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1iIcrskeipininBIG JOE KUHARICH wos holding courr wirh several MoVolley sports writers before joining the other guests for the Dopper Don banquet in Pittsburgh the other night.Well, how does ir feel to be back home cod ot your alma mater cs the head man? someone osked Notre Dame's new football boss who hails from South Bend.What the scribe didn't know et the rime is that Gentleman Joe rook the plush job without even asking how much money he'd earn.According to Kuharich, the question was posed; lf)nj£ the position were available, would you be interested in it? wil Absolutely/' he said. 1 didn't care how much they'd pay on me or how long the job would last* That's the best place to carry on a career in coaching He hinted that he hod had his eyes on the job ever since1 to he was a boy. jha-When I was a kid, he soid, our family Jived on the bui south side of South Bend and Noire Dame is way on the other side of town in the north east section. It was 45^2 miles. I walked it every doy just to see practice Kuharich played ct ND in 1935-36-37, then served as freshman coach briefly in 1938 before going into pro ball as a standout lineman for the Chicago Cardinals. One of his teammates at Notre Dame was George (Jake) Koval-cik, now tax collector in nearby Donora and to whom he asked to be remembered.(SRi5‘Cedheiofwfcoelt;Ti|Jia:Zn3£aWHAT ABOUT Mvron Pottios, where does he fit into ^ your plans?, Kuharich was asked. 1^ Frankly, I've never seen the boy play, he said of the ex-Charleroi High all-stater, but I hear he's a good one.I can only judge him on movies of Notre Dame's 1958 games, which I've been studying. Ir seems he can go both ways with equal ability, although they tell me defense is his strong suitAs far as Kuharich is concerned, his aim is simple and3Rnwh14.a * hn ]urgent: To build a Notre Dame football team that reeks with excellence. It will not be easy ana he knows it. I^JWhen you lose the crux of your football team— guards and tackles and fullbacks*—you know you've got a crlt; lot of work ahead/' he reasons.For those who don't already know, the Irish will be missing 23 lettermen next season and the losses are concentrated—all three fullbacks, four tackles,. four ends.Our main job is to fill those holes, he confessed We hope the law of average can give us the boys who can do the job/'There's a possibility Pottios, an upcoming junior, may be switched back to guard where he was playing before he took over the center post at the start of the '58 season. Then, too, he might even be used at tackle since there's a concentration of experience and depth in the middle of the line—five good men for three positions.# # wBeiMiCr«CtsBr-MaMoGilKiiBe:cElA]Ellballeaw:MeSTRANGE AS IT SEEMS, Kuharich has been spending most of his time awcy from South Bend since switching from the Washington Redskins to the Fighting Irish a month ago.Most of his preliminary work has been concentrated on recruiting and attending banquets and he estimates he has traveled between 8000 and 10,000 miles on the knife-and-fork circuit since becoming ND's head man. iThen, too, his family was still residing near Washing-\noJ ton, D. C, and ir wasn't until last week that he finally sold his house and is ready to move them to South Bend.Will there be any changes in Notre Dame's tactics?,! Kuharich was asked on one of his recent travels. In reply Gentleman Joe said the Irish will probably lean heavily toward a pro offense—a basic T formation with one end split wide and the opposite back flanked far on the end At Washington, Kuharich sometimes ran that offense from an unbalanced line, with emphasis on possession Ironically, his predecessor, Terry Brenncn, wos criticized in some circles for using the same plan of attack and switched to a more wide-open brand midway in the season.Kuharich says there's no question the ND defense will be changed considerably, predicated upon what our personnel offers We'll have two or three basic defenses.iperhaps half a dozen, he added.But just exactly what we'll do/' he concluded, won'tbe decided until we see what we have in spring practice.3Pitda:theyeiatVO?bu;a
Newspaper Details
Charleroi Mail
Charleroi, Pennsylvania, US
Wed, Feb 11, 1959
Page 10
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USA 20 May 2022
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