Exciting news out of the University of Notre Dame recently with reports that new head football coach Marcus Freeman entered into full communion with the Catholic Church and that he reinstituted the team’s game-day Mass on campus. 

You’d think that team Masses before games would be a staple at most Catholic universities, but that’s not the case at the six Catholic colleges in Ohio with football programs.

In fact, the presence of Catholic faith on football teams is not particularly strong at any of the six schools, which might come as a surprise to casual fans, parents and even alumni. 

The college football experience, for the most part, seems to be much different than in high schools. And we’re not talking about the higher level of competition and talent in the college game. 

In Columbus and other dioceses, high schools regularly offer Masses, rosaries and other opportunities for student-athletes to pray. But if you’re one of the young people playing football at a Catholic college in Ohio, chances are you will encounter an atmosphere of indifference to the Catholic faith.

As one coach at a Catholic university in Ohio put it, “I feel a person’s faith is a personal one that they can express however they choose.”

OK, fair enough. But shouldn’t every Catholic university be on a mission of evangelization? The Church is calling individuals who have been given the gift of faith to proclaim it to everyone they encounter. Missionary discipleship should apply to Catholic institutions and to athletics.

Part of the problem might be that most of the football coaches at these six Ohio universities do not appear to be faithfully practicing Catholics. So that means a campus minister, a priest or student-athletes themselves have to step up to fill the void.

It shouldn’t be a shocker then when we hear and read the sad stories about students falling away from the practice of going to Mass during their college years.

Surveying the six Ohio Catholic college football programs, here is some information we found:

Ohio Dominican University, an NCAA Division II school located in the Diocese of Columbus, has not regularly offered team-only Masses for players in the past on game day, but head coach Kelly Cummings did not respond to repeated requests for information before publication.    

Walsh University, also an NCAA Division II program in North Canton that is one of 15 residential universities in America listed in The Newman Guide of Catholic Colleges committed to a faithful Catholic education, has only one devoted Catholic out of more than 100 players in its football program who regularly attends Mass on campus.

Team members at Walsh are asked to attend an all-school opening Mass at the start of the fall semester, but there is no team chaplain and no organized Catholic-centered activities outside of general campus ministry, and prayer is apparently only a nominal part of the team’s routine. Despite several coaches on staff professing to be Catholic, a solid witness of commitment to the faith is not evident. 

The University of Dayton, which plays at the non-scholarship Football Championship Subdivision level, has one practicing Catholic coach. The team attends a Mass together the Sunday before classes begin for the fall semester, and a chapel service is available the morning before games but no game-day Mass. 

John Carroll University, an NCAA Division III member in University Heights, does offer Mass before each game. The team also prays before each game and before and after all practices. 

Drew Nystrom, the team’s head coach, is a practicing Catholic, and Father Bernie McAniff serves as the team chaplain.

Mount St. Joseph University, an NCAA Division III school in Cincinnati, takes an ecumenical approach with faith opportunities made available to all student-athletes but does not provide team Masses. There is a Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter on campus that was founded by three football players.

Notre Dame College, an NCAA Division II program in suburban Cleveland, did not reply to requests for information.

If all that sounds rather discouraging, there are some colleges across the country – Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and Ave Maria University in Florida, to name two – where football coaches take the Catholic faith seriously. 

Catholic University of America coach Mike Gutelius emphasizes the faith through team Bible studies, pregame rosaries and discussions about the cardinal virtues in an attempt to develop the character of the young men in his program. 

Ave Maria football coach and athletic director Joe Patterson authored an inspiring article, “Coaching as a Calling,” in the May 2022 issue of “Seton Magazine.” In it, he wrote the following:

“The discipline that gets an athlete or coach out of bed at 4:45 a.m. to attend a 5:15 a.m. morning practice is the same discipline that gets the athlete or coach out of bed at 3:45 a.m. to fill the 4 a.m. to 5 a.m. Perpetual Adoration time slot.

“The self-sacrifice that prompts a third-string offensive lineman to serve as a scout team player translates well into the self-sacrifice that prompts a father to humbly toil countless hours to provide for his family.”

He described how Ave Maria men’s basketball coach Jamon Copeland regularly attends daily Mass and falls to his knees to receive the Eucharist. “I seek clarity from the Lord in the Eucharist as well as visiting him in the tabernacle,” Copeland said in the article.

Franciscan University of Steubenville takes a similar approach with its student-athletes, making education in virtue the primary focus of each sport.

Although Franciscan does not offer football, its athletic teams in a variety of sports regularly attend Mass together and pray the rosary and other prayers, and gather for Bible studies.

The Church desperately needs more institutions like Catholic University, Ave Maria and Franciscan to inculcate the faith in young adults, whose hearts and minds are searching for the truth. If Catholic schools at any level aren’t saving souls and winning converts to Christ, then they’re not doing what God intended them to do.

As Patterson stated so well, “It’s not ultimately about the scoreboard. It’s about the daily commitment to virtue. 

“So many wins in life are simply choices. Am I going to be a good teammate? Am I going to set aside time for prayer? Am I going to support the moral behavior of my fellow teammates? “Those are all wins, and there should be little doubt about the importance of winning for coaches at Catholic schools.”