Minim football teams of the University of Notre Dame

The Minims Department was a grammar school that existed at the University of Notre Dame from its establishment in 1842 until May 1929, when it was dissolved as a part of the University's rebranding to a more traditional university. It taught children from around the age of five to twelve years, by which time they had the option to transfer into the Junior Department, an early high school operated out of University's own Main Building (different from the modern-day Carroll Hall, which was purchased by the University from the Brothers of the Holy Cross in 1966). St. Edward's Hall was the dormitory and school for the Minims from 1882 until the department was dissolved, and housed the Minims from their first recorded football games in 1888 to their last season nearly thirty years later. During this period, the Minims enjoyed a relatively high success rate on the football field, routinely defeating nearly all of their opponents, and in some seasons achieving the coveted distinction of untied, undefeated, and unscored upon.

Records were scarce due to the young age of the players and the informal nature of many contests, and it can be reasonably assumed that the vast majority of games played on St. Edward's campus were left unrecorded.

The Minims had one rival during their years on the football field, a group from Carroll Hall known as the Ex-Minims. Other names for this young rival included the Little Carrollites, Teenie Weenies, Carroll thirds, or Carroll youngsters. These "Ex-Minim" teams were either composed of Minim alumni who were now students at Carroll Hall, or more broadly the youngest players of the junior department.

1887–1888
The Minims may have played their first rugby-style football game on May 17, 1888.

1888-1889
The Minim department organized two teams for the 1888 season, captained by J. Seerey and John Cudahy.

1892
The first game between Carroll and St. Edward's halls was played on December 4, 1892. This would become the defining rivalry between the two departments.

Two teams, led by Mr. Morris an Mr. Wright, faced off on October 13, 1892. However, this may not have been the minims department.

1893-1894
The minims of the 1893-1894 scholastic year played at least one game against the "little Carrollites", which were likely similar or entirely the same as the Ex-Minim teams. The second game around January 18 may have been the same game as on the one played a week prior with scores that were reported differently. The minims were led by Captain Corry.

1895
The Minims fielded a principle football team in 1895, along with multiple second elevens. The Carroll thirds may have been an ex-Minims team. On October 27, the contest ended abruptly when a student from Carroll set a pile of leaves on fire and chased the Minims off the field.

1896
The first known game between the Minims and a team by the name of the "Ex-Minims" was inaugurated on September 20, 1896. The Ex-Minims were either a group of minims who were now students of Carroll hall, or simply a team composed of the smallest players from the junior department.

1897
The Minims Department organized many football teams during the 1897 season. During their first month of play, the Minim Specials were a mainstay on St. Edward's field. However, by November, the Minims had re-organized their teams into different groups that took the name of a top football university of the era. These were the Princeton, Yale, Cornell, Carlisle Indians, and Penn teams. The minim's fought their rival ex-minims to a scoreless tie in their annual series.

1898
The Minims played many contests against their rivals, the Ex-Minims, during the 1898 season. Of their known games, they compiled a 1–4 record, and were defeated four consecutive times by the Ex-Minims.

1899
The Minims fielded two football teams during the 1899 season. The two squads were scheduled to compete in a series of football games for the title of The Specials, a colloquial term for the best team of a particular level of University play, such as the first varsity teams in the late 1880s. In their second game against the Ex-Minims on November 23, either team won the game by a 5–0 score, but the team that scored those five points is unclear. An article in the Scholastic on December 2 claimed that when the Ex-Minims realized the Minims were captained by Mr. Bassi, they fled the field in terror. They were warned to never come back to St. Edward's campus.

The series of contests were the title of Specials was won by Captain Bassi's Minims after winning at least two games during the scheduled three-game series. It is unclear if the final contest was played as it would have been impossible for Captain Taylor to win the title at that point.

1900
The Minims of 1900 were defeated by the Ex-Minims by a single point in their annual contest.

1901
The Minims of 1901 played against one other in a three-game series for the St. Edward's hall championship. The specials were captained by Mr. J. Berteling, while the seconds were captained by Mr. T. McDermont. The second championship game on November 17 was the first confirmed game involving Minim teams to take place on Cartier Field, the principle athletic field for the Notre Dame varsity football team from 1900 to 1928.

1902
The minims of 1902 compiled (at least) a 1–1 record. They defeated "captain Randle's Stars", a group from Carroll hall, and they also lost to a Notre Dame seminary team captained by Mr. Farley and finished their season with a perfect 4–0 record.

1903
The Minims fielded seven different teams during the 1903 season, of which the "Specials", an old term for the varsity team, were considered the principle squad. The various minim teams of 1903 compiled (at least) a 4–0–2 record, with one report indicating that the Minim specials compiled a 7–0 record, four against Carroll hall opponents and three against teams from neighboring cities. Their first two games were against "picked" teams from Carroll Hall, and were possibly captained by Mr. E. Coleman, who played against the Minims in their fourth game. The game against the "Annexationists", which may have been one of the three off-campus opponents, was shown a lot of enthusiasm on campus as the annexationists were trying to avenge a loss to the Minims in springtime baseball. The Specials were coached by Henry McGlew, who would eventually coach the varsity football team in 1905. The games against the annexationists and the Ex-Minims around December 5 are confirmed Specials contests, while the rest may have been games from any of the other teams.

The other six Minim teams were the Eagles, Leopards, Owls, Tigers, Princetons, and Yales. These teams competed against one another in a series of contests to determine the championship of St. Edwards hall.

The Princetons
The Princetons were a Minim team that competed in "division one" of the St. Edward's hall football system in 1903. They played a seven game series against the Yales, another "division one" Minim team, for the honors of the Minims monograms and a set of Notre Dame University pins. The Princetons were captained by Mr. E. Connelly. The Princetons won the series 3–2–2, defeating the Yales in the seventh game to claim their monogram honors.

The Yales
The Yales were a Minim team that competed in "division one" of the St. Edward's hall football system in 1903. They played a seven game series against the Princetons, another "division one" Minim team, for the honors of the Minims monograms and a set of Notre Dame University pins. The Yales were captained by Mr. T. Roberts. The Yales lost the series 2–3–2, losing to the Princetons in the seventh game.

The Eagles
The Eagles were a Minim team that competed in "division three" of the St. Edward's hall football system in 1903. They played an unknown number of contests against the Owls, another "division three" Minim team, for the honors of a set of Notre Dame University pins. The Eagles won in the multi-game series. They were captained by Mr. Shannon.

The Leopards
The Leopards were a Minim team that competed in "division two" of the St. Edward's hall football system in 1903. They played a ten game series against the Tigers, another "division two" Minim team, for the honors of a set of Notre Dame University pins. The Leopards were not victorious in this ten game series, although it is unknown how many times they tied and so its impossible to know the exact series record. The Leopards were led by Captain Upman.

The Owls
The Owls were a Minim team that competed in "division three" of the St. Edward's hall football system in 1903. They played an unknown number of contests against the Eagles, another "division three" Minim team, for the honors of a set of Notre Dame University pins. The Owls lost in the multi-game series. They were captained by Mr. Parker.

The Tigers
The Tigers were a Minim team that competed in "division two" of the St. Edward's hall football system in 1903. They played a ten game series against the Leopards, another "division two" Minim team, for the honors of a set of Notre Dame University pins. The Tigers were victorious in this ten game series, although it is unknown how many times they tied and so its impossible to know the exact series record. The Tigers were led by Captain Kelly.

1904
For the second known year the Minims participated in the M.S (Minim Specials) monogram series, divided into three divisions based on the age of the participants.

First team
The Minim's first team was captained by Mr. J. Brennan. During the M.S. monogram contests, the team was divided and played against one another in a five-game series. Captain Kranz's squad won the monograms in a game on Cartier Field and received the distinction of "Minim Specials", given annually to the best minims team of St. Edward's hall.

Second team
The second team may have been captained by Mr. Hilton. During the M.S. monogram series, the second team was divided and played against one another in at least two contests, with Captain Hilton's aggregation winning the N.D.U pins bestowed upon the second team victors.

Minim third team
During the M.S. monogram series, the third division title was fought between captain Connelly's Tigers and an unknown opponent. Mr. Connelly's Tigers won the series and received a set of "T-monograms".

1907
Three or more minim teams participated in various contests during the 1907 season.

Minims
Th Minims may or may not have won from St. Patrick's parish on October 19.

Minim second team
The Minim seconds defeated a local South Bend squad on November 23.

Sawed Offs
The Sawed Offs may not have even been a Minims team.

1908
No known games were recorded by the Minims in 1908, although Wendell Phillips reprotedly served as their head coach.

1911
The Minims lost twice against Ex-Minim teams during the 1911 season.

1913
At a meeting of the minims department in early October, it was agreed that no more than 16 players were allowed on the same team. Previous to this, as many as 25 were permitted to join the games, and the ensuing chaos forced the department to pass the new regulations.

1917
While the minims had played against themselves in several of occasions during the 1917 season, the scores of these games were almost never recorded. However, in the Scholastic's annual Football Review, an article by "Walter Campus" described the last game on any of the Notre Dame campuses for the 1917 football season, which was between two Minim second teams. An entire page is dedicated to the game, which explained how the weaker team between the two was down 7 to 13 in the last quarter with a 20 mph wind against them, but managed to score touchdowns in the last ten minutes with two slow drives that culminated in a victory. The last paragraph summarized why the writer had decided to write on the obscure contest, stating, "of the rejoicing that followed, not even Homer could fittingly write, and it occurred to us that if some of the bored and jaded reporters and special writers of sports who are drawing a comfortable salary by describing the overcoats they themselves wear at an All-American clash, it occurred to us that even these hardened survivors of their own youthful enthusiasms might have known in the keen December, wind that swept the Minims' campus last Sunday afternoon a tingling reminiscence of a time when some things mattered, when perhaps even football was real and worth while." The Minims played an additional game against the "Teenie Weenies", a Carroll hall squad captained by Mr. Watson. They were one of the many incarnations of the Ex-Minim teams.

1921
For the 1921 season, the minims gained the coaching of Eugene Oberst, a future bronze-medalist in the Javelin throw during the 1924 Olympics. In his first year as head coach, the Minims reportedly completed an unblemished record, their first of three consecutive undefeated seasons. However, the only known game to have been recorded was a loss.

1922
In Eugene Oberst's second year as head coach, the Minims compiled a perfect 10–0 record, shut out nine of their opponents, and outscored their opponents by a total of 408 to 12. They were captained by J Garrity.

1923
The Minims department operated two teams during the 1923 season, known as the Minims and the Minim specials, which acted as a second and first team respectively. The specials compiled a 6–0 record, and outscored their opponents by a total of 233 to 13. In the last game of their season against the Hebrew Eagles, which outweighed the grammar school team by thirty pounds to the man, the Minims came back from a six-point deficit to win by a single point on a 97 yard drive that featured three trick plays. They may have been coached by Eugene Oberst.

1924
The 1924 Minim specials were led by head coach Jimmie Stock, captained by Jack Crampton, and compiled a 5–1 record. The game against Indiana Drug Company was the first recorded loss for the Minim specials since 1921, and possibly even farther in the past.

1925
The Minims played a single confirmed game during the 1925 season, a 7–0 victory over the South Bend Bears during halftime of the Notre Dame-Northwestern game. The Minim "Ramblers" as they were known, were coached by Jimmie Stack during their three minute scrimmage.

1926
The Minim specials played a four game schedule during the 1926 season and compiled at least a 2–0 record. They were coached by Bob Snell and captained by Larry Crampton.

Dissolution
No known football games were played by the Minims in their last two seasons. The Minims Department, lacking sufficient resources and membership for years, finally succumbed to the more tradition model of a University and was terminated before the beginning of the 1929 school year. St. Edward's Hall was updated for collegiate use and became the oldest continuously-occupied dormitory on campus.