The first thing I noticed was his booming, trombone-like voice. We did the interview by phone-I could not see him. He was excited about his book. He explained he still had family in Dayton and would visit them on a monthly basis, we was living in Akron at the time.
As a boy he dreamed about playing quarterback for Notre Dame. His father, Gerard “Fuzzy” Faust, was the football coach at Chaminade High School. His son idolized him. Gerry Faust played quarterback for his dad at Chaminade.
In that radio interview he told me he got a tryout with Notre Dame and realized as he observed the youths he was competing against that he had no chance of becoming starting quarterback, the other guys were just so good. He went on to play quarterback for the University of Dayton.
He became a football coach. Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati hired him to create their program. Faust’s teams at Moeller dominated, putting up phenomenal records, winning multiple state championships over almost two decades. Then a head coaching vacancy opened up at that storied college program, Notre Dame; Faust could not resist.
He contacted Notre Dame to express his interest in the position of head coach. What did he have to lose? His dream of playing quarterback for them was long in the past but to occupy the post once occupied by a legendary coach like Knute Rockne? How could he not take the plunge at this ultimate coaching goal line?
The football universe reeled with astonishment when Notre Dame hired Gerry Faust as head coach, his “Golden Dream” job. We talked about how difficult it was to fulfill expectations. Things started well. In 1981 Notre Dame beat LSU in his first game as head coach. There were other notable wins over the years Faust was there but it was mostly downhill during his tenure.
His first Notre Dame team finished with a record of 5-6, their first losing season since 1963. That simply would not do. He said every day he was on campus in South Bend he would go to the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes to pray. It didn’t help them win, but it gave him peace.
We talked about the pressures coaches face at OSU and Notre Dame. I think somewhere up in heaven Coach Faust is tickled about the Notre Dame/OSU game.
Vick Mickunas of Yellow Springs interviews authors every Saturday at 7 a.m. and on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WYSO-FM (91.3). For more information, visit www.wyso.org/programs/book-nook. Contact him at vick@vickmickunas.com.
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