1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

The 1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

during the 1977 college football season

1977 college football season

The 1977 college football season was one in which the top five teams all finished with records of 11-1-0. Notre Dame, which beat a #1 ranked Texas team in the Cotton Bowl Classic, became the national champion. The year 1977 was the last before NCAA's Division I was divided into I-A and I-AA...

. The Irish, coached by Dan Devine

Dan Devine

Daniel John Devine was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach football coach at Arizona State University from 1955 to 1957, the University of Missouri from 1958 to 1970, and the University of Notre Dame from 1975 to 1980, compiling a career college football mark of...

, ended the season with 11 wins and one loss, winning the national championship. The Fighting Irish won the title by defeating the previously unbeaten and No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns

1977 Texas Longhorns football team

The 1977 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 1977 college football season.-Regular season:The Longhorns finished the regular season with a 11-0-0 record. As a collegiate football player at the University of Texas at Austin, Earl Campbell won the...

in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas by a score of a 38-10. The 1977 squad became the tenth Irish team to win the national title, led by the quarterback play of junior Joe Montana

Joe Montana

Joseph Clifford "Joe" Montana, Jr. , nicknamed Joe Cool, Golden Joe, The Golden Great and Comeback Joe, is a retired American football player. Montana started his NFL career in 1979 with the San Francisco 49ers, where he played quarterback for the next 14 seasons...

and defensive play of '76 Outland Trophy

Outland Trophy

The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best United States college football interior lineman by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named All-America at two positions, Outland garnered consensus All-America honors in...

winner Ross Browner

Ross Browner

Ross Browner is a former American football defensive end who played ten seasons in the NFL, mainly for the Cincinnati Bengals. He is the father of current Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Max Starks, and brother of Joey Browner and Keith Browner...

Season

Dan Devine entered his third year as head coach, coming off of a 9-3 season and 20-9 Gator Bowl

Gator Bowl

The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida. Held continuously since 1946, it is the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised nationally...

win over Penn State

Penn State Nittany Lions football

The Penn State Nittany Lions football team represents the Pennsylvania State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference. It is one of the most tradition-rich and storied college football programs in the...

the previous year. Devine returned a highly touted defense, featuring 1976 Outland Trophy winner Ross Browner, defensive end Willie Fry, and a linebacking corps featuring All-American Bob Golic

Bob Golic

Robert Perry "Bob" Golic is a retired American football player, as well as a television and radio personality. He played as a defensive tackle who played for the New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, and the Los Angeles Raiders in the NFL.Golic played high school football at St...

. On offense, quarterback Joe Montana earned the starting job and led an offense that included running backs Jerome Heavens and Vagas Ferguson

Vagas Ferguson

Vagas Ferguson was a star running back for the University of Notre Dame who continued on to the National Football League for three seasons with the New England Patriots, who drafted him in the first round, the Cleveland Browns, and the Houston Oilers.In 1979, his senior season at Notre Dame,...

and All-America tight end Ken MacAfee

Ken MacAfee

Kenneth Adams MacAfee, Jr. , is a former college and professional American football player. He played collegiately at the University of Notre Dame and professionally for the San Francisco 49ers.-High school:...

. Montana, who would earn a reputation as "the comeback kid", had two come from behind victories in the 4th quarter against Purdue

Purdue Boilermakers football

The Purdue Boilermakers football team is the intercollegiate football program of the Purdue University Boilermakers. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I Bowl Subdivision, and the team competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Boilermakers have an all-time record of...

and Clemson

Clemson Tigers football

The Clemson Tigers football team is an American football team from Clemson University in South Carolina. It competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference...

, down 17 and 10 respectively. After a surprising loss to unranked Ole Miss

Ole Miss Rebels football

The football history of the University of Mississippi , includes the formation of the first football team in the state and is 26th on the list of college football's all-time winning programs...

, patience among the fans was running thin, who considered Devine’s previous 8-3 and 9-3 seasons as lackluster compared to what they were accustomed to with coach Ara Parseghian

Ara Parseghian

Ara Raoul Parseghian is a former American football player and coach of Armenian descent. He served as the head football coach at Miami University , Northwestern University , and the University of Notre Dame , compiling a career college football record of 170–58–6...

. The Irish rebounded to win their remaining games, including a 49-19 rout of Southern Cal in the now famous "Green Jersey Game." The Irish earned a Cotton Bowl Classic berth, where they defeated No. 1 and unbeaten Texas by 38-10 to capture Notre Dame's tenth national title. The Irish leaped four spots in the polls after the Cotton Bowl Classic victory to claim the consensus title.

Schedule

Roster

Quarterback

3 Joe Montana
Joe Montana
Joseph Clifford "Joe" Montana, Jr. , nicknamed Joe Cool, Golden Joe, The Golden Great and Comeback Joe, is a retired American football player. Montana started his NFL career in 1979 with the San Francisco 49ers, where he played quarterback for the next 14 seasons...

*
6 Rusty Lisch
Rusty Lisch
Russell John Lisch is a former professional American football quarterback in the National Football League. He played five seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Bears ....
14 Tim Koegel

Left Halfback

32 Vagas Ferguson
Vagas Ferguson
Vagas Ferguson was a star running back for the University of Notre Dame who continued on to the National Football League for three seasons with the New England Patriots, who drafted him in the first round, the Cleveland Browns, and the Houston Oilers.In 1979, his senior season at Notre Dame,...
40 Terry Eurick
42 Jim Stone

Right Halfback

21 Dan Knott
26 Tom Domin
34 Dave Waymer
41 Steve Schmitz

Fullback

14 Steve Orsini
30 Jerome Heavens
44 Dave Mitchell
45 Pete Pallas

Split End

1 Ty Dickerson
82 Kris Haines
Kris Haines
David Kris Haines is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins, the Chicago Bears, and the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame and was drafted in the ninth round of the 1979 NFL Draft...
85 Speedy Hart

Tight End

81 Ken MacAfee
Ken MacAfee
Kenneth Adams MacAfee, Jr. , is a former college and professional American football player. He played collegiately at the University of Notre Dame and professionally for the San Francisco 49ers.-High school:...
87 Mark Czaja
97 Kevin Hart

Center

50 Terry Murphy
56 Dave Huffman
Dave Huffman
David Huffman was a former American football tackle who played twelve seasons in the National Football League for the Minnesota Vikings. He also played for the Memphis Showboats of the USFL....
63 Jim Hautman

Offensive Guard

59 Dave Vinson
60 Howard Meyer
65 Ernie Hughes
66 Ted Horansky
69 John Leon

Offensive Tackle

67 Bob Tull
71 Steve McDaniels
73 Tim Foley
75 Rob Martinovich
78 Tim Huffman

Defensive Tackle

74 Jeff Weston
75 Jay Case
77 Mike Calhoun
79 Ken Dike

Defensive End

70 Scott Zettek
72 Hardy Rayam
88 Tom VanDenburgh
89 Ross Browner
Ross Browner
Ross Browner is a former American football defensive end who played ten seasons in the NFL, mainly for the Cincinnati Bengals. He is the father of current Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Max Starks, and brother of Joey Browner and Keith Browner...
94 Willie Fry

Cornerback

9 Jim Morse
16 Nick DeCicco
18 Ted Burgmeier
20 Luther Bradley
Luther Bradley
Luther Bradley is a former professional American football player who played four seasons for the Detroit Lions. He later played with the Chicago Blitz, Arizona Wranglers and Houston Gamblers of the USFL...
23 Tom Flynn
24 Dick Boushka

Strong Safety

28 Ross Christensen
29 Phil Johnson
33 Jim Browner

Free Safety

7 Joe Restic
10 Randy Harrison
27 Tom Gibbons

Linebacker

43 Doug Becker
47 John Hankerd
51 Pete Johnson
54 Mike Whittington
55 Bob Golic
Bob Golic
Robert Perry "Bob" Golic is a retired American football player, as well as a television and radio personality. He played as a defensive tackle who played for the New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, and the Los Angeles Raiders in the NFL.Golic played high school football at St...
58 Steve Heimkreiter
61 Bobby Leopold
Bobby Leopold
Bobby Leopold is a former American football linebacker who played five seasons in the NFL, mainly for the San Francisco 49ers. He also played with the New Jersey Generals of the USFL....

Punter

4 Kevin Muno
7 Joe Restic

Place Kicker

13 Dave Reeve
99 Joe Unis

*Bold denotes starter.

Reserves:
Offense:
T – John Scully;
G – Tom Wroblewski;
C – Mark Quinn;
QB – Gary Forystek, Greg Knafelc

Greg Knafelc

Gregory Kurt "Greg" Knafelc is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League. He played for the New Orleans Saints in 1983. He played at the collegiate level at the University of Notre Dame.-References:...

;
HB – Mike Courey, Steve Dover;
KS – Kevin Muno;
SE – Leo Driscoll, Dennis Grindinger;
Defense:
E – Rob Bush, John Thomas;
LB – Pat Boggs, Bob Duncan;
DB – Frank Bleyer, Rick Buehner, Mike Geers;
(DNP) – John Driscoll

Sources:http://www.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/nd/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/Football-Supplement-07

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Year at Notre Dame
Dan Devine Dan Devine Daniel John Devine was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach football coach at Arizona State University from 1955 to 1957, the University of Missouri from 1958 to 1970, and the University of Notre Dame from 1975 to 1980, compiling a career college football mark of...	Head Coach	3rd
Merv Johnson	Offensive Coordinator Offensive Line	3rd
Brian Boulac	Recruiting Coordinator Offensive Line	8th
Hank Kuhlmann	Offensive Backs Special Teams	3rd
Ron Toman	Quarterbacks Receivers	3rd
Tony Yelovich	Guards and Centers	3rd
Joe Yonto Joe Yonto Joe Yonto was an American football player and coach, serving most of his career at the University of Notre Dame...	Defensive Coordinator Defensive Line	14th
Jim Johnson	Defensive Backs	2nd
George Kelly	Linebackers	9th
Francis Peay	Junior Varsity	1st
Ross Stephenson	Scouting Volunteer Assistant	3rd

Award winners

Ross Browner
Ross Browner
Ross Browner is a former American football defensive end who played ten seasons in the NFL, mainly for the Cincinnati Bengals. He is the father of current Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Max Starks, and brother of Joey Browner and Keith Browner...

- Lombardi Award
Lombardi Award
The Rotary Lombardi Award is awarded annually to the best college football lineman or linebacker. The Lombardi Award program was approved by the Rotary Club in Houston in 1970 shortly after the death of Vince Lombardi. The committee outlined the criteria for eligibility for the award, which...

, Maxwell Award
Maxwell Award
The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the collegiate American football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best football player in the United States. The...

,
Ken MacAfee
Ken MacAfee
Kenneth Adams MacAfee, Jr. , is a former college and professional American football player. He played collegiately at the University of Notre Dame and professionally for the San Francisco 49ers.-High school:...

- Walter Camp Award
Walter Camp Award
The Walter Camp Player of the Year Award is given annually to the collegiate American football Player of the Year, as decided by a group of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I-A head coaches and sports information directors under the auspices of the Walter Camp Football Foundation;...

Heisman Voting

Ken MacAfee

, 3rd

Ross Browner

, 5th

All-Americans
{| border="0" width="100%"
| valign="top" |
{| cellpadding="1" border="1" cellspacing="0" width="80%"
!bgcolor="#C5B358"| Name
!bgcolor="#C5B358"| AP
!bgcolor="#C5B358"| UPI
!bgcolor="#C5B358"| NEA
!bgcolor="#C5B358"| FC
!bgcolor="#C5B358"| SN
!bgcolor="#C5B358"| FW
!bgcolor="#C5B358"| FN

College Football News

College Football News is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis includes comparisons between teams, predictions of game outcomes and...

!bgcolor="#C5B358"| WCF
!bgcolor="#C5B358"| CW

College Football All-America Team

The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...

|- align="center"
| † Ross Browner, DE || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 ||1
|- align="center"
| † Ken MacAfee, TE || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 ||1
|- align="center"
| ‡ Luther Bradley, DB || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || || || 1 || 1 ||
|- align="center"
| Ernie Hughes, G || 2 || 2 || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
| Bob Golic

Bob Golic

, MG(MLB) || 2 || 2 || || || || 2 || || ||
|- align="center"
| Willie Fry, DE || || 2 || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
| Ted Bergmeier, DB || || || || || || 2 || || ||
|-align="center"
| colspan=10 bgcolor="#000033"| †denotes unanimous selection
‡denotes consensus selection Source:
|}

College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...

Inductees
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Name
!Position
!Year Inducted
|- align="center"
| Ross Browner || Defensive End ||1999
|- align="center"
| Dan Devine

Dan Devine

|| Coach ||1985
|- align="center"
| Ken MacAfee || Tight End ||1997
|}
Notre Dame leads all universities in players inducted.

1978 NFL Draft

{|class="wikitable" width="80%"
|- align="center" style="background:#000033;color:#C5B358;"
| Player || Position || Round || Pick || Franchise
|- align="center"
| Ken MacAfee || Tight End || 1(7) || 7 || San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...

|- align="center"
| Ross Browner || Defensive End || 1(8) || 8 || Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...

|- align="center"
| Luther Bradley || Defensive Back || 1(11) || 11 || Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...

|- align="center"
| Willie Fry || Defensive End || 2(23) || 49 || Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

|- align="center"
| Ernie Hughes || Guard || 3(23) || 79 || San Francisco 49ers
|- align="center"
| Ted Burgmeier || Defensive Back || 5(1) || 111 || Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

|- align="center"
| Steve McDaniels || Tackle || 9(27) || 249 || San Francisco 49ers
|- align="center"
| Doug Becker || Linebacker || 10(18) || 268 || Pittsburgh Steelers
|-align="center"
| colspan=5 bgcolor="#C5B358"| Source:
|}

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