It looks like Virginia might have their man. As recently reported by Eric Hobeck, and rumored way before, and first from the In Your Face LaxCast (start at the 5:00 mark), Virginia will probably name Kevin Corrigan as their next head coach.
It makes sense for the Wahoos to steal Corrigan away from Notre Dame. Corrigan graduated from Virginia back in 1982. He played there for three years, and was an assistant under Jim “Ace” Adams during the 1987 and 1988 seasons, before taking over the Fighting Irish in South Bend. In 28 seasons in Notre Dame, Corrigan has a record of 276-127, and has led Notre Dame to the NCAA Tournament 20 times since taking over a program that had never been to the big dance. Even further, Corrigan’s Irish have been to Championship Weekend five times, and been to the National Championship game twice, falling to Duke in both appearances.
His father, Gene Corrigan, was Virginia’s soccer and lacrosse coach in the 1950s and 1960s, and was later the school’s AD from 1971-1981. He was Notre Dame’s AD for the next seven years, before ending his career as commissioner of the ACC for ten years. So it’s safe to say that Virginia runs through the Corrigan bloodlines.
If Corrigan does take the job, it’ll end the second longest tenure with a single team, with Bob Shillingshaw at Delaware being there longer.
It’s an excellent hire, although Corrigan is in his mid-50s. Corrigan has an outstanding resume under his belt, and basically built the Notre Dame program. So with Corrigan probably leaving Notre Dame for Virginia, there’s still an ACC head coach position that needs to be filled. Does Notre Dame promote either Gerry Byrne or Matt Karweck from assistant coach to head coach? Or does Notre Dame conduct a national coaching search? We won’t know until Virginia officially announces their new head coach, whenever that may be. But it looks like the first domino has fell.
