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Notre Dame Football: Brian VanGorder Fist Pumps The Irish Defense To Shutout Victory

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By @MattHeinz_Rant

Brian VanGorder Notre Dame

Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

The man is more than just a mustache. Before Saturday’s 31-0 shutout over Michigan, Notre Dame defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder was known mainly for his 1980s style mustache. After a couple of fist pumps and a barrage of blitzes that kept Devin Gardner and the Michigan offense more uncomfortable than a middle school dance, VanGorder has morphed into an overnight celebrity among the golden domers.

All the talk coming out of South Bend after the impressive 48-17 win over Rice Week 1 centered on Everett Golson and the high flying offense. That will help in 2014, but as Notre Dame proved in 2012, defense wins championships.

Well, defense gets you to the National Championship game until your best player realizes his dead girlfriend never existed.

There is a reason Irish fans are feeling like a kid on Christmas, and it is because they see that they have a special coach in VanGorder. The time to fear the stache is here, folks. VanGorder is as animated on the sideline as any coach in America. Vines and tweets of his now infamous fist pumping in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s pummeling of Michigan have been all over the internet. Move over Snooki, Pauly D and the Situation; VanGorder is the new king of the fist pump.

It didn’t take long for one Irish fan to update VanGorder’s Wikipedia page writing this gem: “On September 6, 2014, he delivered what some have called the greatest fist pump of all time, as his Notre Dame defensive unit shut out the University of Michigan Wolverines by a score of 31-0.”

Regardless of what you may have read last week about the Notre Dame vs. Michigan game not being a real rivalry, this game means a lot to both fanbases. Notre Dame and Michigan are national brands that rank Nos. 1 and 2 in overall winning percentage in college football history. It’s an absolute travesty that these two powerhouses will not be meeting anymore after Notre Dame agreed to play teams like North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Duke five times a years due to their agreement with the ACC.

Notre Dame’s defense is very young and very inexperienced, but it is hard for a young player not to get excited about playing for a guy who is going to get that visibly excited about his players performing at a high level. That emotion goes both ways, though, as last week after Rice’s first touchdown, VanGorder gave Irish fans flashbacks of the purple face Brian Kelly would often display during the Dayne Crist era.

One of the smartest moves VanGorder made was realizing just how special of a talent linebacker Jaylon Smith is. Smith was just as big of a recruit as Manti Te’o was but looks far more polished as a player than Te’o was as a sophomore. Smith’s speed is something Te’o didn’t have until his infamous senior year. Moving Smith from outside linebacker to more of an inside role allows him to be around the ball much more and his 10 tackles on Saturday night proved that.

Irish defenders are used to having their defensive coordinator up in the press box as former coach Bob Diaco spent each of Kelly’s first four seasons up top. Kelly and the animated VanGorder have a great relationship as they worked together in 1989 at Grand Valley State. In those days, VanGorder’s mustache was still in style, and he was the linebacker coach for Kelly who was the defensive coordinator. That relationship has led to Kelly allowing the mustached maniac to coach where he is comfortable — on the sideline.

Irish fans are very grateful for what VanGorder has accomplished in such a short time. What he accomplished was holding one of Notre Dame’s most hated opponents to zero points. It was very important to end the rivalry on top for each team, and the Irish clearly realized that importance. Behind VanGorder’s mustache and fist pumping is a very intelligent defensive mind that Irish players will keep learning from. That mind has led to the Irish jumping up to No. 11 in both major polls this week.

The first pumping video tells us that while most coaches tend to be a little more relaxed with their team up 31-0 in the fourth quarter, VanGorder truly was asking: “turn down for what?”

For more information and opinions regarding college football follow Matt Heinz on twitter @MattHeinz_Rant.

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