Former Mountaineer Joins Notre Dame for Prominent Position

A former WVU quarterback has secured a major opportunity to further his coaching career. On Tuesday, Notre Dame announced that Ja’Juan Seider will be the Fighting Irish’s associate head coach and running backs coach under Marcus Freeman.

“Ja’Juan is a great offensive mind,” said Notre Dame Dick Corbett Head Football Coach Marcus Freeman. “He has coached multiple offensive positions, but his ability to recruit and develop high level running backs is exceptional. His experience utilizing multiple running backs effectively within the offense and simultaneously turning them into NFL talent is one of several reasons why he is a great fit for our program.”

Welcome to the Irish family, Coach Seider

🔗 https://t.co/EuiCaCwIGj#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/nk8Skh7rNM

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) February 18, 2025

Seider served as Chad Johnson and Mark Bulger’s backup quarterback at WVU from 1995-98. He appeared in seven games, completing 7-of-16 pass attempts for 133 yards and adding 28 yards on the ground.

He then finished his college career at Florida A&M, throwing for 2,622 yards and 27 touchdowns while completing 61% of his passes. He also ran for 740 yards and scored 14 touchdowns as a runner. Seider was drafted in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft by the then San Diego Chargers.

Seider eventually got into the coaching after a brief professional career, starting at the high school level before returning to West Virginia as a grad assistant under Bill Stewart for the 2008-09 seasons. Fast forward several years and Dana Holgorsen hired Seider to be WVU’s running backs coach.

Most recently, Seinder spent seven years as the assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach at Penn State. During his time with the Nittany Lions, Seider helped develop top running backs like Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton.

For a related story, Notre Dame also hired another former WVU assistant coach.