The coach America forgot. Frank Leahy’s legacy is resurrected in Ivan Maisel’s book.

College football’s first-ever game was played on November 6, 1869, when Rutgers University hosted Princeton University and prevailed 6-4.

For 157 years, college football has entertained and thrilled millions of fans across the country and for roughly a quarter of that time, award-winning sportswriter Ivan Maisel has covered the sport for newspapers, magazine, websites and books with extraordinary grace and passion. He’s worked for The Atlanta Constitution, The Dallas Morning News and Newsday, Sports Illustrated, ESPN and ESPN.com, and the website On3.com.

Maisel, who graduated from Stanford University in 1981 with a degree in American Studies, has authored five books, including “American Coach: The Triumph and Tragedy of Notre Dame Legend Frank Leahy” which is available online and at Maisel’s website.

Notre Dame is a magical name in college football history in part because it has won 11 national championships, which the university has claimed.

Leahy coached the Fighting Irish from 1941 through 1943 and 1946 through 1953. During that span, the Nebraska native compiled a record of 87-11-9 and led his teams to national titles in 1943, 1946, 1947 and 1949. He coached Boston College in 1939 and 1940, went 20-2, and finished his coaching career with an eye-popping 107-13-9 overall record. Additionally, he led his troops to seven undefeated seasons, six at Notre Dame and one at Boston College.

Now, that’s an impressive resume.

‘Notre Dame was the only national brand.’

This season, Notre Dame is 4-0 after victories over Wisconsin 41-13, Rice 52-0, Michigan State 27-10 and Purdue 49-10 and is ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press and Coaches polls.

Notre Dame has long been a destination for some of the best college football talent. Does it still hold sway?

“The appeal is different, but it remains strong,” acknowledged Maisel, who has been honored nine times for best story by the Football Writers Association of America and twice by the Associated Press Sports Editors and was named in 2019 one of the 10 best columnists in the country.

“In Leahy’s time, when the NFL barely existed, college football was king, and Notre Dame was the only national brand.”

“In addition, the parochial-school feeder system, which was populated by many first-and second-generation American Catholics, delivered great players who had been instructed from an early age to play for Notre Dame, a dream come true. There are a lot fewer parochial schools today, yet the strength of that brand is why Notre Dame is relevant today when there are so many national brands in the sport.”

Another feather in Notre Dame’s bonnet is that it has produced seven Heisman Trophy winners, most notably Paul Hornung and Tim Brown, who are members of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Of course, the book is the final product, but Maisel enjoyed a long research process.

“I loved researching and writing about Leahy,” he declared. “In postwar America, he was a national celebrity; in college football he remains a legendary figure, and as human beings go, he was a flawed figure.”

Why did Maisel choose to write a biography about a coach who hasn’t been on the sidelines in seven decades?

“He has the second-highest winning percentage of any head coach in the history of the game (minimum 10 seasons), second only to Knute Rockne, for whom he played,” he said. “Rockne remains an iconic figure in American lore, and Leahy has been completely forgotten. That was a loose thread I began to pull.”

During exhaustive research, Maisel unearthed several key nuggets he learned about Leahy.

“Of course, I knew very little about him. In many ways, Leahy represented the American story,  in which boomers like me were inculcated,” he said. “He came from nothing, got an opportunity to better himself through education, and rose to the top of his profession. That’s America! He also pursued success at the expense of his health, his marriage and his children. That’s an American story, too.”

What was the key to Leahy’s success as a head coach?

“He had a keen eye for talent. He was a pioneer in how he organized his practices. He wasn’t afraid to embrace new tactics on the field,” Maisel said. “And he let nothing stand in the way of success – not the rules, not his health. He worked tirelessly to win football games.”

Despite overwhelming success, Leahy has been a forgotten figure? How can this be the case? Maisel gets to the root of the reason.

‘NIL has been around since July 2021, and it’s been a boon for the players.’

“Leahy did not have the personal magnetism that Rockne had. He did not die as tragically as Rockne did. He left Notre Dame at age 45 because he had coached himself into poor health,” he said. “He left also because of the fraught relationship with the university administration. And his post-coaching life did not bathe him in a warm glow of publicity. He just faded from the public view.”

Maisel was asked how Leahy would fare in today’s college football environment, especially with NIL (Name, Image and Likeness), in which athletes are getting paid millions to play.

“He couldn’t have been the martinet that he was in his day,” he explained. “But he would have adjusted. That’s what winners do.”

NIL has been around since July 2021, and it’s been a boon for the players. What’s Maisel’s take on that subject?

“I am embarrassed to say that I came late to the NIL party. Players should have been paid long ago,” he stressed. “The schools fought it so hard when the energy could have been better spent figuring out some guardrails on how best to do it. The schools are paying the price now for their lack of planning.”

If you’re a college football fan or a Notre Dame fan, Maisel’s book on Leahy is well worth picking up.

“I think everyone who reads “American Coach” will hold Leahy in a different light because since his retirement in 1954 and even more so after his death in 1973, there’s been very little light shined on him at all,” Maisel said.

Before the invention of the television, the sports that captured the imagination of America were baseball, boxing, horse racing and college football.

Maisel, like so many, became fascinated with college football early on.

“It’s the emotion. College football is the one sport that more than any other plays on our emotions. You attend college at an age when you begin to find out who you are,” he stated. “The friends you make are your lifelong friends. Your school represents your youth, or a family alma mater. It makes quite the imprint on a brain that is most impressionable.”

Being around college football and writing about the sport for decades, Maisel is forever grateful for that opportunity.

Maisel’s readers are also glad. It’s a perfect marriage.