'Here come the Irish!' Collins to announce one final Notre Dame Football season

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Mike Collins, the legendary voice of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football team, will step down after the 2020 football season comes to a close.

Collins has been the public address announcer for Notre Dame since 1982, coining the famous phrase, “Here come the Irish!”

Before Collins became the announcer for Notre Dame, he was a respected news anchor in Michiana. He describes his nearly four-decade career at Notre Dame as a little bit surreal. 

 “I want to go out full of energy, full of dedication to my alma mater and you know I just don’t want to be somebody who hangs around too long in life!” Collins said. 

Despite announcing more than 200 games, Collins doesn’t let anything interfere with announcing for the Irish.

“I had never been west of Cleveland in my life before I went to Notre Dame as a student. I grew up loving Notre Dame Football and the radio, and then I ended up being the voice of Notre Dame Stadium. It couldn’t get better than that.”

Collins is continuing his career in Bradenton, Florida as an announcer for the Pittsburgh Pirates, his hometown team. But he tells me South Bend and the Notre Dame community will always be his second home.

“I think 2021, the first game, It will be very difficult, but I will stay very active it’s the only thing I can do.”

At the end of the six home games coming in the fall of 2020, Collins will have announced 233 consecutive football games at the Notre Dame stadium.