Much like Ruettiger, the 18-year-old Zannino, a 2024 Mifflin County High School graduate, was determined to overcome the odds and fulfill his dream of joining the Notre Dame marching troupe, the Band of the Fighting Irish.

“I said to my parents, ‘I’m going to be in that band,’ like Rudy played football at Notre Dame,” said Zannino, son of Chuck and Adrienne Zannino, of Lewistown.

And so he did just that this fall.

In his first year at Notre Dame, Zannino is playing trumpet for the 300-piece Notre Dame Marching Irish.

Photo courtesy of ZANNINO FAMILY
Left: Giovanni Zannino does a pushup after a Notre Dame touchdown, which is a time-honored tradition at football games.

Founded in 1845, the Band of the Fighting Irish is considered the oldest university marching band in the country.

It’s been a fairly smooth transition to the college ranks for Zannino, who marched for the Mifflin County Huskies for five years as a trumpet player. He joined as an eighth-grader.

“It depended on where I was going to school,” said Zannino on his college choice. “When I decided to come here, I knew there would be an opportunity to be in the Notre Dame band if I wanted to do it.

“If I had gone to a smaller school, it wasn’t going to be on my radar,” Zannino explained.

The University of Notre Dame is comprised of three campuses – the University of Notre Dame, Holy Cross College and St. Mary’s College. Zannino is a student at Holy Cross College, but one of the perks is he can still try out for the marching band.

Photo courtesy of ZANNINO FAMILY
The Zanninos take a family photo during a visit to Notre Dame (from left): Chuck, Giovanni, Adrienne and Francesca.

“I’m right across the street,” said Zannino, who plans to major in theology at Holy Cross College, which is a four-year liberal arts college.

When Zannino arrived in South Bend, he discovered the Band of the Fighting Irish needed trumpet players, which seemed to take some of the pressure off. “I know that kids who went to Penn State had a tougher time because the Blue Band was more selective,” he explained. “The brass section is pretty straightforward here.

“I had asked around before, and people were very reassuring,” Zannino said. “I knew going into it that they needed trumpets. So it wasn’t a nail-biting experience.”

That still didn’t make the tryout process any easier for Zannino. He contacted band officials about trying out this fall. They mailed him music for the upcoming season. From that, Zannino recorded an audition video.

He moved onto campus three days earlier than other students for the Band of the Fighting Irish’s band camp. After those three days, there was a final marching audition on day four.

After Zannino completed the process, he discovered he had been selected for the band this season.

“They sent out an email saying, ‘The Notre Dame University band is the oldest marching band in the country, and you are now part of the 179th edition of the band,” he recalled.

Zannino credits his former director of bands at Mifflin County High School, Art Belfiore, with giving him the confidence to try out. “If it wasn’t for Mr. B and the Mifflin County Marching Band, I wouldn’t have joined the marching band here.”

The Marching Huskies’ run of success certainly has been remarkable and unparalleled.

“I am not surprised that Gino is in the Notre Dame Band at all,” Belfiore said. “He is a great marcher and musician. He has the ability to not only make the band, but also excel and become a leader, just like he was in the MCHS Marching Band.”

Stepping onto the iconic turf

“Look at you,” the monologue reads. “You’re 5-foot-nothin’ and you weigh a hundred and nothin’, and with hardly a speck of athletic ability.”

So says Fortune, a groundskeeper at Notre Dame Stadium, to Ruettiger, whose dream is to play for the Fighting Irish. Rudy is not insane. He doesn’t expect to start. It would fulfill his lifetime dream simply to wear the uniform and get on the field for one play during the regular season, and get his name in the tiniest print in the school archives.

Almost everyone except Fortune thinks his dream is foolish.

Rudy comes from a working-class family in Joliet, where his father joins his family, his teachers, his neighbors and just about everybody else in assuring him that he lacks not only the brawn but also the brains to make it into a top school like Notre Dame.

The script was almost as iconic as the first time Giovanni Zannino stepped onto the sacred turf at Notre Dame Stadium.

It certainly proved to be a much different experience from venerable Mitchell Field.

“Here, we practice on turf, and we have an indoor turf field,” Zannino said.

“The first day of band camp, we started at the band building, got into a parade block and marched through campus doing chants and cheers,” Zannino said. “They don’t show you how to high step. You jump into it and you look at people around you and off you go.”

Band officials sent out videos prior to candidates arriving in South Band, which demonstrated the band’s marching style.

“It is different than what we do in high school,” Zannino explained. “You are trotting out of the tunnel onto the field. There are so many people in the tunnel. Our uniforms have this plaid draped over our left shoulder and – when you’re in the tunnel – you hold onto each other’s plaids.”

He remembered making that first appearance at Notre Dame Stadium, which holds nearly 78,000 fans. The stadium is regarded as one of the most iconic and recognizable venues in college football.

“That was cool,” Zannino said. “I’ll always remember marching out for the first time.”

“In the tunnel, I just heard, ‘Here comes the Band of the Fighting Irish,'” he added. “You’re running out there, the adrenaline is pumping and all these people are cheering so you can’t hear anything. It’s all very exciting.”

Steeped in tradition

Now that Zannino is a member of the Band of the Fighting Irish, he reminds his parents that he fulfilled his promise.

“I said to my dad, ‘I did say I was going to be in that band,'” Zannino laughed.

Family and friends have said they’ve seen him during television broadcasts of Notre Dame games this season. The Irish have had two home games so far this season.

Though Zannino and his family are long-time devoted Irish supporters, he would just as soon forget his band debut, a shocking 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois.

“We’re Notre Dame fans through and through for generations,” Zannino said. “It’s hard living in Happy Valley as a Notre Dame fan. Our living room is decked out, like the Irish gift shop.”

He’s also cherished Notre Dame traditions so far, such as the trumpet section playing at the Golden Dome. The band also has learned a new show each week, compared to performing the same one all season in high school.

The Band of the Fighting Irish also takes the field for pre-game, halftime and post-game shows.

The band also marches to the stadium, parading in front of thousands of Irish faithful. They even have a group of uniformed students, called the Irish Guard, that leads them onto the field at home games. The guard is considered by some to be one of the integral parts in the pageantry, lore and legend of Notre Dame football.

Notre Dame has a total of six home games this season. Zannino had made trips to Notre Dame Stadium for games the past four or five years, but going from the stands to the field is a much more remarkable experience.

Besides his former band director, he received some sage advice from one of the Husky band parents and volunteers, Kari Cullen, of Reedsville. Both she and her husband, Cole, were former members of the Penn State Blue Band.

“She told me, ‘Whenever you go out there the first time, you are going to be so overwhelmed, just don’t even play,'” Zannino said. “The first time, I just looked around and took it all in.

“I was nervous,” he added. “There was a guy with a camera who gets in your face and they put you on the jumbotron (video board). The second time, I was actually more excited.”