The story picks up after Gene 'Kentuck' Oberst returns from the Chariots of Fire Olympics in Paris and travels to Louisiana for his first coaching position as St. Johns College's first coach, athletic director, trainer, doctor, janitor etc. As he tells Knute Rockne, only 16 players go out for the team, none of whom ever played organized football before. For basketball, only one player ever played the game. As portrayed in 50 letters exchanged between Gene and Knute Rockne, Gene faces numerous challenges, but Rockne is always there to help. After climbing the coaching ladder and living in eight cities in a dozen years, Gene finds serenity as a popular professor and artist.