Notre Dame hoops fans thank Mike Brey for a ‘tremendous job’ as he announces plans to step away

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - Change is on the horizon for the Notre Dame men’s basketball team as Mike Brey announces his plan to step away from the team at the end of this season.

Despite the team’s recent struggles, the news was met with varying degrees of surprise by the Irish faithful.

“A little shocked,” says Irish hoops fan Christopher Ross when asked for his response to the news. “You know Mike Brey’s been here a long time. He’s probably accomplished everything he’s wanted to, so just time for him to move on I guess.”

Hours after the University’s announcement, 16 Sports stopped by O’Rourke’s Public House -- a watering hole just off Notre Dame’s campus where Brey used to host his weekly “Mike Brey Radio Show”. One employee and life-long Notre Dame fan was happy to reflect on the times when Brey would stop in.

“Coach Brey every single time he was in here had a smile on his face,” says Trevor Cochran, who works at O’Rourke’s. “He was never bugging for anything, never was asking for too much. Just a genuine guy, that’s one thing I can say about Coach Brey, he was always just a genuine person.”

Fans we spoke to at O’Rourke’s say that Brey’s tenure as a whole has had a positive impact on the community and the university, and many just want to say, ‘thank you.’

“Thank you for 20 years, man,” says Cochran. “You did a tremendous job. I loved watching the way you coached; how you developed as a person and as a man. I grew up watching you so I love it.”

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