pus a day or two before the game to get the full experience of the entire school.

Furthermore, he will have his team tour the sights, including Sacred Heart Basilica and the Grotto, the day before the game. SEPT. 27, 2017 ✦ MIAMI (OHIO) AT NOTRE DAME Game Info “We’ve got to get there Friday and show them the venue and show them the Date: Sept. 30, 2017. campus just so on Saturday they’re not, ‘Oh, my God, look at this place,’” Martin Site: (77,622). said. “We’ve got to get all the, ‘Hey, this place is really cool’ out of the way on Kickoff: 5 p.m. ET. Friday so we can just focus in and play on Saturday. Television: NBC Sports Network. Radio: This broadcast can be heard live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (channel 129) and on Notre Dame’s IMG “If you’re a sports fan at all, we have the opportunity to go to play, in my affiliates. opinion, the most storied venue in the history of sports. I was fortunate to be on Series Facts: This is the second meeting between Notre Dame and Miami (Ohio). The Irish lead the all-time series 1-0. the other side of that storied venue for four years — and even before that for 40 Head Coaches: Miami (Ohio) — Chuck Martin (13‑28, fourth season); Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (62‑32, some years as a fan I was on that side.” eighth season). Noting Miami (Ohio): The first and only meeting between these two programs was in 1909, and the Irish The Chicago native said his love affair with the school began in 1973 when as came out on top by a score of 46-0 … Martin was 74-7 in six seasons as the at Grand Valley State … a 5-year-old he watched Notre Dame’s 24-23 win versus Alabama Martin was Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator in 2012, when the Irish finished the season 12‑1 and played in that clinched the national title. The head coach then was , whose the BCS National Championship Game … Three Miami (Ohio) assistant coaches worked at Notre Dame during funeral Martin attended this August at Notre Dame’s Sacred Heart Basilica. Kelly’s tenure — wide receivers coach Bill Brechin was an intern in 2010 and 2011 before becoming a graduate Miami (Ohio) just happens to be the alma mater of Parseghian. assistant in 2012; defensive line coach Corey Brown was a defensive graduate assistant (2012‑13); and tight ends coach Pat Welsh was an offensive graduate assistant (2012‑13). In between winning two Division II national titles under Kelly and helping lead the Irish to the BCS National Championship Game against Alabama as the offensive coordinator/ coach in 2012, Martin experienced his own immense success as a head coach when he succeeded Kelly at GVSU. From 2004- 09 Martin posted a 74-7 record, highlighted by national titles in 2005 and 2006, and losing in the championship in 2009 before joining Kelly at Notre Dame. Notre Dame & Chuck Martin: When Martin was hired by Kelly at GVSU in 2000, the Lakers were at their na- A Bittersweet Day Coming dir in Kelly’s nine seasons after finishing 5-5 in 1999. The first year with Martin Lou Somogyi | Senior Editor improved to 7-4 — still the second-most losses in a season under Kelly — and then records of 13-1, 14-0 and 14-1 ensued, with the two national titles. The affinity toward the still shines through in Mi- ami (Ohio) fourth-year head coach Chuck Martin, and so does the trademark In that transition, Kelly went from a pro-style offense to a spread that better sense of humor. fit his personnel. When Kelly reached rock bottom last season in year seven at Notre Dame with a 4-8 record and made sweeping changes, Martin sensed the Thus, to bring his RedHawks to Notre Dame Stadium this Saturday will be Irish would soon rise again in spite of all the “hot seat” and the “sky is falling” the ultimate bittersweet experience for the 49-year-old who served under Brian conversation that hovered about Kelly’s future. Kelly first at Grand Valley State from 2000-03 and then at Notre Dame from 2010-13. “The thing about him that is unique I think is he can always keep a clear mind and make clear decisions,” Martin said. “He always has assessed his teams and “I’m almost 50 years old and I’ve never not rooted for Notre Dame a day in his organization and looked at all phases on and off the field, and he’s always my life,” Martin shared during his teleconference on Monday. “Saturday at 5 been able to sit back and make clear decisions.” o’clock I’m going to be rooting against Notre Dame, so that will be a little bit awkward for me.” When necessary, Kelly can roll with change and adapt, according to Martin. And while he lauds Kelly’s football IQ, as a strategist, he believes Kelly is even He admitted he didn’t seriously reflect about this moment when the game was better at outlining a blueprint for a program and dealing with adjustments. scheduled, but Martin knows he did want the people at Miami to experience the Notre Dame campus, and is ardently lobbying for them to make the trip to cam- “He’s been changing for years subtly,” Martin said. “He doesn’t change his

✦ BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM ✦ 800-421-7751 1 big-picture values, he doesn’t change who he is, but looking at his team and soning is they’ve been through enough fire to have forged steel. what his team needs and what his organization [needs]. … He’s the best off-the- field head coach in the world. Two weeks ago, Martin’s RedHawks led rival Cincinnati 17-6 with 4:45 left in the contest, but self-inflicted wounds resulted in a 21-17 defeat that Martin said “He’s better at figuring things out for his organization — and that’s what I was the most difficult by far in his 25 years of coaching. really tried to do here.” He was concerned how his squad would respond in a tough road game last Martin inherited an 0-12 program that needed to be gutted and reconstructed, week at Central Michigan, but they took a 28-7 first-half lead en route to a improving from 2-10 to his first year to 3-9 his second. An 0-6 start in 2016 left 31‑14 victory to reaffirm their status as favorites this year in the Mid-American him 5-25 after two and a half seasons — and the RedHawks’ senior class 5-37 Conference. overall. “I told the team yesterday we’re kind of like the dumb, tough kid at school — And then Martin and Miami (Ohio) made NCAA history, becoming the first like, we don’t know no better,” Martin said. “We’ve been through a lot rebuild- team to go from 0-6 to 6-6 to earn a bid to the St. Petersburg Bowl, where they ing this thing and some of these kids have been through football purgatory with took SEC member and 15-point favorite Mississippi State to the brink before what they had to go through a couple of years to get to this point. losing 17-16 when a short field goal attempt was blocked to end the game. “Physically, at times, I think we will be overwhelmed at certain positions Although busy schedules have limited their contact in recent years, Martin [against Notre Dame] and you can’t really do nothing about that. I think they’re said Kelly to him is like his parents in that he is someone he can always reference realistic. I don’t have kids that aren’t going to go in there and think Notre as a guide on how to manage a football team or deal with setbacks. Dame’s not very good.

“I know if I ever need something, I call Brian Kelly,” Martin said. “In most “They know Notre Dame’s really good, they know we have an uphill battle, situations I don’t need to call him … I don’t really need to call Brian Kelly to get but at the same point I think they’re excited about going to play, seeing what we his opinion — I pretty much know Brian Kelly’s opinion on everything.” can get done and seeing how many plays we can make against them.

The admiration extends to how Kelly deals with the immense scrutiny that “We’re the kind of kid that you beat us up on Monday, we show up for school comes with the Notre Dame position. Martin recalled how even when the Irish Tuesday — we want to fight you again. It’s just their mentality.” football players did charity work such as have their hair shaved for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to aid cancer research for children, the local “paparazzi” Another example of a team taking on the personality of its coach. would be present.

“That was a place where every time you breathed or sneezed, somebody was writing something,” Martin said with a chuckle. “It’s insane. It doesn’t matter Notre Dame-Miami (Ohio): what we do, there’s somebody watching us. An Icon For Two Schools “The enormity of Notre Dame and the pressure that goes along with it, you Lou Somogyi | Senior Editor have to be a pretty confident dude to be able to deal with that on a daily basis.” Fourth-year Miami (Ohio) head coach Chuck Martin did not necessarily con- Watching Notre Dame this year, Martin believes the Irish will become more verse much with 1964-74 Notre Dame head coach Ara Parseghian personally, yet and more lethal collectively as the season progresses, especially because of the he felt he knew him virtually all his life. presence and versatility of junior Brandon Wimbush. “I’m 5 years old in 1973, and the first thing I know about anything in the world “He can bring things to the table that maybe other quarterbacks couldn’t,” is Ara Parseghian and Notre Dame beating Alabama to win a national title,” said Martin said. “… Using his legs more than other QBs in the past. He’s got such a Martin, who was hooked on Notre Dame thereafter and coached in South Bend strong arm, so he can make every stinkin’ throw look easy.” under Brian Kelly from 2010-13.

While Martin acknowledges there will be some physical mismatches in certain The relationship Martin did have with Parseghian took on a deeper meaning areas with his team against Notre Dame, he does not believe that the moment when he accepted the head coaching job with the RedHawks on Dec. 3, 2013. In will be too big for his three-touchdown underdog RedHawks. Part of the rea- the eight seasons (2006-13) prior to Martin’s arrival, the once-proud RedHawks

✦ BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM ✦ 800-421-7751 2 program was 29-70, with only one winning season, most notably the 0-12 finish When Parseghian accepted the Notre Dame post in December 1963 after the the season before he accepted his current post. Irish had gone through their most miserable eight-year stretch ever (34-45 from 1956-63), including a 2-7 finish the campaign before he arrived, he began one of One of the first people to contact him was Parseghian — Miami (Ohio), class the great renaissances in lore. of 1949, an All-Ohio selection there in 1946-47 before playing with the Browns, and then returning to his alma mater in 1950 as the freshman coach for Two of Parseghian’s assistants at Notre Dame who remained with him all 11 . A year later, Hayes took the Ohio State job and the 27-year-old seasons (plus in previous years) also were Miami (Ohio) graduates: defensive Parseghian was promoted to head coach. backs coach Paul Shoults, who played in the same backfield as Parseghian, and offensive backs coach Tom Pagna, who starred for him at halfback for the “I’m not a memorabilia guy, I’m not a guy that’s very sentimental at all,” Mar- RedHawks. tin said. “I don’t have anything in my office. But there was a note from Ara when I took this job that he wanted to see me get the Cradle of Coaches turned around. Parseghian, who died Aug. 2 at age 94, was 95-17-4 in his 11 seasons at Notre Dame, winning two consensus national titles and sharing a third. His affiliation “One keepsake I have I think in my whole career is a letter from Ara with both schools is not lost on anyone this week. Parseghian.” “I’m sure that there’s a great deal of pride in both institutions, where he Last year when Miami (Ohio) went from 0-6 to 6-6, a first in NCAA history, to started and where he finished — the Cradle of Coaches, and then arguably the earn its first bowl bid in six years, Martin cherished some more correspondence greatest college football tradition,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said. “To be on from Parseghian. both ends of that spectrum, I’m sure it’s satisfying, fulfilling in so many ways that Ara is at the center of that this Saturday.” “He wrote me another note about how proud he was in getting Miami football back to where it belongs,” Martin said. “It means a lot to me not because I knew When news of Parseghian’s death broke, his bronze statue in the south end Ara very well, but just because he’s kind of my childhood idol, the head coach zone at Miami’s Yager Stadium was adorned with flowers honoring the former at Notre Dame, larger than life. multi-sport athlete, coach and advocate for the university.

“For me to take over at his alma mater and then help his alma mater get the Martin attended the funeral at Notre Dame’s Sacred Heart Church, and he will Cradle of Coaches turned back in the right direction, I’m pretty proud of that.” be taking his players on a tour of the campus this Friday. Kelly was asked if he’s met anyone he’s coached who loved Notre Dame more than Martin. Top coaches are often noted for producing “coaching trees,” but no school in college football annals has been more renowned at manufacturing elite coaches “If you take away those that played here, the [Ron] Powluses and the Autry than Miami (Ohio), which is why it has the “Cradle of Coaches” moniker. Densons and the Todd Lyghts … for somebody that never went to Notre Dame, Chuck Martin has got to be at the top of the list,” Kelly said. The tree — as a former player, assistant or head coach at the school — includes NFL, AFL and champion head coaches such as , Sid Parseghian is a major reason why. Gillman, , Sean Payton and , collegiate national champions or Hall of Famers such as , , Hayes, Parseghian, and , and scores of other highly successful figures in the coaching ranks.

Most pertinent for the Notre Dame game this Saturday is Parseghian, who Brian Kelly Notebook: Sept. 26 after taking over from Hayes guided Miami to a 39-6-1 record from 1951-55, Corey Bodden | Staff Writer including a No. 15 finish in his final season, the school’s initial placement in the Associated Press poll. It’s been a long three years at Notre Dame for junior Shaun Crawford. Well, certainly the previous two. He parlayed that stint into landing the job at Northwestern, the bottom feeder of the Big Ten that was 0-9 his second season in 1957. By 1959, Parseghian had Crawford was hampered by injuries his first two seasons in South Bend. He elevated the Wildcats to a No. 2 ranking in the country and even No. 1 in late suffered a torn ACL as a freshman that forced him to miss the entire campaign, October 1962. During that time, he defeated Hayes’ Ohio State juggernaut three and then he incurred a season-ending Achilles tendon injury two games into times in four seasons — and was 4-0 against Notre Dame. 2016.

✦ BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM ✦ 800-421-7751 3 He is now back healthy and much like 2016, Crawford is making the most of times, but their technique, their ability to use their hands, play with a much better his playing time. In six games played in his career (two in 2016 and the first four discipline in terms of how they fit in our front seven is probably an A-plus. And this season), Crawford has recorded three , two forced fumbles and then [it come down to] just maintaining that intensity, that endurance, that mental two fumble recoveries, plus he ran back a blocked extra point against Texas in endurance that I talk about. 2016. “That’s the area that they have to continue to grow at. We’re getting some pretty Against Boston College, Crawford notched two interceptions. Against Michi- good edge pressure from our front four. We’re getting batted balls, and we’re get- gan State, he forced a fumble at the goal line and recovered it in the end zone to ting the kind of integrity that front four needs relative to the run fits. Mike Elston halt Michigan State’s momentum. has done a terrific job with that group.”

When the Irish were recruiting Crawford in the 2015 class, the entire staff It’s a collection of players, in Kelly’s eyes, that are helping improve the unit’s wasn’t sold on the 5-9, 176-pound Ohioan. But head coach Brian Kelly saw play from last season. something in him and made sure to get him to Notre Dame.

“I knew what we had,” Kelly said of Crawford. “I’ve said this a couple of “I thought that we — as a group, as coaches, myself, we all underachieved,” times; I recruited him personally because of what I felt were his traits. We Kelly noted. “So, I don’t know if we really painted the right picture. And so com- weren’t unanimous on the recruiting of Shaun Crawford. That was a head coach ing into this season, we had maybe higher expectations than everybody else. And take. And I’ll take credit for it 100 percent. And I’m not here — and I don’t mean then I think that through our preparation, we’ve been able to really see that this that in any other way — I’m not trying to pat myself on the back. group could continue to grow and be better each and every weekend.

“I’ll take credit for it because there’s more to this game than just looking at “What we ask them to do and what Mike [Elko] is coaching them to do has the size of one’s stature. The kid plays the game in a manner that is so smart really fit very well with the position group. … We’ve gotten some really good and savvy that I hadn’t seen before. He had those traits that overcame two or play from some freshmen, emerging players like Julian Okwara have done a nice three inches.” job, and then some veterans are having their best year in terms of an Andrew Trumbetti. Several former Irish players such has Jaylon Smith and KeiVarae Russell have praised Crawford’s play this season, and Kelly touched on why he feels that is. “It’s been a little bit of all of that coming together.”

“You know, when you’re out there playing the game, the players know the GAME STILL ‘EVOLVING’ FOR CLAYPOOL guys that know the game, and he’s got a huge football IQ,” Kelly said of Craw- ford. “He’s always got a great attitude, a spiritual center on him that attracts Sophomore Chase Claypool has started the last two games for the many people, just a great attitude, and people are attracted to people like that, Irish and caught four passes for 56 yards against the Spartans. that are always — it’s always half full, not half empty. Head coach Brian Kelly is excited about what Claypool can add to the wide “And when he had to deal with back-to-back years of injury, and you talk receiver unit, but knows there is work left to be done. about a kid with grit, that’s why he deserves everything that’s coming to him right now.” “You used a lot of words in [your question]: elevated, flashes, where could he DEFENSIVE LINE IMPROVEMENT be. I think all of that,” Kelly said. “I’m in between flashes and wanting to elevate. It’s one game. We think he’s capable of being a very nice piece to putting our wide Thus far in 2017, Notre Dame’s defensive line has noticeably improved under receiver corps together. As you saw, he’s big, he’s athletic, he can catch the football, coordinator Mike Elko and position coach Mike Elston. The unit has recorded five we can get some nice matchups with him. sacks in four games after posting just three in 12 contests last season. “But he’s a young player that, quite frankly, the game is still evolving for him. But Head coach Brian Kelly is happy with the group’s performance and what he’s really like the way he ran and caught the football, made that initial defender miss, seen from the unit. and got us the yards after the catch. Excited about Chase, love his work ethic during the week, and hope that it becomes elevated and it continues to grow.” “I’d give them an A-minus,” Kelly explained. “I think the minus is probably [because the defensive linemen have] lost a little bit of focus here and there at

✦ BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM ✦ 800-421-7751 4 No. 1 2019 Safety Brian Williams Talks Notre Dame, Top Six David McKinney | Staff Writer

Dallas Bishop Dunne 2019 safety Brian Williams released a list of his top six schools on Sunday, and Notre Dame made the cut along with Stanford, Texas, Arkansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma.

Williams, the No. 1 safety and No. 11 overall player in the junior class accord- ing to Rivals, visited South Bend for the Irish Invasion over the summer and said Notre Dame has made a big impression on him early in his recruitment.

“Just their tradition and [defensive coordinator] Coach [Mike] Elko has been great,” Williams said. “They are great academically and on the field, and I have definitely been impressed with everything they do.” Start Your Elko has been the lead recruiter for Williams so far, and the four-star said the FREE 60-DAY TRIAL Irish defensive coordinator has made a huge push for him. Today! Use Code: “He is an energetic coach and seems to connect well with his players on and ND60 off the field,” Williams said. “He has been very high on me as well.”

As for the other schools on the list, Williams said they all have one thing in common.

Williams hopes to become an engineer down the road, and said he put to- gether the list based on that criteria.

“They allow me to be great academically and great on the field,” Williams said. “I seriously want to be an engineer, and all my top six allow me to be that.

“Each school has pros and cons but have really impressed me up to this point.”

The engineering component is a big part of Williams’ recruitment, but the elite safety said there are plenty of other factors going into his decision.

“Just somewhere where I can be great on and off the field,” Williams said. “I want to be an engineer and be challenged academically, and of course I want to be challenged on the field and have a chance to play early.”

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