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Leahy and solicit his opinion on the current state of affairs of college athletics— primarily, NIL, the transfer portal, and the playoff system.
Along the way, Maisel has found time to write books. On his recent trip to Georgia, he promoted his book about former Notre Dame coach Frank Leahy, who was a close friend of former Bulldog coach, Wallace Butts. Leahy often visited Athens where he was treated to greens, cornbread, and potlikker at the Butts’ home. When Leahy was invited to coach the collegians in the College All-Star game in Chicago, in 1947, he asked Butts to join him as one of his assistant coaches.
With all three clubs, Maisel offered up an insight into Leahy’s coaching career and his drive to succeed in South Bend. The subtitle, “The Triumph and Tragedy of Notre Dame legend Frank Leahy,” confirms that sometimes driven men accomplish their goals, but their families often suffer.
Maisel, with determined research, was able to provide enlightenment to Leahy’s personal life as well as his extraordinarily successful coaching career.
Only Leahy’s coach at Notre Dame—Knute Rockne—has a higher winning percentage than Leahy: Rocke’s record was 105-125 for a winning percentage of .881. Leahy’s record was 107-13-9 for .864.
If you read this book, you get a glimpse into the post-World War II years when there was not as much scoring as there is today and coaching salaries were not as extravagant as they have become. And, God forbid, paying players! Coaches were more colorful and certainly more sociable. When trains were the most frequent mode of travel and a team stayed over following a road game, the coaches might have dinner together. Even if coaches were okay with that routine today, alumni would never go for it.
Ivan Maisel provided insights into college football history, Notre Dame and Frank Leahy, and college football. He is a gifted storyteller, a seasoned historian, and someone who appreciates the virtues of the game of football. He is honest, forthright, hardworking and accomplished. His presentations are like having a fireside chat.
Club members in Athens, Atlanta and LaGrange are happy that he came their way. Long live such sports organizations.
