The Faust Legacy

I had the pleasure of interviewing in studio former Notre Dame coach Gerry Faust and for those few hours I was able to acquaint myself with the man behind the battle scars that being a college football coach in South Bend can lance upon those who pace the sidelines in the shadows of Touchdown Jesus.

To better understand this man you must go back to his days coaching at Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati where he built the team from scratch into a juggernaut and arguably the best high school program our nation has seen.Moeller players came from varied ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds and after a Faust training camp these young men would run through a wall for their passionate and affectionate head coach. Certainly his love for his players wasn’t sappy but each one knew that he wanted the best for them, not only in becoming good football players but more importantly persons of character. The football field became Faust’s classroom to form quality leaders and he did just that.

John Andrew Boehner was one of Faust’s linebackers at Moeller. You may know him as Mr. Speaker. Boehner credits Coach Faust,in part, for providing him with the tools necessary in order to become successful in the metaphoric game of life.

There were many other boys who became men under Coach Faust. He aided in shaping good husbands, fathers, and countless football players many of whom went on from Moeller to play for the Fighting Irish. He relished the time at Notre Dame and felt at home in the institutions Catholic surroundings and often would spend time in prayer at the famed replicated Grotto of Lourdes. Faust once said “I had only 26 miserable days at Notre Dame; that’s when we lost. Other than that, I was the happiest guy in the world. I loved walking on the campus, loved being there, loved being a part of Notre Dame.”

When speaking with him his deep abiding trust in God’s plan for his life becomes apparent. He told me adversity is a blessing because it forces you to depend on God more closely.

Some pundits in the secular media may consider Faust a failure because he didn’t win convincingly on the big stage while in South Bend. However, his wife, children and players have a deep respect for the man who lived by sound ethics and a unyielding determination to strive for excellence in all things, especially matters of faith.

Perhaps on our final judgement day it’s not our accomplishments that will yield us favor but what we did to prepare ourselves and others to draw closer to God himself.  In the Gospel of Matthew it is written “Well done good and faithful servant!’ – the greatest of legacies to be known for.