Unlike his Indiana teammates, Pat Coogan has been here before.Coogan, a redshirt senior center from Marist, is about to have the rare distinction of playing in back-to-back College Football Playoff championship games — for different teams.Last season, Coogan wrapped up his Notre Dame career by starting at center in a loss to Ohio State in the CFP final.With his bachelor’s degree in American studies in hand, Coogan hit the transfer portal and moved on to Indiana. The 6-5, 311-pounder is one of three local players who should see significant playing time in the title game.Miami’s defense features sophomore defensive end Marquise Lightfoot from Kenwood and sophomore nose tackle Justin Scott from St. Ignatius.Coogan doesn’t expect to feel any nerves when he returns to college football’s biggest stage.“I’ve learned from a lot of great leadership at an early age, a lot of great coaches,” he said during a media session last week. “This is my fifth year. I’ve played a lot of football, I’ve been around success, I’ve been around failure. I’ve been around everything in between.”Coogan definitely paid his dues after arriving at Notre Dame in the wake of Illinois’ pandemic-delayed spring 2021 high school season. He redshirted in 2021 and played in one game in 2022 before breaking into the lineup as the Irish’s starting left guard in 2023.In 2024, he took over as the starting center after Ashton Craig was sidelined by injury in Week 3. Coogan has started every game since, first for the Irish and now…
Want more insights? Join Grow With Caliber - our career elevating newsletter and get our take on the future of work delivered weekly.
