American Coach: An Evening with Ivan Maisel

The Book Stall is pleased to partner with The Notre Dame Club of Chicago to welcome award-winning sportswriter Ivan Maisel to the store for a discussion featuring his new book, American Coach: The Triumph and Tragedy of Notre Dame Legend Frank Leahy. When Frank Leahy retired from Notre Dame after the 1953 season, he had the second‑best record in the history of the game (107‑13‑9, .864), second only to Knute Rockne, his college coach and mentor. Ivan Maisel brings the forgotten legend of Notre Dame head football coach Frank Leahy back to life, based on rare and complete access to Fighting Irish football historical archives and the Leahy family.

Ivan Maisel has covered college football for more than four decades, most prominently at ESPN from 2002-2021, where he wrote for ESPN.com, appeared on television, ESPN Radio and on podcasts. He also served as Editor-at-Large for ESPN College Football 150, the multi-platform history project that in 2019 commemorated the sesquicentennial of the sport. Prior to joining ESPN, Maisel covered national college football for Sports Illustrated, Newsday, and The Dallas Morning News. Most recently, he served as Vice-President, Editorial, and part-owner of On3, a new college football website/app. Maisel left the site in June 2023 to focus on writing books but retains his ownership. He has been honored nine times for Best Story by the Football Writers Association of America, and twice by The Associated Press Sports Editors, which in 2019 named him one of the 10 best sports columnists. He has written five books, including I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye, a memoir of dealing with grief after the death of his son in 2015. Maisel earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies at Stanford University in 1981.