A True Notre Dame Man, Gerry Faust Will Be Missed

The year was 2006. This was my second football season writing for Blue & Gold Illustrated. 

In September of that year, I crossed paths for the first time with former Irish head coach Gerry Faust in the Notre Dame Stadium press box before a game against Purdue. 

A bit star struck, I minded my own business and tried to silently walk by the former Notre Dame skipper with a smile and a head nod.

Instead, Faust stopped me to shake my hand and compliment the work we were doing at BGI under the leadership of our late senior editor Lou Somogyi, another Irish legend who Faust had forged a strong friendship with. 

Stunned but appreciative that Faust recognized our work, I ended up chatting with the popular Irish coach for about a half hour.

Faust talked, and I listened, as the Dayton, Ohio, native shared stories about how recruiting had changed, how Notre Dame Stadium had changed, how the monetary influences had changed, and how everything in and around campus had changed, except for national championship expectations. 

Make no mistake. Faust held no resentment toward a university that let him go in 1985 after he went 30-26-1 during his five seasons on the job.

Instead, his message was one of reverence and respect as he spoke about his time at Notre Dame, and how he would forever hold this campus dear to his heart.

Faust remained a fixture in the Notre Dame Stadium press box for years. 

Out of routine, he attended four Irish home games each season, and he wasn’t shy to share stories with anyone willing to listen. You could here Faust’s raspy and booming, yet gentle voice from anywhere in the room.

“The first thing I do when I arrive [on campus] every time, is visit the Grotto,” Faust said in a 2015 story for the Notre Dame magazine Strong of Heart. “And the first thing I do there is thank the good Lord for having had the opportunity to coach at Notre Dame.”

Gerard Anthony Faust, the Irish head coach from 40 years ago, died on Nov. 11, at age 89.

The Faust family released a statement via social media to announce their patriarch’s passing.

“Throughout an extraordinary life driven by unwavering and deep devotion to his Catholic faith, he was a beloved mentor to countless young men both on and off the playing field,” the statement read in part. “His work ethic, optimism, leadership and humility were legendary.”

Fondly Remembered

These are the thoughts that need to be shared upon the passing of Gerry Faust, appreciative tributes that stretch well beyond his .535 winning percentage at Notre Dame, and a 58-7 loss to No. 4 Miami to finish his Irish career. 

A solid recruiter, the final class that Faust built in 1985 became the senior stalwarts on the 1988 National Championship team that Lou Holtz coached. 

And in 1984, Faust found and offered a scholarship to a young high school wide receiver out of Dallas named Tim Brown, a move that is forever appreciated by the 1987 Heisman Trophy winner. 

“Today, we lost the man that had the nerve to offer a kid a scholarship who was on a team that won 4 games in 3 years in high school,” Brown posted on social media in tribute of Faust’s passing. “When no one else saw anything in me, he offered me a scholarship.”

Faust’s Irish coaching debut came in 1981 when his No. 4 Irish beat LSU 27-9. 

Following the game, Notre Dame was immediately lifted to No. 1 in the country, and some newspaper headlines proclaimed that Faust may never lose a game at Notre Dame. 

The following Saturday, No. 11 Michigan beat the top-ranked Irish 25-7, marking the first of four losses for Notre Dame in its next five outings. 

The Irish never won more than 7 games in any of Faust’s five seasons, and they were unranked more than they were ranked during his 57 games on the job. 

But I still write this because during these modern times of college athletics, when winning games and earning money are all that matter, Faust put the student before athlete, and touched countless lives in doing so.

Be it in the press box or on the telephone, I stayed in contact with Coach Faust for about 10 years until his age caught up with him. 

And that’s okay, because like so many of his former players, his friends, his family members and associates, I’m blessed to have been so graciously touched by the Irish coach with a lousy record, but the one who might best define the Blue and Gold.