Before graduating in 1976, I played Interhall football for Keenan in 1973 (briefly) and a full season in 1975. We won the championship that year which started Keenan on a 3 year run of Interhall championships – the only other dorm to accomplish a three-peat in the modern era besides Dillon (which did it twice starting in 1958 and again in 1981). Here are some rambling thoughts and memories of those seasons.

Uniforms? With ND Logo AND Keenan on the jerseys?

One of the highlights of the entire Interhall experience was heading to the bowels of ND Stadium to pick out our uniforms before the season. Rudy was probably there, but I don’t recall seeing him. Equipment was lined up by type and, much like a Christmas Sale at Macy’s Bargain Basement or Walmart, everybody just started scrambling through the piles for each equipment piece. When I got back to Keenan with all my “stuff”, I noticed that there was writing on my hip pads: “Theismann.” Dang – I felt quicker and faster every time I put them on. Truth be told, however, it didn’t help much See following section.

I get jealous when I see the Interhall uniforms from later years: so classy, clean, new and with the appropriate logos and symbols. Compare the following photos of our 1975 team to the Keenan Hall sideline image and the 2007 team running through the ND tunnel onto the field: we had different colored helmets, different colored pants and don’t even get me started on socks! And they had a flag????

Astroturf is Hard! After winning the starting quarterback position (I can’t remember if there were any other candidates), I was looking forward to the competition and glory of Interhall football. In the first game of the 1973 season against Grace on the astroturf at Cartier field (September 30, barely back in school), late in the first half I got sacked: 3 Grace defensive linemen collapsed on me and I put out my left wrist to break the fall. Break being the optimal word – I had snapped both major wrist bones. We did not have an on-field medical tent or a doctor on the sideline to advise me, so we taped the wrist up and I played the full 2nd half, switching hands to take the snap from center. When I took the tape off after the game, my wrist ballooned to 3 times the size and turned multiple shades of blue, yellow & purple. Family lore still says the 2 calls I made to home while under anesthesia after 4 hours of reconstructive surgery at St. Joe’s Regional Medical Center are classic. If only we had Tik Tok then! Someone at the Observer thought my injury was the highlight of a 0-0 tie. So my inaugural InterHall season was over after the first game.

Family pressure and academic requirements convinced me to sit out the next season but there was a growing excitement in the fall of 1975 when we returned to campus. The buzz in Keenan was that we had a solid team returning from the previous year’s 2-3 season – and we had a new coach coming on board!

Parseghian Championships: Ara 2, Mike 2.

Ara Parseghian had been Head Coach at Notre Dame for 10 years when he resigned after the 1973 season. He led the Fighting Irish to the NCAA Championship in 1966 and 1973. Let the record show, however, that a Parseghian continued to coach at Notre Dame for the next 2 seasons: his son Mike. You could tell Mike came from a coaching legacy: he was organized, had great attention to detail, came up with creative plays and schemes, scouted the opposition thoroughly and was a great, positive motivator on the sidelines during a game. Daily practices were efficient and, a good sign, very well attended. The Keenan team was on a mission.

Mike coached Keenan to the Championship in 1975 and 1976 and the team completed the Interhall Trifecta by winning again in 1977. They went undefeated those 3 seasons. Ironically, all 3 championship games ended with an unusual, identical score: 22-0. In the modern era after 1950, Keenan and Dillon Hall are the only 2 teams to win the InterHall Championship 3 seasons in a row

The Championship Game.

My memories of the 1975 season are almost exclusively from the Championship game. Perhaps that’s because I found some photographs and the Observer article about the game in a long lost storage box. The ND Observer opening paragraph said it all: 

“Keenan crushed Pangborn Sunday afternoon 22-0 to take the Interhall Championships. It was the first time a North Quad team had won it in over 5 years.”

We were all disappointed about not playing the Championship game in the ND Stadium. Now I know the reason: I learned why from Craig Fowler’s letter on this website – the Championship game in 1972 was in the Stadium – and then not played there again for 10 years until 1982. So we played on Cartier Field with its ugly, hard astroturf. And I had visions of my broken wrist as we took the field.

Campus Landmark Photographs.

Sadly, I can’t remember the name of the fellow Keenanite who took photographs at most of our games during the season. These two are from the Pangborn Championship game. He was kind enough to share a few prints with me that I’ve kept all these years. Throwing the long ball in view of Sacred Heart. Decent crowd in attendance – the stands are packed

Not going to the Touchdown Jesus Library today. It’s pretty cool having these iconic Notre Dame buildings in the background. Sadly, I don’t have one with the Golden Dome over my shoulder or directing one of my passes. As we lined up for a play near the goal line, notice Keenan’s eclectic uniforms: different color helmets, pants and socks. I’m not sure the Pangborn guys were much different.

They Voted on these things?

When I found the photographs, I was also surprised to find the following:

North Quad All Star Team. An official, typed in blue ink, roster of the best of the best for the North Quad. With 7 Keenan Hall members and Coach Parseghian. At the bottom is a hand written note to meet at La Fortune Student Center at 7:30 – April 29th 1976 for Certificates and photos.

April 29th??? The Championship game was on November 11, 1975. Not sure why we waited so long for the “presentation” and photos. In my opinion, still to this day, Keenan should have had a few more members on that All Star list.

Confirmed with a Certificate.

Here is the official HPC All Star Team Certificate of Award signed by HPC Chairman James Russell and dated April 29, 1976.

Glad I received it that day, because I graduated 2 weeks later on May 15.

Some of the teammates who received an All Star nod (or should have) are: Greg Wilkes, George “Pinky” Faherty, Captain Al Sondej, Jim “Jenque” Kerrigan, Pat Concannon, Joe Kern, John “Dinty” Moore, Donnie Bishop (future ND VP Undergrad Enrollment), Nick Molinaro, Bill Jacobitz, Lou Drago, Paul Riordan, Steve Jones, Richard Hebert and others whose name escapes me after these 50 years.

Best use of a Notre Dame Interhall football letter jacket patch.

One of our stellar linemen on the 1975 team, both offense and defense, was Richard Hebert. “Bear” was a round 5’8 and 200+ lbs. Both quicker and stronger than he looked, he was a rough and tumble guy born and bred in the Bayou oil county of Jennings, LA. He was an important part of both lines and, despite looking like he was out of shape, always stayed strong throughout the game. I believe Bear was the only “Domer” I knew from Louisiana. We all got a kick out of his first exposure to snow & ice, walking from Keenan across the North Quad to the Dining Hall. He only slipped twice but got up with a beaming smile each time.

We kept in touch over the years and I saw him in Atlanta when he ran a Cajun restaurant there. He called from Jennings in early 2015 to tell me that he was losing his battle with cancer after 5+ grueling years. He wanted to say goodbye – and reminisce a bit about “two of the greatest periods in my life.” We talked about that 1975 Keenan Hall championship season and how much fun it was. We also talked about Bear being in my wedding in Virginia the week after graduation – see following section. It was clear that Keenan and Notre Dame had been a big part of his life and family.

Several years later I saw a photograph of Bear’s son Max celebrating his final home football game at Welsh High School in Welsh, LA. Max’s mother and grandmother created a quilt capturing his high school years. Here’s Max holding the quilt. Smack in the middle of that quilt is the Keenan Hall 1975 Letter patch from our championship season. I believe that quilt captures the importance and spirit of Interhall football as well as anything I can think of. I know Bear would be proud.

Keenan Hall Travels Well.

One of the unique aspects about Interhall football was that, unlike high school or even college football teams, when practice was over each day, we all went back to the same “home” and continued, in many ways, to act as a true family in the dorm. We would often have impromptu meetings in the dorm lounges (usually interrupting a Euchre game) to discuss new plays or our upcoming opponents. We had throwing sessions or pass route planning across the North Quad as my receivers dodged students headed off to dinner, classes or another dorm. Those relationships went beyond the season and well on into our lives after Notre Dame.

Here is the 1975 Keenan Hall Championship photo published in the Observer. In many ways it appears we could just as easily been from the 1950’s – or the 1930’s.

That Keenan Hall camaraderie – and not just the football team - was clearly evident at my wedding. I graduated on Sunday, May 16 and got married in Alexandria VA the following Saturday, May 22, 1976. As graduation approached, many of my classmates were heading back East or off to a new job somewhere other than home. Most didn’t have immediate plans right after graduation. So, unbeknownst to my parents and my fiancé’s parents who were paying for the wedding, I invited 35 Keenan Hall members to Alexandria for the wedding. Many played on the football team.

When my father agreed to pay for the open bar at our wedding, he did not anticipate that 32 Keenan Hall members would show up – and imbibe accordingly. There were 28 guys on the 1975 Keenan Hall Championship roster. 16 of them were at my wedding a week after graduation. It’s easy to tell from this photo that a) everyone had a great time and b) a big piece of our successful 1975 run to the Interhall Championship came through the relationships and camaraderie we established during – and after that season.

So, there you have it. One man’s fond memories of the Interhall experience at Notre Dame. Whether we won or lost, the experience of Interhall football solidified the bond we Keenan Hall teammates had beyond just the dorm life. Everyone who played Interhall football over the years shared that same experience and bonding. We worked towards a common goal, suffered the pains & bruises of astroturf, outdated equipment and being out of shape & worked together to craft success against solid competition in a very short time. Looking back now after almost 50 years – our 50th Reunion is in June 2026 – I can honestly say that Interhall Football – and particularly that 1975 Championship Season – was the true highlight of my 4 years at Notre Dame.

1975 South Quad Interhall Football Championship Game against perennial power Dillon Hall.The only touchdown we scored was on a trick play.  We knew we were playing at Cartier and it had Astro Turf.  We had practiced a bounce pass that would look like an incomplete pass but would actually be a lateral and it worked for a touchdown! Dillon scored a TD but we blocked the extra point.

1975 is only time Pangborn ever won a South Quad interhall Football Championship!  That year we wore orange jerseys and our nickname was the Violence  after the Mott the Hoople song.

A great defense; offense was not so good but had a great quarterback in Bill Sahm who later walked on in Basketball.

I never played in High School but played a little linebacker on the Violence.  Great year for Pangborn! 

"My inter hall career ended in 1975 after a severe knee injury requiring repair of my ACL, PCL and medial collateral ligaments.   I had surgery at St. Joseph hospital and my roommate was ND Center Ernie Hughes.   He got a lot of visitors including Dan Devine and several ND players.   I how ever recall getting a signed photo and encouragement from Mike McCoy.  My RA was Jim Kelleher and he passed on my situation to McCoy who was playing for the Packers. 

My last game was on October 18 1975 against Morrissey at Stepan field—under a cold and gray October sky.  2 days later I had surgery. I now have a right knee replacement. When people ask about my scars I tell them I had a knee injury playing football at Notre Dame!!!" 

"I think it’s really cool that you’re documenting the history of interhall football.  It is one of the quirky, unique things about our great university.  Unfortunately, I don’t remember much about the games other than that Dillon was our big rival and it was always good to walk away with a win against them.  So, I’m afraid I can’t help you with the outcomes of the games you mentioned.

One of my big memories of interhall football are how many really good athletes there were playing – guys who had had pretty good success in high school but weren’t big or fast enough to play in college.  So, the quality of the play was pretty good, all things considered.  I also remember that I was lucky because I roomed with three football players – Kevin Hart, a long-time childhood friend, and Rusty Lisch and Dennis Grindinger.  They got me “upgraded” equipment from the discarded varsity equipment.  The regular interhall equipment was pretty old.

You probably know this already, but there was an all-star game at the end of each season that pitted North Quad against South quad.  It was played under the lights on the artificial turf varsity practice field.  Our south quad team was coached by a Chemistry professor, Professor Carbury.  I’m not sure about that spelling.  But he was an alumnus of ND and was friends with Leon Hart, Kevin’s dad.  Professor Carbury would tell us stories of the days when Leon played for Frank Leahy.  Really fun stuff.

I played two years and had a ball.  It is one of many fond memories I have from my years at Notre Dame."