CFB E1

Notre Dame's Team Philosophy (1903-1917)

Preferred to play strong opponents, valuing competitive losses over easy wins.

Notre Dame vs. Army Game

Notre Dame won; featured the first recorded forward pass in college football history.

Midwestern KKK (1920s)

Targeted Catholics and immigrants, reflecting anti-immigrant sentiment over racial hatred.

Knute Rockne

Notre Dame coach who used football to unify Irish Catholics and fight discrimination.

"Fighting Irish" Identity

Originated from physical confrontations with the KKK and represented Irish pride and resistance.

Charismatic Personality (Rockne)

Known for his charm and ability to connect with people.

Psychological Strategy (Rockne)

Used motivation and mental preparation as part of coaching.

Radio Broadcasting (Rockne)

Pioneered free broadcasts to make Notre Dame games accessible nationwide.

Media Access (Rockne)

One of the first to allow cameras at team practices.

National Lecture Tours (Rockne)

Promoted Notre Dame football through speaking engagements across the country.

Coaching Schools (Rockne)

Established high school coaching clinics to create a talent pipeline.

First Celebrity Coach (Rockne)

Achieved national fame and secured product endorsements.

George Gipp Case

Local community lobbied university president to keep Gipp for football's sake.

Carnegie Report (1929)

Critiqued the commercialization and ethical issues in college football.

Carnegie Critique: Unqualified Students

Argued football attracted students who couldn't succeed academically.

Carnegie Critique: Academic Neglect

Claimed football left little time for intellectual development.

Carnegie Critique: Stadiums & Salaries

Criticized the growing size of stadiums and coaches' pay.

"Good Programs" Traits (Carnegie)

Complicit admins, powerful alumni, rule-bending departments, secret collusion.

Findings: Player Payments

Players were secretly paid for their participation.

Findings: No-show Jobs

Players received money for jobs they didn't perform.

Findings: Free Housing

Players were given off-campus apartments.

Findings: Painkillers

Frequent use of painkillers to keep athletes on the field.

Findings: Fast Recovery Pressure

Intense pressure on injured players to return quickly.

Gates Report (1931)

Proposed reforms like ending athletic dorms and shortening seasons.

Identity Foreclosure

Emotionally processing the loss of identity before it ends (e.g., athlete identity).

Amos Alonzo Stagg

University of Chicago coach who helped turn football into a national spectacle.

Football Spectacle (Stagg)

Used football to unify cities and drive local economic activity.

Stagg: Extended Seasons

Pushed for football seasons lasting from August to May.

Stagg: Stadium Construction

Advocated for dedicated football stadiums.

Stagg: Community Engagement

Included non-students in football events.

Stagg: Philanthropy Link

Connected winning games to donor support and student applications.

Stagg: Academic Prestige

Promoted the idea that football success boosts university reputation.

Stagg: Scoreboards & Ads

Pioneered use of modern scoreboards with advertising.

Stagg: Athlete-Student Idea

Prioritized athletic identity over academic standards.

Stagg: Recruiting System

Introduced modern recruiting practices.

Football Ends at Chicago (1939)

University ended football due to falling attendance and academic priorities.

President Hutchins

Criticized football, saying it was for people who didn't belong in college.

Notre Dame's Popularity

Overshadowed University of Chicago's football relevance.

Strict Academic Standards (Chicago)

Made it harder to recruit athletes, contributing to football's decline.

Freedmen's 6 Goals (Post-Civil War)

Escape, name change, family, property, education, business-building.

"Getting Sold Down the River"

Describes forced slave relocation to Deep South plantations.

Psychological Wage

False sense of superiority given to poor whites to divide economic classes.

White Southern Goals (Post-War)

Reassert dominance, force labor, and establish sharecropping.

Grandfather Clause

Law disenfranchising Black voters based on ancestry.

Convict Leasing

System that jailed Black men for minor offenses and forced labor.

SEC-Confederacy Overlap

SEC states largely align with former Confederate states.

Black Mascots

Black men were used as mascots for Southern teams in stereotypical roles.

Violence History in South

Culture of duels, guns, and violence influenced football culture.

Post-Civil War Masculinity

Football became a way for Southern men to reclaim masculine pride.

No Pro Teams in South

College football filled the sports void.

Southern Bragging Rights

College football offered a platform to compete with the North.

Culture of Honor (South)

Football reflected Southern ideals of toughness and respect.

Football and Manhood

Seen as a way to prove masculinity.

Football as College Bridge

Made universities more culturally accessible to everyday Southerners.

Defensive Pride

"Running the ball down your throat" seen as ultimate humiliation.

Walter Camp

Yale figure who codified rules; called "Father of College Football."

Ivy League Football Origins

Founded by schools like Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and UPenn.

Early Eligibility Rules

Required players to work or be financially supported—favored the wealthy.

Thanksgiving Game (1873)

Commercialized football with press, class-based seating, and pre-game events.

Charles Eliot (Harvard President)

Criticized football's dominance and proposed radical reforms.

Eliot's Reforms

Ban freshmen from varsity, one-sport rule, reduce game frequency.

Alumni Control (1900)

Alumni funding gave them major control over teams and recruiting.

William Lewis

First Black football player at Harvard; also a law student.

Black Ivy League Athletes

Excelled academically and athletically; raised questions of representation.

"Jersey vs. Individual"

Whether fans supported the institution or the player.

Racial Narratives in Football

Black athletes seen as more than entertainers, but still faced limited perception.