Scott Lawler - considered one of the top young coaches in the nation and a product of an impressive baseball pedigree - has been reunited at Notre Dame with head baseball coach Dave Schrage, serving as the baseball program's primary assistant coach and recruiting coordinator his first two years before a promotion to associate head coach this past summer.

The 32-year-old Lawler - whose coaching responsibilities include instructing the Irish hitters and infielders - previously served as an assistant to Schrage for five years (four with the additional role of recruiting coordinator), first at Northern Illinois during the 2001 and '02 seasons and then for three years at Evansville (2003-05).

Lawler returned to his spot alongside Schrage in the summer of 2006, after spending 2005-06 as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Arkansas-Little Rock.While at Little Rock, he had the unique opportunity to serve on the staff of his uncle Jim Lawler, whose status as a household name in the world of college baseball includes 22 seasons as a member of the Texas A&M baseball staff and being named national assistant coach of the year in 2003.

The third-year Notre Dame associate head coach has even closer coaching ties, as his father Phil Lawler has coached for the past 32 years in the Chicago area, including 27 seasons as associate head coach of the Naperville Central High School team that won the 2006 Illinois state title. The elder Lawler is widely known throughout the state's baseball community and has been inducted into the Illinois High School Hall of Fame.

Lawler's ability as a recruiting coordinator was validated during his first months on the job at Notre Dame, as he spearheaded the effort that landed an elite class (the program's current sophomores) that was ranked as high as fourth-best in the nation (per Collegiate Baseball magazine).

In addition to his recruiting accomplishments, Lawler coached one of the BIG EAST Conference's top offensive duos - Brett Lilley (.371 batting avg., .512 on-base pct., 55 runs, 31 walks, 28 hit-by-pitch) and A.J. Pollock (.372, 39 R, 32 BB, 11 stolen bases) - during the 2007 season.

His expertise was even more evident last season. Notre Dame finished the 2007 season ranked eighth in batting (.274), ninth in slugging percentage (.371), eighth in on-base percentage (.365), eighth in runs scored (307) and 11th in home runs (24). The Irish improved in each of those categories in 2008, including ranking fourth in batting (.308, 34 points higher than '07), fourth in slugging (.447, 76 points higher than `07), third in on-base (.392, 27 points higher than `07), fifth in runs scored (375, 68 more than '07) and sixth in home runs (41, 17 more than '07).

Notre Dame also re-emerged into the upper echelon of the BIG EAST Conference. In league games only, the Irish ranked either first or second in batting (2nd), on-base percentage (1st), runs scored (t-2nd), RBI (2nd), sacrifice bunts (2nd) and sacrifice flies (1st).

A utility player in his undergraduate days at Morehead State and Simpson College, Lawler has remained a two-way talent on the coaching level with successful stints serving as the hitting coach at Northern Illinois and then the pitching coach for Evansville. He assisted his uncle in overseeing all positions of the team at Arkansas-Little Rock.

Lawler was a key component of Schrage's rebuilding success stories at NIU and Evansville before heading to Little Rock in July of 2005 to coach with his uncle, who targeted his nephew for the staff due to his experience rebuilding programs. In one month's time, the Lawler duo had assembled a new group of eight recruits that was rated by Collegiate Baseball magazine among the nation's "best of the rest" (just outside the top-40) for classes entering in the fall of 2005. Prior to leaving for Notre Dame, Lawler had helped his uncle sign a class of 19 for the 2006 season, as the Trojans continued their rebuilding project.

Two UALR pitchers who were coached by Lawler moved on to professional baseball after the 2006 season, as senior Rob Harmon was drafted by the Seattle Mariners while fellow right-hander Trevor Clay was a free-agent signee. Lawler's time in Little Rock also included coordinating the baseball program's budget, fundraising and spring game schedule.

Lawler's three seasons at Evansville saw the Aces pitching staff lower the team ERA every season, culminating in a 4.46 ERA for the 2005 season. Many of the players he recruited ended up being key ingredients in the record-setting 2006 season that featured the Aces winning the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles before reaching the final game of the NCAA Charlottesville Regional (capping a 43-win season). In fact, eight players from that squad signed professional contracts in 2007.

His 2005 recruiting class at Evansville was included among Collegiate Baseball's annual "best of the rest" and his 2005 staff featured three pitchers who received all-MVC honors. Most notably, Michael Greenhouse developed under the guidance of Lawler into a 2005 Chicago Cubs draft pick.

Lawler's recruiting highlights included signing eventual 2004 MVC newcomer of the year Cody Strait and 2004 Freshman All-American Pat Tumilty. Prior to leaving Evansville, he signed two prospects who were ranked in the nation's Top 100 by Team One Baseball: Ben Norton (the 2006 MVC newcomer of the year) and catcher Kirk Bascu, who later received all-MVC honors. His numerous duties at Evansville also included organizing the summer camp program, managing compliance needs and team travel.

Schrage and Lawler joined an Evansville program that had won only 22 games in the 2002 season, and then proceeded to guide the Aces in building their victory total each season - including 24-31 in 2003, 28-32 in '04 and 35-23 in '05. The pair earlier had overseen a similar turnaround at Northern Illinois, where Schrage took over a program that had won only four games in the 1999 season. That victory total grew to 24 in 2000 before Lawler joined the staff for a 2001 season that produced the most wins in the history of the program (28-27) and the first winning record by an NIU baseball team in 20 years.

Lawler initially joined the NIU staff as a volunteer assistant but one month later he was moved into the vacant second assistant's position, after making a strong impression on Schrage. He coached the Huskies hitters and outfielders, including Freshman All-America first baseman Trevor Stocking, while also organizing the program's fundraising efforts.

He later was promoted to the additional role of NIU recruiting coordinator for the 2002 season and helped sign a class that produced two Freshman All-Americans (first basemen Scott Simon and pitcher Mark Badgley) and two others - infielder Joe Mazzuca (12th round, Seattle Mariners) and pitcher Nick Hall (free-agent, Philadelphia Phillies) - who eventually were drafted or signed by Major League teams. Another one of his NIU signees, outfielder Mike Santoro, later signed with the San Francisco Giants in 2005. Lawler also took on the duties of infield coach and camp director in 2002.

Lawler's collegiate playing career began at Morehead (Ky.) State, where he played from 1995-98 as a pitcher, outfielder and first baseman before transferring to Simpson College (in Indianola, Iowa) for his senior season.

He played baseball for his father at Naperville Central High School, earning all-conference honors as a senior utility player. Lawler also was a forward on the NCHS basketball team and a football tight end, with all three teams ranked among the state top-25 in his career.

A native of Naperville, Ill., Lawler graduated from Simpson College in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in sports administration. He went on to earn a master's in public service administration from Evansville in 2005. He and his wife, Kim - who also comes from an athletic family and was a member of the cross country team at Northern Illinois - welcomed their son Lucas Raymond to their family on Dec. 21, 2005, and daughter Alexa on Sept. 24, 2007.