Coming this September, from Great Day Press:
“Coach For A Nation: The Life and Times of Knute Rockne”

He transformed the game of football forever and inspired a nation along the way. Knute Rockne’s journey from immigrant child to Notre Dame coaching legend to revered national figure illustrates to us today the endless possibilities of the human spirit.

CFANfrontcoverThis September, Great Day Press presents the authoritative biography Coach For A Nation: The Life and Times of Knute Rockne, by Jim Lefebvre, author of the award-winning 2008 book Loyal Sons: The Story of The Four Horsemen and Notre Dame Football’s 1924 Champions. Years of extensive research have yielded a work of unprecedented depth, detail and drama.

Coach For A Nation: The Life and Times of Knute Rockne transports the reader to an extraordinary time of energy, excitement, passion, and possibilities in America of the early 20th century. Into this burgeoning drama stepped an immigrant lad destined to make his mark on the nation like few before him, or since.

We see Rockne in his formative years in Chicago and learn of the moods and motivations that stay with him for life. He blossoms at Notre Dame and skyrockets to national fame because of his excellence as player and later coach of the Fighting Irish. Rockne’s visionary genius made Notre Dame football a household name from coast-to-coast as second-generation immigrants packed newly-built stadiums across the land, from Yankee Stadium in New York to Chicago’s Soldier Field to the Rose Bowl and Los Angeles Coliseum. Millions more gathered around their radios to listen to the weekly exploits of Rockne’s “Wonder Team.”

Rockne created a new game of football, wide open and more appealing to fans. And he traveled extensively, teaching his system to aspiring young coaches who took it to every corner of the land. Countless youngsters idolized the man behind Notre Dame football.

Yet his story transcends athletics; it embodies the hope and promise of a new era dawning in the United States. All things were imaginable in a nation expanding in ways never before seen. Rockne was quick to grasp the latest innovations in communications, transportation, and business. With a quick wit and an engaging spirit, Rockne used football as a stage to connect with America. Whether trading jabs with humorist Will Rogers or writing columns for Atlantic Monthly, Rockne catapulted to fame with a fearless vigor for the promises life offered. Growing from a stammering speaker to an oratorical giant, he inspired millions through his message of dedication, teamwork, and fair play. From mill workers to millionaires, he captivated audiences in engaging with the every day and the extraordinary.

Rockne’s life was testament to efforts that fought back against the virulent anti-Catholicism of the Ku Klux Klan rampant in the 1920s. In a raucous political environment, he represented the possibilities for an “everyman” willing to work hard for advancement. Immigrants of all stripes admired his indomitable spirit and strived to emulate his success.

Upon his shocking death in an airplane crash in 1931 at the height of his popularity, the outpouring of sentiment from around the nation and world was unprecedented. Rockne’s legacy, in life and in death, still impacts the game of college football and an American audience of the 21st century. Now his life story is told as never before, in greater depth, detail and drama, than ever before.

Watch for future issues of Irish Echoes, to read excerpts and features, and learn about the details on the release of Coach For A Nation: The Life and Times of Knute Rockne.

In addition to planning the release of Coach For A Nation, Great Day Press is producing a multi-media presentation on the life of Coach Rockne, which will tour the nation – much like the coach traveled across the U.S. and beyond, teaching his methods and system. The tour will begin in August 2013 and continue through 2014.

If your civic organization, historical society, alumni club, school, college or company is interested in a lively presentation on how Rockne’s life can inspire us to achievement today, please contact GoIrish@NDFootballHistory.com to request further information.