Former Notre Dame football player and assistant coach Brian Boulac has died. He was 79 years old.
Boulac arrived at Notre Dame in the fall of 1959 and played for the Fighting Irish football team from 1961-63, a run where the team went just 9-20. The tight end would go on to become a graduate assistant at Notre Dame that kicked off a career in coaching and ultimately in the Notre Dame athletic administration.
We’re sorry to hear of the passing of Brian Boulac (‘63, @NDFootball). Brian served @FightingIrish in many capacities, including assistant football coach (1970-82) and as the first head coach of @NDsoftball (1989-92).
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Boulac family. 🙏☘️ pic.twitter.com/QJlcfntBLD
— ND Monogram Club (@NDMonogram) June 4, 2020
Boulac would serve as an assistant coach under Hugh Devore, Ara Parseghian, Dan Devine and Gerry Faust and was also the first recruiting coordinator for the Notre Dame football team.
From 1959 through at least 2009, Boulac either played in or attended every Notre Dame home football game as a fan.
RIP Brian Boulac…. was one of my coaches at ND, coached for years there, such a big deep voice, you always knew when he was around …. such a great coach, such a great man…. thank you for helping me become a man
— Mike Golic (@espngolic) June 4, 2020
Boulac was also the first varsity softball coach at Notre Dame and led the Irish to four 30-win seasons and a pair of conference titles despite having only two scholarships to offer.
To learn more about Boulac, check out the write-up about him from the 2009 Notre Dame vs. Boston College game program.