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Hunk Anderson and the hardest job in Notre Dame football history

By Daniel Morrison

Oct 23, 2021; South Bend, Indiana, USA; The Notre Dame Leprechaun carries a Notre Dame monogram flag after a Notre Dame touchdown in the fourth quarter against the USC Trojans at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 23, 2021; South Bend, Indiana, USA; The Notre Dame Leprechaun carries a Notre Dame monogram flag after a Notre Dame touchdown in the fourth quarter against the USC Trojans at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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Notre Dame Football
Nov 30, 2019; Stanford, CA, USA; A Notre Dame football helmet sits behind the bench during the first quarter against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports /

In the history of the Notre Dame football program, nobody had a harder job than Hunk Anderson.

There isn’t a harder job in sports than to be the guy after THE GUY. In other words, you don’t want to be a coach or player following a legendary coach or play. More often than not, this refers to coaches because they have more time to build their legacies.

Duke is about to go through this change with Coach K’s retirement. In a few years, when Nick Saban does retire, they will fall off a bit and their next coach will be run out of town. That won’t be for a few more years, though.

At Notre Dame football, there have been several legendary coaches who needed to be replaced. Gerry Faust failed to live up to Ara Parseghian and Dan Devine. Bob Davie couldn’t keep things going after Lou Holtz. In all of Notre Dame football history, though, no one had a tougher job than Hunk Anderson, who replaced Knute Rockne, the greatest coach in Notre Dame history.

Notre Dame football and the tragic loss of Knute Rockne

Notre Dame football was surprised when they had to replace Knute Rockne, as the legendary coach died in a plane crash in 1931. They went with someone who they felt could keep the Rockne era going strong. That meant finding someone who went to Notre Dame and played under Rockne. Incidentally, this would be their hiring strategy through the end of the Frank Leahy era.

Notre Dame went with Hunk Anderson, who played under Rockne from 1918-21. He had also been a head coach in the past, for the St. Louis Billikens, and returned to Notre Dame to coach as an assistant under Rockne. The hire made sense, but it was still an impossible job.

Anderson inherited a lot of great things from Rockne. The roster was strong and media relations were good. During this time, Notre Dame games were commonly broadcast over the radio, helping build a national fanbase. They came in with a 19 game winning streak and back-to-back National Championship teams.

To the naked eye, he was positioned to succeed. What the naked eye didn’t see, however, was the pressure to win and nearly impossible bar for Hunk Anderson to clear.

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