Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry set to reignite

After three-year hiatus, teams will meet this weekend for an anticipated rematch

The end of the Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry was a three-year soap opera that included accusations of cowardice and the “Chicken Dance” being played in the Big House.

It was quite the drama, concluding in 2014 with a historic beatdown. The end, however, turned out to be just a brief hiatus.

The revival of Michigan-Notre Dame was so matter-of-fact that the athletic directors who got it done weren’t quite sure who reached out first. Was it a phone call? No, they ran into each other at a meeting. Right? A call from one coach to the other helped. Maybe.

It seemed inevitable that the Wolverines and Fighting Irish would play again. No peace treaty necessary. No. 14 Michigan faces No. 12 Notre Dame on Saturday.

“It is something that we value,” Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said. “That is valuable for both Michigan and Notre Dame and college football.”

Michigan-Notre Dame is a rivalry with more prestige than history. The Fighting Irish played their first game against Michigan in 1887, but did not become semiregular opponents until the late 1970s.

A deal between the schools in 2007 extended the agreement through 2031, but it allowed for either school to pull out with three games’ notice.

In 2012, Notre Dame exercised that option. The Fighting Irish had joined the Atlantic Coast Conference, a deal that allowed Notre Dame to keep its football independence but called for five games against ACC opponents each season.

Notre Dame was committed to preserving annual games against Southern California, Stanford and Navy. That basically left Notre Dame with no room for another yearly series.

The drama started when Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick gave a letter of notification to then-Michigan AD David Brandon before the 2012 game in South Bend. What followed were some WWE-style follies.

Then Michigan coach Brady Hoke accused Notre Dame of being “chicken” to play the Wolverines. Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said Michigan was not one of the Irish’s traditional rivals.

The crowd at Michigan Stadium in 2013 was frenzied for a night game the Wolverines won 41-30. After it was over, the Chicken Dance song blared through the Big House.

The Fighting Irish got their revenge the following year in South Bend, beating Michigan 31-0. The Wolverines had gone 365 straight games without being shut out.

The rivalry went dormant but not for long. The exact details are fuzzy, but in 2016, the ball got rolling.

Kelly said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh reached out to him about playing again. Kelly was on board. Harbaugh told Manuel the coaches were hoping to get it done.

Manuel and Swarbrick have a relationship that goes back almost two decades, when both were in the Big East. Manuel was Connecticut AD and Notre Dame was a member of that conference.

“I either ran into Jack somewhere or he called me,” Manuel said.

The one stumbling block was that Michigan had to buy out a series against Arkansas for $2 million to make room on the schedule. In July 2016, Notre Dame and Michigan announced they would play this season and next.

Manuel said the only complaint he has heard from Michigan fans has been with this season’s game being played in South Bend after the last meeting was there.

The problem was that playing at home would have left Michigan with eight games at the Big House this season and only six next year.

“I would have been looking at a $6 million, $7 million hole from not having that extra home game in the budget,” said Manuel, a former Michigan football player.