As Notre Dame gets set to face undefeated Army in a top 20 showdown at Yankee Stadium Saturday, we found one of the many great connections between the two schools.

Kevin Kuwik is in his 2nd season as the head coach at Army. He’s a Notre Dame graduate. If that surprises you, it’s because Kuwik was a student at Notre Dame, not an athlete. He did begin his coaching story at Notre Dame however serving as a student assistant coach under John MacLeod and then Irish assistant Fran McCaffery. He was at Notre Dame on an ROTC scholarship.

Imagine think your eight years of duty to the Army are over and the letter you are about to open up is this final paperwork but instead its order to serve in Iraq. That’s what Kuwik faced while an assistant coach at Ohio. His story is remarkable one and one that will inspire you.

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Kuwik’s unit actually arranged for him to get his 2-week break back stateside during the MAC Conference Tournament and Kuwik returned to surprise his head coach and team. They’d go on to win the MAC tournament and make the Big Dance with Kuwik a part of it all.

A few years later, Kuwik’s girlfriend was killed in a plane crash. While working as an assistant coach under Brad Stevens at Butler and then Thad Matta at Ohio State, Kuwik would head back and forth to Washington D.C. to lobby for stricter regulations on pilot in terms of flying experience. He would get the law changed.

In 2023, he became the head coach at Army.

Kuwik shares about his journey through coaching, maximizing the opportunity that Notre Dame gave him, serving in Iraq, the honor of coaching Army, being a dad and husband and how his faith has guided him throughout it all.