University of Notre Dame

Game Day

Notre Dame Stadium

Notre Dame Stadium at dusk

Historic Notre Dame Stadium, “The House that Rockne Built,” hosted its first game in 1930. The original structure – with its characteristic leather-colored brick – still stands, now surrounded by the expanded stadium, which was completed in time to host the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to kick-off the 1997 home schedule. The stadium seats 80,795 and has hosted over 200 consecutive sold-out games and over 300 Irish victories, all time.

Friday Tunnel Tours

Friday Tunnel Tours will again be available to the public during the 2012 season. The tunnel will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on home game Fridays. Please note that the tunnel will be unavailable during any visiting team’s walk-through.

Game Day

Notre Dame Stadium’s gates open 90 minutes before kickoff. Twenty minutes before kickoff, the Notre Dame Band enters the stadium through the tunnel for their traditional pre-game performance.

Legendary Coach Statues

Five of the greatest coaches in Notre Dame’s storied history are honored with bronze statues at Notre Dame Stadium.

  • North Tunnel: The greatest college football coach of all time, Knute Rockne (1918-1930) stands majestically outside the North Tunnel, facing Touchdown Jesus. Coach Rockne was placed at the North Tunnel because it is also referred to as the Athletic Director’s entrance, a title the coach also held during his tenure at Notre Dame. The House that Rock built isn’t Knute’s only home on campus. The student gym on the west end of South Quad houses a bust of the coach, whose bronze nose brings luck to all those who rub it. The gym’s name? You guessed it. The Rockne Memorial Gymnasium.
  • Gate A: Dan Devine (1975-1980) is located on the east side of the stadium and was dedicated during the 2011 season. Devine is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and coach of the 1977 Irish national championship team.
  • Gate B: Ara Parseghian (1964-1974) rides the shoulders of two of his former players outside Gate B of the Stadium. With nine top-10 finishes in 11 years to go with two National Championships, Coach Parseghian deserves to be carried off any field he steps on.
  • Gate C: Frank Leahy (Head Coach from 1941-1953) is immortalized on the South side of the Stadium. The larger-than-life Leahy statue fits well with his large-than-life (four national championships, six unbeaten seasons) tenure at Notre Dame.
  • Gate D: Lou Holtz (Head Coach from 1986-1996) guards Gate D of the Stadium. The consummate field marshal, Coach Holtz is depicted instructing his Hall-of-Fame wide out, Tim Brown, as star quarterback Tony Rice looks on.

Remembering Notre Dame’s Storied History

Each gate of the stadium is dedicated to honoring significant accomplishments in Notre Dame’s unparalleled football history.

  • Gate A hosts a wall of gold helmets representing Notre Dame’s consensus All-Americans.
  • Gate B honors Notre Dame’s seven Heisman Trophy Winners with replica Heisman statues and portraits.
  • Gate E, on the student section corner, commemorates Notre Dame’s 11 national championship teams with over-sized replicas of the national championship rings.

All the way around the inner ring of Notre Dame Stadium, on the upper level of the old stadium, hang banners representing every one of Notre Dame’s All-Americans.