Kevin Corrigan didn't need national title to 'validate anything,' but it's 'a wonderful thing'

Notre Dame lacrosse coach Kevin Corrigan and the Fighting Irish finally finished on top when they defeated Duke in the 2023 NCAA Lacrosse Tournament National Championship.

Now that Corrigan finally has a national title, is there anything left to accomplish? You can always do more.

But the Fighting Irish coach did not need to feel validated by a national title.

“I appreciate the question but I would never say that in coaching that you need a championship to validate anything because it’s so it’s about so much more with any team,” Corrigan said on Sirius XM ACC Radio “Of course it’s about pursuing excellence and trying to win championships, the pursuit of that and the pursuit of anything, becoming the best that they can become.

“But you don’t have to have championships to validate what happens over the course of a year with a group. That said, I think this is a wonderful thing. You know, I mean, I’ve been lucky enough to be at the same place now for over 35 years and to know how much this means to all of those guys, right? So the last 35 years were the players to know that our program now there’s nothing that our program hasn’t achieved and I think that means something to all of those people and I think that’s awesome.”

Corrigan joined Notre Dame in 1988 as the head coach following two years at Virginia as an assistant. He has a career record of 335-159 with the Fighting Irish and his first national title.

Marcus Freeman congratulates Kevin Corrigan on national title

Plenty of Notre Dame coaches reached out to Corrigan to show their support — including head football coach Marcus Freeman, who was in attendance.

“CONGRATS ON THE NATTY!!!!” Freeman tweeted. “It’s time for a new hat Coach Corrigan!!!”

Freeman wasn’t just in the stands for the national championship, though. He also took in Notre Dame’s Final Four victory over Virginia and took a postgame picture with Brian Tevlin, whose overtime goal sent the Fighting Irish to the championship game.

Notre Dame took an early 6-1 lead, but Duke came all the way back to tie things up at 7-7 in the third quarter. But the Fighting Irish fought off the charge, taking an 8-7 lead. They never looked back.

It was an extra special moment for Chris and Pat Kavanaugh, who combined for four points en route to the win. Chris Kavanaugh had the biggest day with two goals, but Pat added an assist despite dealing with a hamstring injury.