I was too young at the time but was the elder Montana a highly touted recruit coming out of high school?
Rome | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 11:29 am | #

He was more highly-recruited in basketball. Montana turned down a hoops scholarship at NC State to play football at ND.
DJ | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 12:28 pm | #

Are there any fired Michigan assistant coaches worthy of a look?
Dana Payne | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 12:34 pm | #

Ron English, the Def. Coord. was highly regarded and turned down a job with the Chgo Bears to go to MeatChicken.

I think their OC, whoever the hell he is would be a good replacement for Latina as OL Coach
Anonymous | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 12:52 pm | #

I was wondering that too, Dana. Like, I don't know...maybe the offensive line coach? But I also know that CW said he wouldn't even think about replacing anybody until after recruiting was over.
Jade | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 12:53 pm | #

CW's too insecure to look that way (UM assistants) now, especially after CB so quickly became the star of this staff. I wonder if the caloric one will be needing much time to evaluate special teams? We'll definitely bring in a fine haul in 6 weeks; let's hope it gets some coaching and doesn't rot.
Anonymous | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 1:03 pm | #

Rome; he was the #1 QB, hate to bust you're bubble DJ.
Kudos to ND for offering him a preferred walk-on.
Dana, did you miss the title of this thread?
Anonymous; CW's too smart not to surround himself with greatness, the UM OC was excoriated by UM fans for the past three years.
Seems as if Rodrique could have held off the official announcement until after Christmas and the Bowl game. What was to be gained by that announcement.
ND was vilified, vilified I tell ya, when they fired Brennan in 1958 just before Christmas.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone. The BGS is a delight 7/24/365.
jim masterson | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 2:11 pm | #

Yes, most of the Michigan coaches were fired but they will be paid for next year. Lloyd Carr put that in last year.

Also, coaches salaries have changed just a little bit between 1958 and 2007.
The Butobi Brothers | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 2:14 pm | #

Who's that ugly guy in the white shirt in that photo?
Brian | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 2:30 pm | #

What's Joe doing these days?
Subway Alumni | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 2:33 pm | #

Joe Yonto was the Notre Dame assistant coach who was responsible for recruiting Joe Montana, and when Montana selected N.D. many cheers reverberated throughout the corridors of The A.C.C. That the DeBartolo's are sponsoring a Joe Montana Award for the most outstanding high school QB is thoroughly appropriate.
Voice in the Wilderness | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 2:56 pm | #

Joe Montana must also be busy overseeing the career of his daughter, Hannah.
Joe Subway | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 3:09 pm | #

Nate must really love ND to come and walk on the team considering the pressure that comes with being the son of a great ND qb. But I hope that he doesn't let that bother him and works hard to give Jimmy and Dayne a run for their money.
John C | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 3:28 pm | #

"Who's that ugly guy in the white shirt in that photo?"

I'm glad you asked. That man is the result of a bizarre scientific experiment wherein DNA from Pete Carroll was crossed with that of Leslie Nielson, and what resulted was a football coach who uses whoopee cushions as a motivational tool.
Joe Subway | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 3:30 pm | #

At the USC game this year, I thought I spotted the younger Montana going with the 1977 National Championship team on the field to be honored. Did anyone else see that or can anyone confirm?
rays15 | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 3:40 pm | #

A quick trip to Wikipedia tells me that Joe Montana was a Parade All-American. But as a freshman in '74, he was the seventh string QB.

In high school, he displayed an uncanny ability to bring his team back from big deficits with clutch, dramatic late-game performances.

Hmm....
Joe Subway | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 3:59 pm | #

And as we know {those of us who were around then} the hesitancy of Dan Devine to use Joe Montana may have been responsible for the "Go Irish Can Dan " bumper stickers which were available for a while.
Dana Payne | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 4:19 pm | #

Well, at least nobody shot his dog.
Judge60 | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 4:33 pm | #

This seems to be a first. ND usually won't even consider a freshman walk-on. Try-outs for the walk-ons usually don't take place until January. Thus, the freshman at ND are trying to walk-on for their sophomore seasons.

I grew up watching the elder Montana and think it is great to have his son with us.
Don E. Brook | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 5:28 pm | #

Don E. Brook,
I don't think that is correct about freshmen walk-ons. Notre Dame has on occasion given true freshmen a "preferred walk-on" status if they were excellent high school players who, in most cases, eschewed scholarship offers from other schools in order to simply walk-on at N.D. For most young men who are granted the opportunity, it is due, in part, to their lifelong love of the Irish and their dream to play for N.D. Of course, they would generally have to have the means to afford attending N.D., combined with scores and grades that are able to pass muster with Admissions.
Voice in the Wilderness | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 6:00 pm | #

Rome; he was the #1 QB, hate to bust you're bubble DJ.

That's more hindsight talking, Masterson. I didn't say Montana was not highly regarded as a QB (as his Parade All-American status suggests), just that he was even more highly regarded as a basketball player. And they didn't even have those pernicious ratings services back then..

Remember, Montana was thinking of switching to basketball at ND when he was languishing on the depth chart. Trusted friends and mentors told him to stick it out, and the rest is legend...
DJ | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 6:12 pm | #

A story:

My son and I were the ND-USC game in 2005 and before I knew it, my son was getting autographs from a host of people e.g. Cory Mays, Dick Vitale and Tim Brown on his autograph football. Brown in particular (first class guy) was in a crowd and asked my son to throw him the ball-he signed it and threw it back. Later on we spotted Joe Montana walking on the South Quad with another person. My son asked "Hey Joe, would you sign my ball?" The response "Get lost, kid"
Lush | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 6:30 pm | #

that does look like Pete Carroll

your not the only one that saw him
they should have put him in
haha
Austin The Mexican Leprechaun | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 6:36 pm | #

I'm just going to come out and say it: I'm glad he'll be here instead of USC.
NDdallas | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 6:53 pm | #

Lush: That's too bad. Not the first time I've heard that Montana tends towards churlishness... Any other intel for the other BGS crew?
biggs | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 7:05 pm | #

DJ; That's not hindsight. That's fact. Was he a parade All-American in basketball? No, he was not. NCState was not a major player in the ACC in the 70's, ND was and always has been a major player in football.
Lush, maybe your son should have said "Mr. Montana," would you please sign my football. Maybe.
jim masterson | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 7:47 pm | #

Biggs:

Being married 3 times might make one churlish.
Dana Payne | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 7:51 pm | #

"I'm just going to come out and say it: I'm glad he'll be here instead of USC."

As if Joe Montana would let his kid go to U$C!
Brian | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 8:19 pm | #

At this year's USC game the 1977 team was honored. I was at the pep rally and the game but Montana was conspicuous by his absence unless I missed seeing him. Can anyone confirm he did not show??
Lush | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 8:26 pm | #

great a 3rd string QB in HIGH SCHOOL

better start buying MNC tix now for the next four years
VAMAN | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 9:29 pm | #

jim masterson,
Surely you remember the Norm Sloan led N.C. State teams of the 1970's? In 1974 David Thompson led the Wolfpack to the Nat'l Championship game where they beat Bill Walton-led UCLA. After Thompson, Tommy Burleson, David Stoddard, Phil Spence, Mo Rivers and Monte Towe moved on, State, in the last half of the 70's had more great players like Kenny Carr, Hawkeye Whitney, Clyde Austin, Art Jones and Tiny Pinder. These are the guys with whom Joe Montana would have played basketball. The ACC was loaded then, with North Carolina having Phil Ford, Mitch Kupchak, Tommy LaGarde, Walter Davis, and Mike O'Koren. At Duke were Gene Banks, Jim Spanarkle, Mike Gminski. UVa had Ralph Sampson, Jeff Lamp, Lee Raker. Maryland had Al King, Buck Williams, Steve Sheppard, Brad Davis. Being recruited by N.C. State for hoops in '74-'75 meant you had to be an incredible player. N.C. State was an awesome program in the 70's.
Voice in the Wilderness | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 10:38 pm | #

in his third year dan devine won the national championship -look at the texas -notre dame cotton bowl-one of the greatest games notre dame has played -0 after his third year weis alone has done more than any combination of faust-davie losses combined - weis has disgraced notre dame traditions and all the great players and coaches before him-weis is a joke - yet no one has the balls to combine togetherand demand his resignation-before he goes back to leaqrn to be a coach at new england
james dougherty | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 11:10 pm | #

You're absolutely right VIA. I stand humbly corrected. Your perspicacious ability is awesome I tell ya.
But to say that Montana was as gifted in bb as in fb is a great stretch of ones imagination.
ND at the same time was a bb power under Digger, and he was not offered in both sports.
As an aside I see where Chris Donald the all-everything LB out of Tn. that was so hotly pursued by ND & others was declared academically ineligible for their bowl appearance.
jim masterson | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 11:13 pm | #

Mr. Dougherty:

Unless your are being humorous, your post reflects a level of cluelessness rarely seen on this board.
Lush | Email | Homepage | 12.21.07 - 11:37 pm | #

Don't go Jim!
They're going to rename this blog:
The Abattoir.
jim masterson | Email | Homepage | 12.22.07 - 12:13 am | #

Voice,
You impress me. I would thoroughly enjoy sitting and discussing sports with you.
Doug | Email | Homepage | 12.22.07 - 12:28 am | #

My brother, who lives in Sonoma, CA, read an article about Joe Montana in which he relays an amusing anecdote. Apparently, in attempting to give his son some Qbacking advice, Joe was rebuffed. Dad, that's not how Coach says to do it... If anyone can put you in your place, it's your kids. Lush, what a bummer for you and your kid.

Voice, I suspect you have the gift of a photographic memory...your knowledge of sports and many other subjects astounds me.
OC mj | Email | Homepage | 12.22.07 - 2:30 am | #

I remember watching Joe play in Bookstore Basketball tournaments. He was an outstanding BB player. Could easily have played at the collegiate level.
Jim | Email | Homepage | 12.22.07 - 9:53 am | #

Dougherty, do us all a big favor by getting off BGS as you have promised, and don't limit your leave to just 2008. Try forever.
Ted | Email | Homepage | 12.22.07 - 11:15 am | #

Get real Ted!
Jim the question is would Montana attain stardom in bb?
jim masterson | Email | Homepage | 12.22.07 - 12:19 pm | #

Mr. Dougherty:
Some people say things that are assinine but they have to work at it. For you, it just appears to come naturally. For example, your comparison of 1977 to 2007 is as ignorant as it gets. Leave the postings to those, whether they like Weis or not, that actually know something about ND football.
Lush | Email | Homepage | 12.22.07 - 1:17 pm | #

Dougherty is either constantly incoherently drunk, or is just incoherently stupid. I'm not sure there is an actual sentence in that entire post.
Anonymous | Email | Homepage | 12.22.07 - 2:42 pm | #

Either way, we're going to do our best to help Mr. Dougherty keep his promise.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 12.22.07 - 5:41 pm | #

"Dougherty is either constantly incoherently drunk, or is just incoherently stupid. I'm not sure there is an actual sentence in that entire post."

Isn't it possible that he's an incoherently stupid drunk?
borromini | Email | Homepage | 12.22.07 - 7:16 pm | #

As to Joe not signing autographs: I saw him on campus 2 years ago when I was a student. He was with his family and he was nice enough to stop and take a photo with someone, but then when more people came up, he politely declined more photo-ops. If he said "yes" to every autograph seeker he'd never be able to get anywhere on campus when he's just trying to walk with his family.
John C | Email | Homepage | 12.31.07 - 12:49 pm | #

John C.

Point wel ltaken but not an excuse for being caustic to someone more than 30 years younger than him!!
Lush | Email | Homepage | 12.31.07 - 3:11 pm | #

Absolutely, I agree. Should've added that at the end of my post. Happy New Years everyone!
John C | Email | Homepage | 12.31.07 - 7:03 pm | #

Just to comment on the former ND autographs:

For awhile I used to get autographs from pro football players in order to sell merchandise to fans. Say what you will of such practices but I thought I was doing a small service to those who couldn't go around and get them themselves.

Tim Brown is a class act. Period. I remember one time in El Segundo at Raider training camp, he walked out and was swamped by fans. He took a look at my ND sweatshirt and signed my stuff first. He never seemed hassled, quietly signing everyone's stuff. Another time at a Super Bowl, he displayed the same class, so this wasn't a fluke for this man. To me, he was a soft-spoken hero, letting his actions on and off the field speak volumes about his great character.

Ricky Watters is a gigantic prick. I remember idolizing him but when I went up to get his autograph, he shot a look like he was going to kill me if I asked him.
IrishBruin | Email | Homepage | 01.17.08 - 12:05 am | #