Banner Graphic, Volume 15, Number 56, Greencastle, Putnam County, 7 November 1984 — Page 13

Faust won't walk away from ND

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -On the office walls are Rockne, Leahy and Parseghian. On the sofa is Gerry Faust, the man entrusted with their legacy. But Gerry Faust these days is more like Joe Kuharich, the only coach in 97 years of Notre Dame football to have lost more games. Some schools figure the bottom line in terms of wins and losses. Notre Dame figures it in terms of wins 4 forget the losses. And Faust’s four-year tenure has produced a lot of those that people would like to forget. Yet, Faust betrays no fear. The handshake is firm, accompanied by an arm around the shoulder, a warm greeting just a step short of an embrace. He spews enthusiasm for the school and team, especially following an unexpected victory over previously unbeaten Louisiana State and a near-miracle comeback to beat Navy. Yet, in these troubled times, the office is almost like a bunker. Faust is largely insulated from the stream of controversy his stewardship of the Irish program has produced. After a loss, there are 200 letters and as many as 30 phone calls a day, many from disgruntled Notre Dame fans. Faust sees and hears only a smattering of them. Inside his corner office, success is always just a break or two away. “I felt it was going to be better than it has been by this time,” he began, his raspy voice sounding strained, his rumpled body slouched on the sofa, one leg draped over the side. “It’s a challenge. I like challenges. I like to see them work out. “The record is disappointing, but you can build on it. Sometimes, too much is made of it when you’re winning and too much is made of it when you’re losing.” Nowhere, though, is losing tolerated less than at Notre Dame, and Faust knows it. “They parade through here because of it,” he said, referring to a stream of media guests. “They don’t go to see Perkins or Bo or Foge.” Ray Perkins, Bo Schembechler and Foge Fazio are struggling through difficult seasons at Alabama, Michigan and Pitt, and none has a better record this season than Faust. But this is Notre Dame, where losing is virtually a national affront. It’s taken two straight victories to lift the Irish to 5-4. They could just as easily be 2-7. There was a last-quarter recovery to beat Michigan State 24-20, a 16-14 victory over Missouri preserved only when the Tigers

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missed a 39-yard field goal on the final play, and an 11-point rally in the final 2> 2 minutes to beat Navy 18-17. This was supposed to be Faust’s season, the first time he was working only with players he had recruited. “I felt it would be a good year,” Athletic Director Gene Corrigan said. “More things were in place.” The Irish were ranked eighth in The Associated Press preseason poll, a tribute mostly to Faust’s recruiting, and the season was starting at Purdue, a 52-6 victim last year. The Irish lost 23-21. Three straight victories against Michigan State, Colorado and Missouri, and Notre Dame was back in the poll, ranked No. 17. Then, disaster. Three straight losses at home the first time that’s happened to a Notre Dame team since 1956 Miami, 21-7 to Air Force and 36-32 to South Carolina after blowing a 26-14 fourthquarter lead. “Goodbye, Gerry,” the students chanted. The season seemed in shambles. But inexplicably, the Irish reversed the tumble, ignoring punishing heat and hostile road fans to topple LSU, 30-22. The coach called it a new beginning for his program. Others found it all the more reason to criticize. If the Irish can beat a quality opponent like LSU, critics asked, why can’t they beat Air Force, which has beaten Faust’s teams three straight years? Why must they struggle against Navy? “It was a hair-raiser,” Faust said after a field goal with 14 seconds left beat the Midshipmen. “It was a good comeback. There have been a lot of great ones in Notre Dame history. This was not one of them.” But for Faust, a win of any type is important. “It seems his livelihood depends on it.” said Allen Pinkett, Notre Dame’s No. 2 career rusher. “That’s terrible. It’s just a football game, not life and death. “If he had shoulder pads and a helmet, maybe he could take some of the blame. How can it be his fault? He’s on the sidelines. We have the plays.” “We’re starting to click now,” Faust said. “It takes time. We can have a good season. Not a great season, but a good one.” Good, though, may not be enough. Under the Golden Dome, where the ghosts of the Gipper and the Four Horsemen roam, great seasons are expected. With two games left in his fourth season

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here, Faust’s record is 23-19-1. Against Top Twenty teams, he is 5-9. At home, he is 1010. In nationally televised games, where the famed “Subway Alumni” can see the Irish, he is 4-10 At Cincinnati’s Moeller High School, Faust’s teams went 174-17-2 two fewer losses in 18 years than he already has suffered at Notre Dame. But that was high school. Could his ability there be transferred to perhaps the most visible college football job in the country? Father Edmund Joyce, Notre Dame’s vice president, thought so. The last time Notre Dame tried that was with Terry Brennan, who followed Leahy in 1954. Brennan compiled a 32-18 record in five years, ultimately done in by a 2-8 season in 1956. The next two years, 7-3 and 6-4, didn’t matter. Faust has lost one more game than Brennan in less than four seasons. Kuharich, the only coach to lose more than Faust, was 17-23 in the four seasons between Brennan and Ara Parseghian. Faust’s failures have been frustrating. He was 6-1 one year and finished 6-4-1. He was 6-2 the next year and finished 7-5. He has one year left on his five-year contract and Notre Dame honors contracts. But even Faust, the ultimate optimist, recognizes that he needs dramatic improvement to stay beyond that. “We can’t be 6-5. We’ve got to be 8-3 or 92. But I understand that. I don’t know if I’d want to stay if we didn’t have a good year.” Ironically, Faust’s eternal optimism may be part of the problem. “If you really evaluate it, he’s a victim of his own enthusiasm," said Parseghian, who had a 95-17-4 record in 11 years at South Bend. “He went out and recruited the best players and talked about what a great team he had. The enthusiasm of the alumni and the community was on a high note. You measure results against expectation. When the expectation is not realized, the disappointment is greater. “If I’m a coach, I don’t tell you I’m going to go undefeated or I’m going to win a national championship. That gets everybody so excited. When you don’t realize those expectations, the accompanying rumbles are amplified. ” The expectations aren’t what bother Parseghian. “My concern are the fundamental errors being repeated,” he said “This is nine weeks into the season. Against Navy, they had to call time out on the second play of the game because of some confusion.

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These are fundamental things.” Parseghian sees the pressure building on Faust. “He has to measure the impact,” the ex-coach said. “If it were me and the season had ended, I’d probably sit down and talk with my family. I know it’s got to hurt, regardless of the front he puts up. You know he’s wounded. He’s a sensitive man, responsive to criticism. This is the fourth year and he is nowhere near achieving the record he had hoped for. Common sense says he must take a look and see the effect.”

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