Tag: Worcester

Brock Sheahan returns to Notre Dame as associate head coach

A familiar face is back in South Bend.

They often say you can’t go home again, but [autotag]Brock Sheahan[/autotag] mostly hasn’t ventured far from Notre Dame since his playing days ended. After he hung up his skates in 2013, the former Irish defenseman served as a volunteer assistant coach with the program for one season. Now, he’s returning to South Bend to serve as [autotag]Jeff Jackson[/autotag]’s associate head coach.

After his initial coaching stint with the Irish, Sheahan headed to Worcester for four seasons on the Holy Cross bench. He then was an assistant with the USHL’s Chicago Steel for one year before being promoted to head coach, a capacity he served in for the next three seasons. That included capturing the 2021 Clark Cup. This past season, he coached the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.

With Jackson not getting any younger, is it possible he’s bringing Sheahan to eventually take over for him? Only time will tell, but the stars seem to be aligning for that possibility.

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Brian Kelly ranked 85th on ESPN coaches-as-players list

What do you think of this ranking?

Notre Dame has had only six former college football players serve as head coach and none for a couple of generations. However, every college football coach was a player at some point, right? How else would someone understand the game so well? Brian Kelly indeed has playing experience as seen in a new piece for ESPN+ subscribers.

Adam Rittenberg has taken all 130 head coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision and ranked them as players. Brian Kelly comes in at 85th on the list. Before you throw up your hands and say that’s too low, remember that Kelly attended a school that only had a club football team at the time. Assumption in Worcester, Massachusetts has since fielded a team that competes in Division II.

Kelly was a memorable player for Assumption. His 314 tackles were a program record. He also earned a pair of all-league honors and was a captain. Clearly, his leadership skills were evident at a young age.

Rittenberg ranks former Notre Dame player and current Louisiana Tech coach Skip Holtz at 98th on the list. The son of Lou Holtz, he played 11 games for the Irish in 1986 after playing two years at Holy Cross. mostly playing on special teams and also servicing as a backup receiver. He carried the ball once that season and gained a single yard on that attempt.