Notre Dame football: Who is the greatest coach in program history?
Elmer Layden
1934-1940 (7 seasons), 47-13-3
Following Knute Rockne’s death, Notre Dame struggled. Hunk Anderson, who replaced Rockne for three seasons, wasn’t bad, but there was a notable drop-off in talent and production from the team. So, the administration decided to bring in Elmer Layden to be the new head coach in 1934. Layden was a member of the Four Horsemen backfield, who played fullback for Notre Dame. He was a fan favorite, who came in to great fanfare.
Prior to Notre Dame, Layden coached at Columbia and Duquesne, leading Duquesne to a bowl win. He got to Notre Dame and turned the program around in many ways, finishing with three top-10 AP finishes in seven seasons. His overall record at Notre Dame was 47-13-3, with an 8-1 record in1938 representing his best season.
Layden tried to emulate Rockne in several different ways. For instance, he understood the importance of scheduling exciting games against key opponents. For instance, he scheduled a home and home with Michigan for the first time since 1909. However, those games weren’t played until the 1940s, when Frank Leahy was the head coach at Notre Dame.
Leahy, for what its’ worth, ran up the score on Michigan leading to another hiatus in the rivalry series.
By no means was Layden a perfect coach. He was a conservative football coach, even by 1930s standards. That’s saying something, as it wasn’t unheard of then to punt on first down against good defenses so you didn’t accidentally fumble. However, this meant that Layden’s Notre Dame teams beat the teams that they should and typically lost to the ones who they were about equals with. In other words, his conservative nature kept him from getting over the hump.
Still, it can’t be undersold how important Layden’s tenure was. He managed Notre Dame football through the Great Depression, helping to keep the team viable. He recruited talent to Notre Dame and made them a respected competitor again. He tried to motivate the team and work with media like Rockne. The problem for Layden, however, is that there is no way to come out on top of that comparison.
In 1951, Elmer Layden was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame as a player. His time as a coach is mentioned, but he’s listed as a player, not a coach. His overall record as a head coach was 103-34-11. Layden left Notre Dame to become the commissioner of the NFL in 1941, a role that held until 1946.