Collins to step down as voice of Notre Dame Stadium after 2020 football season

SOUTH BEND — Mike Collins, longtime public address announcer at Notre Dame Stadium, announced on Friday that the 2020 season will be his last for Notre Dame home football games.

Collins, a 1967 graduate of Notre Dame, first announced a Notre Dame home game in 1982 at the university’s first-ever night game against Michigan. By the end of this season, Collins will have called 233 straight home football games.

Collins’ career was in television news at both WDNU and WSBT in South Bend. While a student at Notre Dame, Collins served as the sports director of the student radio station and called hockey and basketball games.

Collins is a native of Pittsburgh. He will continue to serve as the public address announcer for the Pittsburgh Pirates spring training in Bradenton, Fla.

“I’ve been able to do public address for my alma mater and my beloved Pittsburgh Pirates,” Collins said in a prepared statement from the university. “I can’t think of anything better than that.”

The Notre Dame football team opens the 2020 home schedule on Sept. 12 against Arkansas. The season opener will be in Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 29 against Navy.