It is with great pleasure that Benedictine University announces the hiring of Lakeland College head football coach Kevin Doherty to the position of offensive coordinator at Benedictine.

"Kevin (Doherty) is a great hire for us," head coach Jon Cooper said. "I've known him for a long time and he did a tremendous job at Lakeland. He is a great person, an excellent football guy, and an outstanding recruiter."

Doherty spent eight seasons as the head man at Lakeland, guiding the Muskies to a trio of conference titles including a share of the 2014 title with Benedictine. The graduate of Aurora University has been honored as a conference coach of the year on three occasions, sharing the 2014 award with two others including Benedictine's Jon Cooper.

The senior member of the Lakeland coaching staff logged 13 wins over the past two seasons, tied with Benedictine and Concordia Wisconsin for the most in the conference over that span, and won 40 total games with Lakeland.  A native of St. Charles, Ill., Doherty's 2014 Lakeland squad led the conference in time of possession. Doherty also utilized a freshman quarterback and helped tutor him to NACC Freshman of the Year honors in 2014.

"I am excited about the opportunity at Benedictine and eager to hit the ground running," Doherty said. "The institution has been making several changes in a positive direction and is clearly on the move. I have a long history with Coop (Jon Cooper) and my family and I are thrilled to be closer to home."

Doherty's career has also seen stops at the University of Dubuque and Capital University before taking a slot as Offensive Coordinator at MacMurray College, helping MacMurray to the NCAA Playoffs. Doherty served as offensive coordinator at Aurora before joining Lakeland, serving as recruiting coordinator and liaison between the athletic and admissions department. Aurora appeared in the 2004 NCAA Playoffs.

While at Aurora, Doherty worked with Cooper, who was his academic advisor as a student and a fellow staff member. Current Benedictine offensive assistant Mark Halbach was a member of Doherty's staff at Lakeland. Doherty replaces Joe Freitag. Benedictine shared the 2014 NACC Championship and represented the conference in the playoffs for the third time in five seasons.