Green Jerseys: Lucky Charm or Terrible Curse For Notre Dame Football?

Notre Dame football might be wearing green jerseys against Michigan. Is that good, bad or irrelevant?

In light of the recent #IrishWearGreen campaign, it seems fathomable that the Notre Dame football team could come out in the “cursed” green jerseys come September 1st. The Notre Dame student body has been pushing a “Green Out” for a couple of weeks, and it now has the support of the University.

Some Irish fans have not-so-fond memories of the green jerseys — and for good reason. When I think of the green jerseys, I think of Notre Dame losing to USC in 2005 and especially in 2007, when Notre Dame was trounced 38-0. There are also multiple losses to Michigan in green — the most recent being Michigan’s “Throwback Night” — which ended up being a 35-31 defeat for the boys in green.

It seems as if the usage of the green jerseys changes in Notre Dame history from coach to coach.  Some coaches loved the green (Dan Devine), while others don’t seem to like them as much (Lou Holtz). Devine’s perceived obsession with green was something Notre Dame has not seen since his tenure. His Irish teams went nearly four-straight seasons wearing the green jerseys.

Then there is the other side, where Lou Holtz’s teams only wore green twice in his tenure as head coach.

Notre Dame has only donned the green 13 times since Devine, sporting a 7-6 record.

The true green alternate jerseys have not been worn since 2011, when Notre Dame squared off with Maryland. A version was seen in 2015 when Notre Dame played Boston College at Fenway Park, but it was a Shamrock Series jersey and it wasn’t the classic green jersey with gold numbers.

Overall, I really do enjoy the green jerseys. They can serve as motivation for both the team and the crowd, so why not?

The atmosphere is already going to be electric on the night of September 1st when Notre Dame reignites its storied rivalry with Michigan. With an already very energetic “Green Out” crowd, you can imagine that if the Notre Dame football team came out in green, Notre Dame Stadium would be rocking.