Irish Breakdown

Uncovering Notre Dame Football's Hidden 1920s Nickname

The story behind the brutal nickname that was pitched instead of Fighting Irish
Nick Shepkowski|
Jan 9, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) celebrates a touch down with teammates in the second half against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium.
Jan 9, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) celebrates a touch down with teammates in the second half against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Notre Dame Blue Comets are headed to the college football national championship to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes next Monday night in Atlanta.

Doesn't quite have the same ring as Notre Dame Fighting Irish, does it?

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish nickname is of course not just one of the most recognizable in all of sports but is also one of the most iconic of any sports team worldwide. Imagine for a second, though, that instead of being "Fighting Irish," it was something incredibly lame.

That was nearly the case almost 100-years ago when Notre Dame's football team still traveled to play any marquee opponent it could, but didn't carry an official nickname.

A few of the unofficial nicknames spoke to Notre Dame's traveling ways. Rockne's Ramblers, Rockne's Rovers, and the Rambling Irish were just a few of them.

Notre Dame brass didn't like those names, though, because they believed they made the football players sound like they were always traveling and never in class.

Notre Dame Football's Near-Nickname of the 1920's

Knute Rockne plaque at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Oct 14, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General overall view of plaque honoring former Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Enter Francis Wallace, a former Notre Dame student and press agent for Knute Rockne. After graduating in 1923, Wallace began working as a sportswriter in New York.

Wallace noticed these nicknames being used in the New York papers and was well aware what the administrators back in South Bend thought of them. His solution?

Start calling Notre Dame's football team the "Blue Comets."

According to Murray Sperber's Shake Down the Thunder: The Creation of Notre Dame Football from 1993, Wallace created this nickname based on Notre Dame's blue uniforms and quick offense.

Needless to say, the nickname worked about as well as a Tyrone Willingham gameplan against USC.

By 1925, Wallace had already moved on from the Blue Comets disaster and instead started referring to the football team as the "Fighting Irish." When Wallace moved to the New York Daily News in 1927, he found a significantly bigger audience, which he used to popularize the "Fighting Irish" nickname.

Not long after, Notre Dame's administration responded to a mailed question about the use of "Fighting Irish," essentially saying that it's an honor to have the fight of the Irish, regardless of one's ethnicity.

Fortunately, Fighting Irish wound up sticking while the Blue Comets flew away, never to be heard from again.

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Nick Shepkowski
NICK SHEPKOWSKI

Managing Editor for Notre Dame On SI. Started covering Chicago sports teams for WSCR the Score, and over the years worked with CBS Radio, Audacy, NBC Sports, and FOX Sports as a contributor before running the Notre Dame wire site for USA TODAY.

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