Former Notre Dame Head Football Coach Kevin Rooney and former Knight kicker Kai Forbath were both named to the first ever Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation inaugural class for the California High School Football Hall of Fame. Rooney was among just 13 California coaches to be selected, while Forbath was one of 100.

The players and coaches were nominated by the public based on their success and the mark they made on high school football in California. A panel voted on the nominees to solidify the first inaugural class.

With nearly four decades of coaching the Knights, Rooney led Notre Dame to becoming one of the most dominant football programs in Southern California. Under Rooney, Notre Dame won its first CIF Championship in 1994. The Knights went on to win three more championship titles and were runners-up three times, while collecting 18 league championships.

A 2006 graduate, Kai Forbath will go down as one of Notre Dame’s most successful kickers. A four-year letter winner in football, Forbath routinely made kicks of 50 yards or more, including a career long kick of 57 yards. Forbath is tied for sixth in CIF record books for his streak of 78 consecutive extra points. Forbath went on to play at UCLA and then several NFL Teams.

Rooney, Forbath and the rest of the honorees will be honored in an exhibit at the Rose Bowl, the new home for the California High School Football Hall of Fame, that will open up this November.