Pillars of the NFL and Notre Dame Connections --Second in a Series

Chicago Lithograph Image of Notre Dame-Library of Congress

Pillars of the NFL: Coaches Who Have Won Three or More Championships is published by Sporting Chance Press and written by Chicago Bears Senior Director Patrick McCaskey.  The Pillars themselves are the greatest coaches in NFL history--determined strictly by the number of championships.  Ten coaches have won three or more championships: George Halas, Guy Chamberlin, Curly Lambeau, Paul Brown, Weeb Ewbank, Vince Lombardi, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs, and Bill Belichick.  

This is the second post in which we recall the greatest coaches in the NFL connections to Notre Dame. It is taken from Pillars of the NFL: Coaches Who Have Won Three or More Championships. 

Chicago Bears Training Camp at Notre Dame, 1933 Season

George Halas picked up Notre Dame graduates early and often in his career coaching and managing the Chicago Bears.   In the last post, we discussed Hunk Anderson and George Trafton.  In 1933, Halas had a very good team and he held the Bears Training at Notre Dame in 1933.  That year the Bears won the West Division with a 10–2–1 record and played the Giants in the first scheduled championship game. It turned out to be the most spectacular game of the season featuring a trick play by the Giants early on and one by the Bears late in the game. It would also feature six lead changes.   

On a damp cool foggy December 17, 26,000 fans showed up at Wrigley Field to see the championship battle. In the early goings, the Giants center Mel Hein reported as an eligible receiver. Harry Newman took the ball under center from Hein and handed it right back to him with a slight of hand. While the defense watched Newman fall back as if he was going to pass, Hein hid the ball under his jersey and quietly started to make his way up field. Not a particularly good actor, Hein got anxious and began to run. The Bears tackled him on the 15-yard line and although the play worked beautifully, the Bears held and the Giants did not score on that series.

The contest swung back and forth and late in the game the Bears found themselves behind 21–16.  It was time for the Bears’ trick play.  Fullback Bronko Nagurski faked a run and threw a 14-yard jump pass to Bill Hewitt who was attracting Giants.  Hewitt lateraled to Bill Karr who then made his way to the end zone.  The Bears won 23–21 to take top honors in 1933. 

Chamberlin’s Big Day at Notre Dame, Knute Rockne

In at least one way, the Notre Dame connections to the Pillars of the NFL even predated the NFL! 

Perhaps the most obscure Pillar is Guy Chamberlin.  Chamberlin came off a Nebraska farm and played tremendous football for two Nebraska schools –Nebraska Wesleyan for his first two years and then the University of Nebraska to finish off his college years.  In the 1915 season, Chamberlin and the Huskers started out strong by clobbering Drake, Kansas State, and Washburn on their way to a showdown with a strong Notre Dame team coached by Jesse Harper.  On staff for Notre Dame was Assistant Coach Knute Rockne who would go on to a legendary head coaching career starting in 1918.  Rockne had famously scouted the Huskers.  Notre Dame’s defense was instructed on apparent weaknesses in Chamberlin’s running game that Rockne had discovered.  Rockne also noted that Chamberlin licked his fingers before any passing play.  Rockne’s scouting report did not help—Chamberlin displayed no weaknesses at all.  Long after the game, Rockne laughed when he recalled his predictions on Chamberlin’s play.  Chamberlin joked that he licked his fingers regardless of what he was going to do with the ball, but on that day, he fingered a wet sponge that he somehow affixed to his uniform to fight off the dryness. The Nebraska-Notre Dame game was a tight match from beginning to end, but Nebraska prevailed 20–19.  

During the game, Nebraska fans across the state gathered at railroad stations to hear the latest game news read by telegraph operators coming over the wires while the contest was being played.  Chamberlin scored on two end-around plays and he passed for another touchdown.  Notre Dame missed two extra points while Nebraska made two of three.

Chamberlin moved on as a player-coach in the pro ranks where he won two championships with the Canton Bulldogs and one with the Cleveland Bulldogs, and one more with the Frankford Yellow Jackets—all in the 1920s.  None of Chamberlin’s teams have survived into the modern era, which may be why most modern sports analysts rarely mention him in debates about the greatest coaches. 

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