Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS ADVANCEMENT BILL REAGAN Five Questions With … has held just about every job an athletic department can offer. He is currently in charge of athletic advancement and external affairs, which means his main role is to help raise money for current athletes from former Irish athletes. Reagan, who has several family ties to the university, came to South Bend more than a decade ago as the director of football operations for Bob Davie and later Tyrone Willingham. He spent most of professional career as a head coach at Division II St. Joseph's College, his alma mater, and an offen- sive coordinator at Ashland University, where he regularly squared off with Grand Valley State and its young coach Brian Kelly. to convince former athletes to give back to their sport? Reagan: "There's a common percep- Blue & Gold Illustrated: Is it difficult tion that athletes won't give because they have a mentality that they spilled their blood for the university, but I have to say our guys and gals are pretty gen- erous compared to other schools. That's what I see anec- dotally, I don't have any hard statistics." tively affect the donations from former football players? Reagan: "It may. I think if we ever left to join a conference in football it may have an effect because that is kind of the last bastion of tradition here. People really hang on to that, but it's hard to get inside the head of a donor. People will sometimes say things as an excuse for why they don't want Blue & Gold Illustrated: Would joining a conference nega- Reagan is currently in charge of athletic advancement and external affairs, which means his main role is to help raise money for current athletes from former Irish athletes. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS In his nearly 30 years working in college sports, Bill Reagan to give, but others have genuine concerns, too." Blue & Gold Illustrated: Will a potential drop in donations get factored into the equation when deciding if it makes sense to join a conference? Reagan: "I think it's what is good for the university and not what's good for fundraising. I don't want to speak for [athletic director] Jack [Swarbrick] or anybody else, but there comes a time where you can't be left out on the outside." coached against Brian Kelly, who got the better of those matchups? Reagan: "Let's just say I'm glad Brian Blue & Gold Illustrated: When you is on our side now. I was at Ashland in '97 and we won our conference, which Grand Valley State was a part of, and went to the NCAA playoffs, but we did not beat Grand Valley during the regular season. It was tough to beat Brian Kelly." you when Kelly was up for the Notre Dame job? Reagan: "No. Nobody knew until Jack came out from Blue & Gold Illustrated: Since you coached against him, did anyone consult underneath wherever he was that Brian Kelly was the guy. … I was excited that we would have a guy I would know, and I thought Brian was really ready for this step. If he was coming from Grand Valley to here that wouldn't be a good thing, but Grand Valley to Central Michigan to Cincinnati to here, that's kind of been the recipe for other coaches that have been successful here." AUGUST 2012 15 — Dan Murphy