IOWA, USA — John Mahoney, a former WDM Valley Tiger football player, continued his career at Notre Dame as a walk-on athlete. His final season with the Fighting Irish came during "the craziest season in college football history". The 2020 college football season was wrapped in Covid guidelines as they tried to play through the pandemic. The Fighting Irish joined the ACC, and even made the College Football Playoff. Mahoney co-authored "History Through the Headsets" with his teammate and roommate, Reed Gregory.
Mahoney says a coach gave him and Gregory the idea to write the book. After mulling it over for a couple of days, they went to the campus bookstore and looked at every sports book about the Irish that was there. Using those books, they were able to identify potential publishers to reach out to. After many said no, one finally said yes, and the rest is history.
Mahoney says the book looks at the 2020 season through their perspective. Mahoney was a signaler for the defense and could hear the conversations and decisions made by coaches and players. He traveled with the team, ate team meals while following covid restrictions and so much more. He says he hopes the book can act as a reference in history, giving people a reminder of all that went on to make the 2020 college football season happen.
The book is set to release October 19th. You can find it on Amazon.