Former Irish coach enjoyed friendship with Bud Wilkinson
Published: 10/24/2012 8:04 PM
Last Modified: 10/24/2012 8:04 PM
Notre Dame's Terry Brennan guided the Irish to a 7-0 win over OU in 1957, snapping the Sooners' 47-game win streak.
When the 84-year-old coach was reached this week to discuss his team’s 7-0 win over Oklahoma (which snapped the Sooners’ 47-game winning streak), he began with a story about Wilkinson.
“We went to Europe two years before,” Brennan said. “We played in 1956 and 1957. In 1955, Bud and I went to Europe. General (William) Tunner invited us. The general got a PT Boat on the Rhine River and we were kids again.
“(Tunner) was a good friend. Tunner, with the troops that were there, tried soccer and that didn’t sell with the American troops. (Coaches) Duffy Daugherty (Michigan State) and Red Sanders (UCLA) went over the year before and the idea was to get as many troops as possible to play football.”
Brennan and Wilkinson kept that alive in 1955, coaching troops on the sport for Tunner, who was the commander of the Air Force in Europe.
Brennan said his friendship with Wilkinson ran deep.
“We were good friends,” Brennan said. “You try to beat the hell out of each other on a given Saturday and you are friends after that.”
Written by
Eric Bailey
Sports Writer
