"Say cheese! Use your teeth!"

"I've got a story for you. We just got a golden retriever puppy yesterday. My wife wanted me to stay home and watch the dog. But I wanted to come here for a shot at winning Notre Dame-Michigan tickets from the raffle because our son went there."
                  "And did you win?"
"Of course!"

"I covered sports for the Observer when Coach Willingham was named coach. I remember it was New Year's Eve, and there was a nasty storm, and I got a call. My boss said, 'There's going to be a press conference. Get your camera and head over.' Let's just say it killed my New Year's plans. The whole campus was on lockdown in preparation for the press conference. I had to ask security to let me into the dining hall to grab my camera. That press conference was Notre Dame's way of jamming themselves into the headlines along with all the teams who had just played in bowl games."

"I'm a part of the Alumni Schools Committee. I graduated in '76, and since then, I was used to receiving calls from the University asking for money. I've always said, I'm not a man who can give a million dollars. But when they called once and asked for volunteer hours, I realized that's how I can give back. I'm a meat and potatoes guy, keeping things simple, and connecting with potential students is my way of giving back and spreading the spirit of Notre Dame."

"Notre Dame is a family passion: not only did I attend, but so did my grandfather, brother, brother-in-law, daughter, son, and son-in-law. And now my granddaughter will be attending next year. I graduated in 1960--I lived in Breen-Phillips and Howard!"

"I was recently on my Mariott account and found that, since the start of the year, I have spent 74 days in a Mariott. Now that I have a week off, I'm spending every minute of it with my family. When we leave, I'm turning my phone off, and I don't know what we're going to do on the beach in Florida, but we'll do it together."
           And, being the defensive line coach, what he thought about Brian Kelly...
"I've coached under him for twelve years, and it's an easy answer to give: I love that man. I love him like a father, although he might resent that remark concerning his age. He takes care of my family like they're his own."

"Two years after I started at Notre Dame for my graduate degree, I remember standing before the dome, thinking to myself, Why am I here? At that very moment, I looked across the quad and saw Father Hesburgh. He wore his collar, slung his coat over his shoulder, and looked up at the dome with indescribable admiration, joy, and humility. I said to myself, his love for Notre Dame is so fiercely passionate. That's it. That's why I'm here.
"After my last exam four years later, my professor said, 'I probably can't tell you this, but I will anyways: you passed!' I ran out of the classroom and bought my class ring within five minutes."

"I graduated with my master's in theology in 1986. While I think Notre Dame has a long way to go in terms of diversity and inclusion, I think we've come far since my time there. Not including summer sessions, the students were like homogenized milk. I'm serious. But diversity is a conversation that is ongoing, and that's how changes are made. It takes active discussion.
"I remember my adviser encouraging me to take a theology class taught by a female professor. My thinking was that gender didn't matter--it was the quality of the course. So my adviser looked at me and said, 'Well, I'll put you with her. You won't regret it.' The professor was Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza. When she lived in Germany, despite her credentials, she was denied a teaching position. Do you know why? Because she was a woman. That's what they told her: we can't take you because you're a woman. So she moved to the United States, hoping to find a more accepting atmosphere and more opportunities here. After my class with her, I came to see that female professors are often tougher on their female pupils. And it's because they know that their female pupils have had to fight harder to get to where they are. They've overcome incredible odds, and professors want to encourage and foster this energy and passion.
"That's a spirit that's carried on in the alumni association, most specifically female alumni. More than anything, it's about encouraging undergraduates. Letting them know there is a support system behind them."

"You know what? My relationship to Notre Dame started when I said, 'Hey, this shirt of my son's is really nice,' and borrowed it to wear today. But I'm a fan of all Indiana sports teams."

"I used to be an Indiana fan, but the clients (of Opportunity Enterprises) got me into being an Irish fan. I haven't been to a football game--just men's basketball. We went to the Pittsburgh game with a bunch of the guys. They didn't win, but it was a great game and it went into overtime. That's where I got the hat. We had a great time. They haven't stopped talking about it."

 "I was born a Notre Dame fan. My grandfather and uncle both went there. I try to get to at least one game every year, as well as the Blue-Gold game.  Last fall, my wife and I went on a stadium tour with a friend who had graduated from Notre Dame. She saw me walking through the tunnel with wide eyes and she said, 'You look as happy as a kid in a candy store.'"
             "Is that your truth with the Leprechaun and monogram magnets on the back?"
"Yup, that's mine."

Seen at Potato Creek State Park.

"We went to Notre Dame for grad school, but we didn't meet in classes. There was an event on campus, where Danny Glover was appearing. We happened to sit next to each other in the audience."
               "How did he propose?"
"We went to the Carriage House for dinner, and then visited the Grotto...and that was where he proposed. The Basilica had a six-month waiting list, and we didn't want to wait that long. Our wedding was at St. Joe's--it was still a very Notre Dame wedding."