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| Eastern athletics photo by Bob Koch, Entropy Sports Photography |
Catholic University announced on social media the hiring of Kory David as its next head football coach.
David, the defensive coordinator at Eastern for the past two seasons, will be making his head coaching debut with the Cardinals after a long career as a defensive coordinator at multiple successful programs in Region 1 and Region 2.
He replaces Mike Gutelius, who stepped down from the coaching role at the end of the season after eight years as head coach, including two of them battling serious illness. Gutelius remains on staff as a special assistant to the athletic director.
"After a highly competitive national search, we are excited to welcome coach Kory David to the Catholic athletics family as the next head coach of our football program," said athletic director Kevin Robinson. "Winning everywhere he has been over his 26 years in football, Kory brings to Catholic a commitment to excellence and an understanding of how to build a nationally relevant program while cultivating a strong culture based in the holistic development of the student-athlete. It is with great enthusiasm we welcome Kory and his wife Katie to the Cardinal family!"
"David shares Catholic University's commitment to both our Catholic identity and to virtuous leadership," said university President Peter Kilpatrick. "I have every confidence he will lead our Cardinals to excellence both on and off the field."
A 2000 graduate of Cortland and former assistant for the Red Dragons, David went on to spend time as defensive coordinator at Hobart, Delaware Valley, King's and Muhlenberg. He spent seven years with the Mules, and the program won postseason games in all six of his seasons there, including winning five NCAA playoff games between the 2019 and 2021 postseasons. (There was no postseason in 2020 because of COVID.)
David was defensive coordinator at Eastern over the past two seasons, where again he helped lead the program to the NCAA postseason, as the program, in just its third season, won the Middle Atlantic Conference and also defeated Franklin & Marshall in a second-round playoff game.
"This is an exciting moment for me to become a part of the Catholic football and athletics family," said David. "I am eager to get to work building a culture of toughness, discipline and accountability. Our goal is to develop a program our alumni, students and university community can be proud of every single day."
Catholic finished 3-7 this past season, 2-4 in the Landmark Conference.