Editing Knute Rockne (section)

===1918–1930===
[[File:George_Gipp.jpg|thumb|upright|120px|George Gipp]]
During the war-torn season of [[1918 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|1918]], Rockne took over from his predecessor [[Jesse Harper]] and posted a 3–1–2 record, losing only to the [[1918 Michigan Agricultural Aggies football team|MAC Aggies]] (now the MSU Spartans). He made his coaching debut on September 28, 1918, against [[Case Western Reserve Spartans football|Case Tech]] in [[Cleveland, Ohio|Cleveland]], earning a 26–6 victory.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://125.nd.edu/moments/this-day-in-history-rockne-takes-the-reins/|title=This Day In History: Rockne Takes The Reins // Moments // 125 Football // University of Notre Dame|first=ENR // MarComm:Web // University of Notre|last=Dame}}</ref> In the backfield were [[Leonard Bahan]], [[George Gipp]], and [[Curly Lambeau]]. In Gipp, Rockne had an ideal handler of the [[forward pass]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RqQQHqQdAAC&pg=PA98|title=Shaping College Football|isbn=9780815608868|last1=Schmidt|first1=Raymond|date=June 18, 2007|publisher=Syracuse University Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-W1JAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA662|title=Leslie's Weekly|work=google.com|year=1921}}</ref>

Rockne handled the line and [[Gus Dorais]] handled the backfield of the [[1919 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|1919 team]].<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.archives.nd.edu/Football/Football-1919.pdf |title=Football Review 1919: The Season's Undefeated Champs |date=1919 |publisher=University of Notre Dame |page=5 |oclc=317338718}}</ref> The team went undefeated and was a national champion,<ref name="ncaabook">{{cite book | url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2017/FBS.pdf  | title=2017 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records | publisher=The National Collegiate Athletic Association | date=July 2017 | location=Indianapolis| access-date=April 11, 2018 |page=111}}</ref> though the championship is not recognized by Notre Dame.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/nd/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2016-17/misc_non_event/16-media-guide.pdf|title=2016 Media Guide Notre Dame Football|publisher=University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish Media|access-date=April 11, 2018|archive-date=January 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170126144214/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/nd/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2016-17/misc_non_event/16-media-guide.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Gipp died on December 14, [[1920 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|1920]], just two weeks after being elected Notre Dame's first All-American by Walter Camp. He likely contracted [[Streptococcal pharyngitis|strep throat]] and pneumonia while giving [[Punt (gridiron football)|punting]] lessons after his final game, on November 20 against Northwestern University. Since antibiotics were not available in the 1920s, treatment options for such infections were limited and they could be fatal even to the young and healthy. It was while on his hospital bed and speaking to Rockne that he is purported to have delivered the line "win just one for the Gipper".<ref name="Keyes 2006">{{Cite book
  | last =  Keyes
  | first = Ralph 
  | title = The quote verifier: who said what, where, and when
  | publisher = St. Martin's Press 
  | year = 2006
  | url = https://archive.org/details/quoteverifierwho00keye
  | url-access =  registration
  | page =  [https://archive.org/details/quoteverifierwho00keye/page/78 78]
  | quote =  win just one for the gipper.
  | isbn = 0-312-34004-4
  }}</ref>

[[File:Knute rockne portrait 1921.jpg|thumb|left|upright|120px|Rockne in 1921]]
[[John Mohardt]] led the [[1921 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|1921 Notre Dame team]] to a 10–1 record with 781 rushing yards, 995 passing yards, 12 rushing touchdowns, and nine passing touchdowns.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Keith Marder |author2=Mark Spellen |author3=Jim Donovan |title=The Notre Dame Football Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Guide to America's Favorite College Team|publisher=Citadel Press|year=2001|isbn=0806521082|page=148}}</ref> [[Grantland Rice]] wrote, "Mohardt could throw the ball to within a foot or two of any given space" and noted that the 1921 Notre Dame team "was the first team we know of to build its attack around a forward passing game, rather than use a forward passing game as a mere aid to the running game".<ref>{{cite news|title=Where The West Got The Jump: In Addition To Developing Strong Defense and Good Running Game, Has Built Up Forward Pass|author=Grantland Rice|publisher=American Golfer|date=December 3, 1921|url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/AmericanGolfer/1921/ag2424o.pdf|access-date=October 25, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062111/http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/AmericanGolfer/1921/ag2424o.pdf|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Mohardt had both [[Eddie Anderson (American football coach)|Eddie Anderson]] and [[Roger Kiley]] at [[End (gridiron football)|end]] to receive his passes.

The national champion [[1924 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|1924 team]] included the "[[Four Horsemen (football)|Four Horsemen]]" backfield of [[Harry Stuhldreher]], [[Don Miller (American football, born 1902)|Don Miller]], [[Jim Crowley]], and [[Elmer Layden]]. The line was known as the "Seven Mules". The Irish capped an undefeated 10–0 season with a victory over [[1924 Stanford football team|Stanford]] in the [[1925 Rose Bowl|Rose Bowl]].

For all his success, Rockne also made what an [[Associated Press]] writer called "one of the greatest coaching blunders in history".<ref name="blunder">{{cite news|url=http://media.www.dailytexanonline.com/media/storage/paper410/news/2007/09/06/Sports/Rocknes.Gaffe.Remembered-2953261.shtml |title=Rockne's gaffe remembered |work=The Daily Texan |publisher=Texas Student Media |author=Robinson, Alan |date=September 9, 2007 |access-date=September 6, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070908073255/http://media.www.dailytexanonline.com/media/storage/paper410/news/2007/09/06/Sports/Rocknes.Gaffe.Remembered-2953261.shtml |archive-date=September 8, 2007 }}</ref> Instead of coaching his [[1926 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|1926 team]] against [[1926 Carnegie Mellon Tartans football team|Carnegie Tech]], Rockne traveled to Chicago for the [[Army–Navy Game]] to "write newspaper articles about it, as well as select an All-America football team".<ref name="blunder"/> Carnegie Tech used the coach's absence as motivation for a 19–0 win; the upset likely cost the Irish a chance for a national title.<ref name="blunder"/>

[[File:KnuteRockneGoudeycard.jpg|thumb|right|120px|Goudy trading card of Rockne, issued 1933]]
The [[1928 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|1928 team]] lost to national champion [[1928 Georgia Tech Golden Tornado football team|Georgia Tech]]. "I sat at [[Grant Field]] and saw a magnificent Notre Dame team suddenly recoil before the furious pounding of one man–[[Peter Pund]]", said Rockne. "Nobody could stop him. I counted 20 scoring plays that this man ruined."<ref name="gshf">{{cite web
 |url=http://www.gshf.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=254&Itemid=50 
 |title=Henry R. "Peter" Pund 
 |publisher=Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and Museum 
 |work=Inductees 
 |access-date=August 11, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928081502/http://www.gshf.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=254&Itemid=50 
 |archive-date=September 28, 2007 |url-status=dead 
}}</ref> Rockne wrote of an attack on his coaching in the ''[[Atlanta Journal]]'', "I am surprised that a paper of such fine, high standing [as yours] would allow a zipper to write in his particular vein ... the article by [[Fuzzy Woodruff]] was not called for."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lXGEcVjBET0C&pg=PA278|title=Shake Down the Thunder: The Creation of Notre Dame Football|author=Murray A. Spencer|page=278|publisher=Indiana University Press|date=1993|isbn=0253215684}}</ref>

On November 10, 1928, the Fighting Irish were tied with [[1928 Army Cadets football team|Army]] 0–0 at the end of the half.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The New York Times: This Day In Sports |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/packages/html/sports/year_in_sports/11.10.html |access-date=February 17, 2023 |website=archive.nytimes.com}}</ref> Rockne entered the locker room and told the team the words he heard on Gipp's deathbed in 1920: "I've got to go, Rock. It's all right. I'm not afraid. Some time, Rock, when the team is up against it, when things are going wrong and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to go in there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper. I don't know where I'll be then, Rock. But I'll know about it, and I'll be happy."<ref>{{Cite book 
  | title = Homiletic Review
  | publisher = Volume 102, Page 421
  | year = 1931
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=suUWAQAAIAAJ&q=%22%27ve+got+to+go,+Rock.+It%27s+all+right%22
  }}</ref> This inspired the team, who then won the game 12–6. The phrase "Win one for the Gipper" was later used as a political slogan by [[Ronald Reagan]], who in 1940 portrayed Gipp in ''[[Knute Rockne, All American]].''

Both the [[1929 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|1929]] and the [[1930 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|1930]] teams went undefeated and were national champions. According to interviews, Rockne considered his 1929 team his strongest overall. Rockne also said he considered his 1930 team to have been his best offensively before the departure of [[Joe Savoldi|Jumping Joe Savoldi]]. Rockne was struck with illness in 1929, and the ''de facto'' head coach was assistant [[Tom Lieb]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Reading Eagle - Google News Archive Search |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=S0cxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VuEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3962,5541438&dq=all-american+football&hl=en |access-date=February 17, 2023 |website=news.google.com}}</ref> Rockne's all-time All-America [[backfield]] was [[Jim Thorpe]], [[Red Grange]], [[George Gipp]], and [[George Pfann]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rDV1jOx2P3cC&pg=PA198|title=Jim Thorpe: World's Greatest Athlete|first=Robert W.|last=Wheeler|date=November 28, 2012|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=9780806187327|via=Google Books}}</ref>