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1946 – 1949
The weight of the squads: The controversies of the era, as the record states them, were about material. On Leahy's return in 1946 Notre Dame heavily recruited returning war veterans, men often much older than the freshmen beside them; at least twenty regulars from the 1943 champions came back with eligibility remaining. The 1947 roster carried 42 players who went on to play professionally, and that team is sometimes deemed the most talented in the college game's history — the judgment is the record's, attributed, not this section's.
1947: Nine games, nine wins, and the consensus championship.
1948–49: The 1948 team's only blemish was a 14–14 tie at Southern California in the season finale, which cost it the championship. The 1949 team took the title at 10–0, and its senior class left having never lost a game in four years.
The whole: Leahy finished at Notre Dame with a record of 87–11–9 — a winning percentage of .864, second only to Rockne's — with 39 consecutive games without a loss (37–0–2) across the run, four consensus championships and six undefeated seasons. His career college record stood at 107–13–9.
Sources:
- Leahy biographical record — the 87–11–9 mark and .864 percentage, the 39-game unbeaten run, the four titles and six undefeated seasons, the career record.
- The 1946–49 season records — the veteran recruiting and the returning 1943 regulars; the 1947 roster's 42 future professionals and its attributed standing; the 1948 USC tie; the 1949 team's 10–0 mark and its seniors' unbeaten four years.