The first varsity froshfootball team was fielded at Notre Dame in 1913. The team was established after a new rule barred any freshmen from competing in varsity athletics. Cap Edwards, captain of the 1909 varsity team and an assistant coach to Jesse Harper, was appointed as the first frosh coach. Their first regulation game was scheduled against the varsity team for October 11, but was cancelled by coach Harper so the freshmen could play at Culver instead. On October 2, Stan Cofall was elected captain of the freshmen. In 1916, Cofall became captain of the varsity football team.
The 1914 Freshmen team played their single off-campus game against the Culver Military Academy, winning 12 to 0.[10] A Notre Dame tryout on September 26 consisted of seven teams, three for the Varsity and four for the freshmen. Its likely that the freshmen played several games against the Notre Dame Varsity, but the scores and schedule of these contests are largely unknown because of their status as practice games. The freshmen were coached by Mr. Gargen and Hanehan, and received assistance from Joe Dorais, brother of well-known Notre Dame quarterback Gus Dorais.[11] The freshmen team played a scrimmage against the Varsity three times per week on average, although only a few scores were recorded. The post-season Scholastic notes that the Varsity never scored more than 20 points on the freshmen (calling into question their game on September 30) and were once able to score 24 points with the help of then-assistant coach Knute Rockne. 23 members of the freshmen team were given "numerals" for the 1915 Varsity squad at the end of the season.
In their third season as an established football team, the frosh team of Notre Dame was scheduled to play a match game against the Varsity on October 16, as a part of their official season schedule. Deacon Jones was appointed as coach after serving as captain the year prior.[20]Mr. Fitzpatrick was elected captain and played left halfback for the team in their three games off-campus.[21]
The Freshman team of 1916 was coached by Freeman Fitzgerald, last season's captain of the varsity.[32] The captain of the freshman was none other than George Gipp, who went on to receive All-American honors from Walter Camp, the second at the University to be given the distinction in football after Gus Dorais. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951, their inaugural selection year. [33]Of their three games, they faced their toughest opposition against a 6–0 Kalamazoo College team that finished first in the MIAA.[34] The freshmen also managed to defeat a St. Viator team that had recently defeated Lane Tech 205 to 0, the second-most lopsided score in college football history,[35], and won against a Western State team (later known as Western Michigan University) that had won nineteen of their last twenty games.
A schedule for the freshman season in 1917 was released October 13.[41] They were coached by Jake Kline and captained by Mr. Donovan.[42] The freshmen compiled a 2–2 record against their off-campus opponents.[43]
The freshmen of 1918 were coached by Father McNamara. For the first time since the establishment of the program in 1913, the freshmen were able to defeat the varsity in a recorded contest, doing so on October 12 at Cartier field. However, Knute Rockne forbade his two best players, fullback George Gipp and quarterback Leonard Bahan, from entering the contest for fear of injuring them.[51] In their second game against the varsity team, Gipp and Bahan played for the freshman squad in an attempt to even the game, with even Rockne joining the frosh against their varsity opponents. The game ended in a 7–7 tie. [52]
The Freshmen of 1919 were coached by John Miller, a member of the 1915 and 1916 varsity teams, and assisted by Sherwood Dixon.[57] They were captained by Frederick Larson, who had played center for the varsity during their 1918 season.[58] Sixty candidates arrived for the first practice on September 22, almost double the number that tried out for the varsity.[59] That number would be cut to 25 after their game against the varsity in late September.[60] An incomplete season schedule for the frosh was released on October 4.[60] The freshmen compiled at least a 5–0 record against off-campus opponents. Their recorded record against campus opponents is 0–32, but the freshmen acted as a reserve team to the varsity, and so their were many more unrecorded scrimmage games between the two university teams during 1919.
The freshman team of 1921 compiled a 3–3 record.[73] They were coached by Barry Holton and assistant coach Albert "Duke" Hodler. The freshmen also served as a scout team, adopting the plays of varsity opponents during practices under Cartier Field.[74]
The freshman team of 1923 were led by head coach Keogan and assistant coaches Rod Shaugnessey and Edward Hogan.[95]According to the 1924 edition of the University Yearbook, The Dome, the freshmen compiled a 1–1–1 record, and outscored their opponents by a total of 20 to 13.[96]
The Freshman team was coached by George Keogan and assistant coach George Vergara. They were captained by future consensus All-American Bud Boeringer and compiled a 2–1 record against collegiate and other scholastic teams (although the contest against Twin City Athletic Association was not recognized in the freshman football section of the annual Football Review).[102][103]
The freshman team of 1925 compiled a 1–3 record.[108] The freshmen were coached by George Keogan and Wilbur Eaton.[109][110] For their games against Western State and the Lake Forest Academy, the freshmen were split into two groups to meet both aggregations at their home fields. This was likely a factor in why the frosh lost both contests.[111]
The freshmen were coached by Basil Stanley[118] and George Keogan. Since the freshman team was first established in 1913, each squad had played at least one regular game against a non-campus opponent. This was the first year that this tradition was not upheld, with the frosh serving only as practice opponents for the varsity team three or four times per week.[119]
In their annual pre-season game against the varsity team, the freshmen were crushed by a wide margin, with a Scholastic article writing, "No accurate score was kept of the proceedings, as there were no adding machines available. However, a conservative estimate of Varsity 110, Freshmen, 0, will not be far from wrong"[121]. Although this was most likely an exaggeration, the game lasted two hours, and if the varsity were trying to test their offensive prowess against an overmatched opponent, its possible that the score was somewhere within the high scoring range.
The freshman of 1929 played only one game during the season, a 97-point loss in the annual frosh-varsity contest at the beginning of the season. As a result of the crushing losses against the varsity in previous years, and the tendency for frosh and varsity players to be injured during the season scrimmages, Coaches Tommy Mills and Bill Jones decided that the freshmen would instead focus on practicing as a separate unit for the remainder of the season. This departure from their role as a scout team allowed the freshmen to refine their game before a select few could make the varsity team. 200 men reported for practice on the first day of freshman practice and were divided into seven teams, and by the end of the season 80 received their numerals.[124]
The freshman team of 1931 were coached by Art Parisien, Jake Kline, Clarence Kaplan and Jack Carberry. Over two-hundred men arrived for the first day of frosh practice, and the majority of them acted as a scout team for the varsity for the remainder of the season. Fifty-three received "numerals", which was the highest honor on the freshman team.[128]
The frosh team of 1932 was best known for defeating the varsity team on three separate occasions throughout the fall practice season. The freshman scout team first accomplished this using the Carnegie Tech game plan, and repeated this twice using plays from Army and then USC.[129][130] They were coached by Jake Kline, with assistance from George Kozak, McNamara, and Christman.
The varsity freshman team, coached by Jake Kline, lost 60 to 0 in their annual pre-season contest against the varsity. The freshmen continued their role as a de-facto scout team for the varsity during the 1933 season.
A hundred men reported for practice on the first week of the football season. The frosh were taught fundamental football drills and then began to take on their position as the scouting unit for the Fighting Irish varsity. They were coached by Jake Kline, Tom "Kitty" Gorman, Ed Vizral, and Hugh Devore.[133] In the annual Varsity-frosh pre-season contest, the freshmen were shutout by the Varsity 28 to 0.
The frosh were coached by Jake Kline, and continued to act as a scout time for the varsity, although they now shared this responsibility with the various reserve teams. Assistant coaches included Bill Shakespeare, Wally Fromhart and Hank Pojman.[137] The reserves finished with a 1–3 record.[138]
The frosh were coached by Jake Kline, and assistants Steve Miller and Hank Pojman for the 1937 season. In their annual pre-season game against the varsity team, the freshman suffered a 0–22 defeat.
150 freshman reported to coach Jake Kline for the 1938 season. In their annual pre-season game against the varsity, the frosh managed to hold the varsity to a 20–0 score, the closest in the series since 1932.
Overdue equipment finally arrived at the University in late November, including 210 new uniforms and 150 helmets. This prompted the S.A.C. to devise a short schedule for an intramural fall football season. Instead of creating a tournament between the various residence halls, the committee decided to form an interclass football tournament, with a freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior team.[144] An article that explained the re-introduction of intramural football confirmed that the last few seasons had been tumultuous because of injuries that occurred during the fateful 1935 season, likely in reference to the death of Richard Sullivan. Only men that were 150 pounds or less were permitted to participate in the interclass season, effectively barring any varsity members from adding unfair talent to the intramural season and allowing "lightweights" to get a chance to play football at Notre Dame. The league purposely mirrored the lightweight football teams that had sprung up in some eastern colleges, a type of distinction that would eventually become known as Sprint football.[145] To avoid any confusion in the next season, the S. A. C. announced that interhall football would return in it's traditional format.
A team representing the freshmen class competed in a short inter-class lightweight football league during the 1939 season. Under coaches Joe DeFranco, Joe Thesing and Thad Harvey, the frosh compiled a 1–1–1 record and lost to the juniors in the interclass championship.[145]
^This may have been the first interhall game involving a team under the identity of 'Notre Dame freshmen". Only one half of this game was played. Bill Martin probably captained the freshman team.
^This team was the successor to the old "Fort Wayne Friars" semi-professional team.
^While the Notre Dame team claimed a 6 to 0 victory, they officially forfeited the contest to the Michigan Agricultural freshmen following a disputed touchdown call that would have tied the game 6–6. Assistant coach Duke Hodler removed his players from the contest after he observed an incomplete touchdown pass that was ruled legitimate by the referee.
^The freshmen scored 7 points in their game against a team made up of the second and third string players of the varsity. It is unknown who won, although it was likely the reserve team.
^"Roundy Says". The Capital Times. 1923-04-28. p. 13. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
^ abcd[University of Notre Dame - Dome Yearbook (Notre Dame, IN), Class of 1924, Pages 284 - 285 + (e-yearbook.com) "Freshman Football"]. 1923–1924. pp. 284–285. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help); Unknown parameter |yearbook= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date format (link)
^"Notre Dame". The Decatur Daily Review. 1926-10-06. p. 10. Retrieved 2021-01-02.
^ ab[VOL_0061_ISSUE_0002.pdf (nd.edu) "Kirby Chosen Cheer-leader"]. The Scholastic. September 30, 1927. p. 41-56. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
^[VOL_0062_ISSUE_0001.pdf (nd.edu) "Calendar/Interhall Practice to get Under Way Shortly"]. The Scholastic. September 21, 1928. p. 15, 23-24. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
^[VOL_0062_ISSUE_0002.pdf (nd.edu) "Varsity-Freshmen stage annual frolic/Interhall Season To Start Sunday, Schedule Announced"]. The Scholastic. September 28, 1928. p. 56-57. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
^ abcCite error: The named reference FootballReview1929 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Irish Represented". Asbury Park Press. 1930-12-20. p. 13. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
