CLEVELAND, Ohio — John Carroll was losing football coach Jeff Behrman to Bucknell.
Behrman was talking to Brian Polian about the move – and how JCU needed a new football coach. Not only was Polian JCU’s athletic director, he also was Behrman’s soon-to-be former boss.
Bucknell was an FCS school, which is the old Division 1-AA. Unlike JCU, it has athletic scholarships. The Patriot League school is private, so salaries are not made public. But most football coaches in the conference are paid in the $250,000 to $300,000 range – far more than Division III.
“I didn’t plan to leave Carroll,” said Behrman. “I didn’t see this coming. But when a certain window opens and it’s a chance to advance, it’s hard to pass up.”
That’s especially true because Behrman had been an offensive coordinator at Stoney Brook, another FCS school. It was a chance to get back to that higher level.
Behrman also loves JCU. He played quarterback there, where one of his teammates was Brian Polian.
For a while, Polian thought they’d be “attached at the hip” as they worked together for three years at the school.
But Polian knows all about coaching opportunities and making moves. Prior to coming to JCU in 2023, Polian had coached at 10 different schools (including twice at Notre Dame) in 28 years.
John Carroll football coach Jeff Behrman and athletic director Brian Polian after the Blue Streaks beat Mount Union.Doug BeigeWhy not you?
The question wasn’t about Behrman staying. It was about who should be the new JCU football coach? Who could keep the level of excellence that Behrman had in the previous three years: a 29-7 record, two NCAA D-3 playoff appearances and one trip to the Final Four (2025).
Polian talked with Behrman about various candidates. He was looking for someone who understood the John Carroll culture, someone for whom the job would hold a special meaning. Finally, someone who knows how to win in D-III, where there are no athletic scholarships.
“Why don’t you do it?” Behrman said. “I know you miss coaching.”
Why not?
Polian had been the head coach at Division I Nevada from 2013-16. He had been a special teams coach at LSU, Notre Dame, Stanford and other Division I programs. His blood also runs Blue Streak blue.
“When Jeff said that, I wasn’t there mentally,” said Polian. “I hadn’t thought of that option. I was thinking about other candidates.”
But others in prominent positions at JCU pushed Polian to think about it. A John Carroll guy with incredible experience seldom found in Division III.
Then there was the moment when he was eating at Chick-fil-A with his daughter.
“Are you going to do this?” asked 13-year-old Charlotte Polian?
Polian said he was thinking about being the head coach.
“If you don’t do this, I’m not going to listen to you any more (about missing coaching),” said Charlotte.
Polian called it “a moment of clarity.”
Just as the 52-year-old Behrman knew the chance to move up in the coaching ladder might never happen again, the 51-year-old Polian had the same sense of destiny and opportunity.
This was his shot to be the head coach at his alma mater. If he turned it down, it was hard to believe it ever would come again.
John Carroll’s new football coach Brian Polian poses for a photo with his daughter (Charlotte) and wife (Laura) following his introductory press conference.Jonathan X. Simmons, cleveland.comThe move to John Carroll
Once coaches are in their 50s, the offers tend to disappear.
Yes, Polian could probably return to Division I in some capacity. He was well connected. His last job was as the general manager at LSU. He was in charge of evaluating talent, especially in the transfer portal. He did a lot of recruiting and was involved in NIL deals.
He was working more than 100 hours a week, traveling from one end of the country to another on private jets to sell LSU football.
He was making big money, about $625,000 a year according to the public records. But he sometimes was away from home for weeks at a time on recruiting trips. He thought how he and his wife Laura had made nine moves in 23 years of their marriage.
The son of Hall of Fame NFL executive Bill Polian, Brian remembered how his sister went to five high schools in four years as the family chased the pro game.
He was at Notre Dame twice for a total of 10 years (2005-09 and 2017-21) as an assistant coach.
“I loved Notre Dame,” he said. “But I was a piece in the (big-time college football) machine.”
When the chance to become JCU’s athletic director came in 2023, he thought about the comfort level he felt there as a student. He believed it would be a good place for Laura and his two school-aged children to settle down. Division I was becoming more volatile, more outright crazy with the NIL deals and transfers.
“I had lived that transient coach’s life,” he said. “This is an important time for our family. I needed to settle down.”
John Carroll Blue Streaks players celebrate after defeating the Mount Union Purple Raiders in overtime of the NCAA division III football playoffs. Joshua Gunter, cleveland.comDifferent role models
While at one time Polian thought about following in the footsteps of his father in the NFL, now he thinks about someone else.
“Coach D,” he said.
That’s Tony DeCarlo, who was JCU’s football coach from 1987-98. He also was head wrestling coach for 23 years and was athletic director for 15 years (1987-2002).
Mount Union’s Larry Kehres spent 26 years as the head football coach and athletic director.
Those men found a way to do both jobs, could he do it?
JCU soccer coach Dejan Mladenovic was given the title “senior deputy athletic director.” He helps Polian run the department.
“I’m grateful,” said Polian. “I didn’t take this job to simply slide into coaching. I thought Jeff (Behrman) and I would be together for a long time. Now that he’s gone, I have big shoes to fill … and I told Jeff it’s time for him to join our booster club.”