BJ Craig Position: Assistant Coach Alma Mater: Gordon College '93

BJ Craig is entering his second season as an assistant coach on the Fighting Irish staff in 2009. Craig joined the Irish after being an assistant coach at the University of Louisville during the 2007 campaign. Prior to that, he had a four-year stint (2003-06) as head coach at Saint Francis University (Pa.).

The Fighting Irish enjoyed a tremendous amount of success in Craig's first season with the team. In 2008, Notre Dame compiled a 12-7-2 record, including a 7-2-2 mark in the BIG EAST to win the conference's Blue Division. The Fighting Irish were seeded 12th for the NCAA Championship and fell to Northwestern, 2-1, in the second round. Notre Dame concluded the season ranked 16th in the final National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll.

Accolades were in store for the Irish during the 2008 season. Senior central defender Matt Besler became the first player in program history to be named a first-team All-American and first-team Academic All-American. In addition, Besler was the first Irish player to ever be named the NSCAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Besler and Bright Dike were both first-team all-BIG EAST selections and headlined a group of five Notre Dame players to cop all-league honors. Besler also heard his named called during the 2009 Major League Soccer (MLS) SuperDraft. He was taken with the eighth pick overall in the first round by the Kansas City Wizards. That marked the highest a Fighting Irish player had ever been nabbed in the MLS draft. Jack Traynor went to the New York Red Bulls in the second round.

In his only season at Louisville, Craig helped guide the Cardinals to an 11-7-4 record and a berth into the NCAA Tournament during the 2007 campaign. The Cardinals won a first-round match against Duke, 1-0, before dropping a 1-0 decision at Ohio State.

The Cardinals finished second in the BIG EAST Conference Red Division with a 6-3-2 league mark and advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament before falling to Connecticut, the eventual champion. Louisville sophomores Phil Edington and Othaniel Yanez both copped all-league honors for the Cardinals.

Craig led his 2006 Saint Francis team to the school's first-ever appearance in the Northeast Conference championship match. He led the Red Flash to a 10-7-3 mark, tying a school record, which was previously set in Craig's second season with the program in 2004.

In four seasons with Saint Francis, Craig recorded a 31-31-13 career mark, which is second on the school's all-time coaching wins list. He led the Red Flash to its first two NEC Tournament appearances and also produced the program's first winning season during the 2004 campaign en route to being named the Northeast Conference Coach of the Year. Craig would go on to lead them to winning records the following two seasons and he developed two NSCAA Regional All-Americans and seven NEC all-conference selections.

Craig joined the Red Flash staff after serving as an assistant coach at Dartmouth College from 1998-2003. In the fall of 2002, he helped lead the perennial Ivy League power to a conference championship and a 9-7-1 final record. The Big Green posted a 5-1-1 league mark and finished the 2002 season ranked third in the Northeast Region. Craig also helped direct the Big Green to an NCAA Tournament berth in 2000.

Prior to joining the Dartmouth staff, Craig served as an assistant coach at his alma mater Gordon College in Wenham, Mass., from 1995-96. During his tenure at Gordon, the Fighting Scots posted a 30-8-4 record and qualified for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament both seasons.

Craig, a native of Westford Mass., is a 1993 graduate of Gordon College with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He lettered two seasons for Gordon College, helping lead them to a Commonwealth Coast Conference championship in 1992. Craig earned a master's degree in education from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 1997. He is a member of the NSCAA and holds a USSF B License.

Craig and his wife, Erin, are the parents of four children, Noah (12), Micah (10), Jonah (7) and Mattea (5).