Notre Dame Football: Would Brian Kelly have titles in a different era?

Looking back on how a National Champion was named

Except they only started in 1936, meaning the three Knute Rockne National Championships aren’t AP National Championships. Instead, Helms, CFRA, and NCF all declared Notre Dame National Champions in those years.

NCF stands for National Championship Foundation, and they no longer exist, but it also isn’t the first time they haven’t existed, with four separate periods of existence. CFRA, meanwhile, stands for College Football Researchers Association, and while they currently exist, it is also in its fourth incarnation. Helms is the Helms Athletic Foundation and has since been absorbed by the Amateur Athletic Foundation.

Does the fact that these selectors no longer exist make these National Championships less valid?

No, of course not.

For most of the Notre Dame National Championships, they are AP National Championships. All four of Leahy’s National Championships were won without playing in a bowl game, as was Parseghian’s first. The AP simply decided, before the limited number of bowl games were played, that Notre Dame was the best team.