Sport: Luck of the Irish?

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Brain v. Brawn. More important, Notre Dame's president, the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, is determinedly hauling up the school's academic standards, sees no reason to grant exceptions to football players. "There are dozens of good football players who want to come to Notre Dame that we can't even consider," says Kuharich. "There's a 235-pound fullback who's fast and has our mouths watering. But there's no point in even trying for him because we know he'd never get in."

"The price of progress is trouble," Joe Kuharich says stoically. "I've been in situations like this before." No one doubts Redskin Owner George Marshall has said. "Once when Sammy Baugh came to play, and once when Joe Kuharich came to coach." In 1958 Purdue Coach Jack Mollenkopf holed up with Kuharich for four days to learn his system, this year proved he remembered his lessons by licking Notre Dame 51-19. Kuharich almost never stops thinking about football. These days he even has a movie projector in his bedroom so that he can prop himself up on a pillow and study game films far into the night: "It's amazing what you miss in the first ten showings."

To date, Notre Dame has returned Kuharich's loyalty. Not only are the alumni quiet, but Father Hesburgh is sticking to his promise that "Kuharich is not to be measured by any nostalgic calculus of wins, losses and national championships, but only by the excellence of his coaching and the spirit of his teams." Kuharich himself claims to be optimistic about the future: "This is just the shell of the team we're going to have. There will always be a segment of qualified students who are good football players." Kuharich will need every one. Notre Dame next year will play Oklahoma, Syracuse, Duke, Iowa, Michigan State and Navy.

Caught between a tough schedule and tough academic standards, Kuharich may be able to produce an occasional good season, but the golden days of Notre Dame are likely to be gone forever. One thing is certain: Kuharich, who can return to the pros at any time, will never be content merely to lose honorably at Notre Dame. Says he: "I will not coach a team unless it has the potential to be great."