Success in football is relative. If you take a job at a school that finished with a 1-9 record the year before, you're considered a good coach if you finish 5-5 in your first season. But what happens if you start with 8-2 or 9-1?

I have been around football all of my life.

I've been blessed in many ways, but none of the heights from football can ever compare to the depths you go through when you lose a child.

The best way I could describe it at Notre Dame was that I was accepted as a member of the family.

I coached at Northwestern for eight years, where the admission requirements were high.

I don't make hasty, impulsive decisions.

I don't think I was a miracle man. Neither were Lou Holtz or Frank Leahy. We all found ways to win.

One of the reasons I never went into pro football was because I wanted my kids to grow up around an academic environment. And that's exactly what we did.

I'd go to clinics and hear coaches say, 'You block with your helmet. You tackle with your helmet.' I'd say, 'No way! You block with your shoulder. It's a lot stronger blow, and you don't risk nearly as much. Why be stupid?'

The most difficult problem about coaching at Notre Dame is losing early.