Notre Dame vs. Navy Week: Revisiting The Corwin Brown Rant Against Ken Niumatalolo

By Matt Heinz @MattHeinz_Rant on October 30, 2014

Let’s flash back to the Charlie Weis days for a moment here, Irish fans. Even worse, the post Brady Quinn, Weis days. Stop cringing; the days of losing to Navy, Pitt, Syracuse and Connecticut are long gone, but let’s take a trip down memory lane.

2009 is the year we are going to, Nov. 7 to be exact. Navy came to South Bend to face off against Notre Dame. There was once a time when Notre Dame was guaranteed a victory once a year by playing Navy. The Fighting Irish beat the Midshipmen 43 times in a row from 1964-2006 but then Weis came.

He and his “decided schematic advantage” with his snot dripping down his face once the temperature dropped below 50 degrees and his lack of knowledge on defense caused the Irish to lose to Navy not once, but twice during his five-year stint in South Bend. Notre Dame lost to Navy 23-21 that day, but the most memorable thing to come out of that game was defensive coordinator Corwin Brown’s rant where he called out Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo. Brown had two problems with the Navy coach.

First, he felt that Niumatalolo was teaching his players to make “dirty” blocks. When referring to a block on Irish cornerback Robert Blanton, Brown said: “Very malicious, in this game, which we’re supposed to be playing for our kids and we’re working for our kids, you don’t let your players do something like that.”

His second problem with Niumatalolo was absolutely absurd. Brown felt that Niumatalolo was disrespectful for calling out the Notre Dame defensive coaching staff after the game. Niumatalolo said: “I think the one thing that helped us, and I really hope this doesn’t come across wrong, but I think the thing that helped us this year was last year because we knew that they’d line up the same way.”

Was it irresponsible and possibly slightly disrespectful to say? Maybe. What was even more irresponsible was Brown’s defense giving up 404 yards of total offense to a Navy team that only completed two passes all game!

One thing Weis was good at was recruiting and the cupboard wasn’t bare on the Irish defense. That unit was loaded with four-star recruits, and Navy exploited Notre Dame’s coaching mistakes.

“I thought it was very disappointing what the Navy coach said after the game,” Brown said. He went on to add: “In all the classy guys I’ve watched and played under, they would never say something like that,” he said.

It should be noted that Brown isn’t the most level-headed person to ever coach as he was arrested in 2011 for holding his wife hostage with a gun inside his home during a police standoff. He pleaded guilty but mentally ill in June to felony confinement and domestic battery as part of a plea agreement.

Brown’s life after that 2009 Navy game certainly didn’t end up the way anyone would have liked, but that postgame speech definitely raised some eyebrows towards the then Notre Dame defensive coordinator.

Matt Heinz is a college football writer for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter and share your opinion by interacting with him @MattHeinz_Rant