Former Irish and NFL football player Pat Eilers has joined the Irish coaching staff. The member of the 1988 national championship team has been named a defensive quality control assistant for the coaching staff. Brian Kelly confirmed that Eilers had joined the staff on Sunday after Irish Illustrated’s Tim Prister broke the news earlier this weekend.
As Kelly mentioned when breaking the news that graduate assistant Kyle McCarthy was taking intermittent leaves from his position as he undergoes chemotherapy, the NCAA has given the Irish staff an allowance to fill his role. That made it possible for Eilers to return to campus, in a unique situation.
Eilers was a two-year starter for Lou Holtz, playing on both sides of the ball as both a wide out and defensive back, starting 18 games and making 34 appearances. The Minnesota native also earned a monogram on the 1989 Irish baseball team.
After earning both a biology and mechanical engineering degree from Notre Dame, he spent six seasons playing in the NFL, playing for the Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins and the Chicago Bears.
After his football career, Eilers earned an MBA from Northwestern and is currently taking a sabbatical from his job as a managing director at Madison Dearborn Partners, a private equity firm in Chicago.
Eilers has four kids, including two daughters that attend Notre Dame.