Gene Corrigan, former Notre Dame AD, ACC commissioner, dies at 91

Gene Corrigan’s reach and influence in college athletics consistently went beyond his many job titles.

It is why the condolences came from so many corners of the sports world Saturday, after the death of the former Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner, NCAA president and Notre Dame and Virginia athletic director in Charlottesville, Virginia, at age 91.

“When Gene hired me at the University of Virginia straight out of graduate school, it was one of the luckiest days of my life,” ACC commissioner John Swofford said in a statement. “That day began a relationship and mentorship that lasted nearly half a century. Simply put, Gene was one of the most remarkable individuals, and leaders, I have ever known. His impact on the ACC and college athletics was profound and immeasurable, only surpassed by his impact on the individuals he positively affected – and there are a multitude of us.”

Corrigan was athletic director at Notre Dame from 1981 to 1987. His run there included two notable coaching hires — football program resurrector Lou Holtz and current Irish women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw.

Said Notre Dame director of athletics Jack Swarbick: “From my earliest engagement with the NCAA some 30 years ago through my time as Notre Dame’s director of athletics, Gene could always be counted on for great counsel and an encouraging word. Now more than ever, college athletics needs leaders like Gene Corrigan; he will be greatly missed.”

In his role as ACC commissioner (1987-95), which immediately followed his run at Notre Dame, he oversaw the addition of Florida State and helped form the forerunner of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) — the Bowl Alliance.

Corrigan also served as NCAA president from 1995-97.

Corrigan is survived by his wife of 66 years, Lena, and children Louise (Scott Wawner), Kathryn (Tony Zentgraf); David (Jean), Kevin (Lis), Brian (Kathy), Timothy (Jackie) and Boo (Kristen), 19 grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Details on a memorial service are incomplete at this time.

“I was born at the right time,” Corrigan told Karen Croake Heisler in her chapter about him in the 2015 edition of the book Strong of Heart. “Lena and I had such a great time working in college athletics. It sure was a lot of fun.”

After graduation from Loyola High School in Baltimore in 1946, Corrigan joined the U.S. Army and served an 18-month stint. After his discharge, he enrolled at Duke University, where he received a degree in liberal arts in 1952. A four-year starter on Duke’s lacrosse team, he was inducted into the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame on April 20, 1991.

He moved onto Virginia, three years later. There he served in a variety of roles, including head lacrosse and soccer coach and assistant basketball coach, then later as the school’s sports information director.

Two years as Washington and Lee’s athletic director ensued, then it was back to Virginia to serve as athletic director for 10 years.

Then it was on to Notre Dame. Among Corrigan’s contributions ther were initiating an athletic endowment fund. That, in turn, turned into men’s lacrosse, women’s swimming and diving and women’s cross country achieving varsity status during his tenure.

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He also presided over the addition of Rolfs Aquatic Center to the Joyce Center, while also spearheading the projects that would become Loftus Sports Center and Eck Tennis Pavilion.

The more seismic achievements involved people.

In 1987, Corrigan hired McGraw to succeed Mary DiStanislao to take over a national afterthought of a women’s basketball program a little over a year after he lured Holtz to resuscitate the storied football program that had been relegated to a similar stature.

“I am so grateful for the opportunity Gene gave me when he hired me and his support for women’s athletics,” McGraw said upon Corrigan’s death. “I had such a great respect for him. He was so highly admired in all of sport and he always inspired people to be their best. He’s a great role model for coaches to look up to.”

In football, Corrigan inherited Gerry Faust (30-26-1) as his head football coach and eventually replaced him with Holtz (100-30-2).

“I was lucky,” Corrigan told the Tribune in a 2009 interview. “We were friends. Our (son) Tim and Skip (Holtz’s son) went to school together. And I knew Lou wanted the job.

“There were some things that could have gotten in between us. I think he actually got offered (another) job right about the same time he was coming to Notre Dame. I was so fortunate. And Lou knew he wasn’t going to make a lot of money. In fact, he took a big bite to come here.”

Corrigan has been recognized by countless organizations for his service to college athletics, including the National Football Foundation’s highest honor – the Gold Medal (1996), Duke University Alumnus of the Year (1996), National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1993, the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2007, and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.

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