Whereas Bruce Pearl ditching his shirt and donning orange body paint had been the most memorable display of school spirit from a college basketball coach the past few years, the former Tennessee coach now has some competition.

Check out the way Notre Dame coach Mike Brey culminates his enthusiastic speech to students at Friday's pep rally on the eve of the pep rally in advance of the Irish's rivalry football game with USC. Without even a hint of fear, the 52-year-old Bray swan dives off the stage and goes face first into a crowd of undergrads, providing us perhaps the first-ever highlight of a college basketball coach crowd surfing.



Brey's stage dive drew a rousing cheer from the Notre Dame students at the pep rally, but it wasn't enough to propel the Irish football team to victory. Notre Dame fell behind by two touchdowns in the first quarter and never fully recovered, falling to rival USC in South Bend and letting its BCS Bowl hopes slip away in the process.

Maybe the football team needed more guys with Brey's gutsy spirit. When NC State coach Mark Gottfried volunteered to jump out of a plane at halftime of a football game a few weeks ago, he at least knew he'd have a tandem jumper and a parachute to keep him safe. All the full-bellied Brey had was blind faith that a handful of Notre Dame students wouldn't let him tumble to the ground.

(Thanks, National Hoops Report)