverance, compassion and inspiration, reminding us all of the extraordinary impact one life can have.

“While most knew him as a coach, we will long remember him as a wonderful father and a grandfather who inspired us through example to live our best lives.”

Faust was the longtime head coach of Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati from 1962 until he took over at Notre Dame in 1981. Moeller High released a video on Vimeo commemorating Faust’s life achievements, which included amassing a record at Moeller of 118-30-2 according to the video.

“But it wasn’t just the trophies that defined Faust’s career,” the video narrator said. “It was his unwavering dedication to his faith and to his players. Time and time again, Moeller alumni would often say Coach Faust embodied everything it meant to be a man of Moeller. He inspired his players to be men of character.

Moeller was a popular pipeline and fertile recruiting ground for Notre Dame. Seeing how much success Faust had in producing “Notre Dame men,” the Fighting Irish administration gave Faust a shot at holding one of the top jobs in all of football.

“Gerry’s a great gentleman,” Father Theodore Hesburgh, Notre Dame’s 15th university president, is quoted as saying in Steve Delsohn‘s oral history of Notre Dame Football, “Talking Irish.” “He’s a wonderful Christian. He’s generous to a fault. There isn’t a nicer guy walking around. We felt he was someone to take a chance on.”

Faust couldn’t quite figure out how to turn that support into a successful tenure, though. He logged a record of 30-26-1 in five seasons at the helm in South Bend before moving on to coach at Akron for almost a decade. At that institution in his home state of Ohio, Faust compiled a mark of 43-53-3 to finish his college coaching career with a final line of 73-79-4.

By all accounts, though, Irish players loved to play for Faust as much as his high schoolers did. And Faust, a Dayton native, loved Notre Dame just as much as his players loved him. He always had an undying affinity for the university. He just wasn’t able to turn strong relationships and passion for the program into a high rate of winning.

Faust announced his resignation on Nov. 26, 1985, four days before Notre Dame lost 58-7 to No. 4 Miami in what was Faust’s last game with the Irish. Notre Dame finished 5-6 that season.

“I wanted to take the pressure off the players,” Faust said in Delsohn’s book. “They were under so much stress, they weren’t performing up to their capabilities. I also wanted Notre Dame to get a new coach quickly. I knew it would help their recruiting, because it was about to start the following week.”

After his time at Akron, Faust told John Walters he returned to Notre Dame for four games a year for some time. His visits to South Bend always began with a trip to the Grotto.

“The first thing I do there is thank the good Lord for having the opportunity to coach at Notre Dame,” he told Walters.