On this date (July 1) in 1961, former Notre Dame football coach Jesse Harper died in Sika, Kansas, at age 77. Harper, a product of the University of Chicago under Amos Alonzo Stagg, became Notre Dame’s first full-time athletic employee when he was hired as athletic director and head coach of football, basketball, and baseball in 1913.
Coach Jesse Harper with player Knute Rockne.
It was that first football season when Harper took his team, captained by Knute Rockne, and set Notre Dame on a course of national competition. They took previously unheard-of trips to play Army, Penn State, and the Texas Longhorns. In five seasons, the last four with Rockne as assistant coach, Harper led the Irish to a mark of 34-5-1.
Harper then left to run his family’s ranch in Kansas. After Rockne’s death in 1931, Harper returned for another stint as athletic director, guiding Notre Dame athletics through a period of transition into what may be termed the modern era.
