Throwback Thursday: Notre Dame VS Maryland, 2002

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - AUGUST 31: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish take the field before the Kickoff Classic XX against Maryland on August 31, 2002 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.For this week’s Throwback Thursday post, I’m going to look back at the 2002 Notre Dame season opener on the road (at Giants Stadium) against Maryland. It was Tyrone Willingham’s first year as head coach of the Fighting Irish football team. He was the first black head coach in any sport in Notre Dame history, and only one of three black coaches coaching Division I-A football programs at the time. He was the first Notre Dame football head coach to win 10 games in his first season. He won Coach of the Year, returned the Irish to glory, and was proclaimed a “legend in the making.” Well, we all know how that turned out.

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