In the 1930's and 1940's, John Carroll University became a pipeline for ex-Notre Dame stars to establish their coaching roots.

No hire symbolized that connection more than when Tom Conley was brought on board.

A native of Philadelphia, Thomas Aquinas Conley attended Roman Catholic High School before going to the University of Notre Dame. At Notre Dame, he played under Knute Rockne, and was captain of the 1930 team that was named National Champion. Playing at end, he was selected as a second team All-American.

Following the end of his playing career, Conley went back to Philadelphia, where he coached the football and basketball teams for two seasons at La Salle University.

Conley then returned to Notre Dame as an assistant football coach for three years.

He was primed and ready to run a program of his own.

As early as Valentine's Day in 1936, the Cleveland Plain Dealer was touting Conley as "the latest to leap into the limelight as the leading candidate for the vacant football and basketball coaching posts at John Carroll."

The newspaper also cited several alums "close to the situation" as saying Conley had the "inside track."

Conley's appointment became official on March 23, 1936, and it also included the post of Athletic Director.

One of his first appointments was hiring another former Fighting Irish star William (Bill) Valentine Shakespeare as an assistant coach (which he later turned down). No relation to the "bard of Avon" as the Plain Dealer clarified.

Conley was much in demand on the local scene due to his Notre Dame bloodline. He was a frequent speaker at local functions, including high school banquets and CYO events. He would regale the crowds with stories about Rockne and other characters throughout the college ranks. Columnist Karl Keyerleber related this particular story that Conley told about himself.

We were having difficulty with blocking assignments ... I was pretty grouchy about it and on this day I told the players we were going to get it down pat and heaven help anybody who didn't know their assignment on every play.

Before every play in this particular practice session I went down the line and asked each man if he knew what he was supposed to do. we had a sub in at left tackle, a slow thinker who was one of those perpetual third stringers. But this time his slow thinking was particularly funny.

On this particular play, our left tackle had an option: he was to get the defensive tackle if he came through, but if he didn't come through, he was to get the man backing up the line. It was this option that i wanted to stress when I asked him

"Who do you get on this play?

He replied "I get the tackle"

"And if you don't get him?

"Then I get hell from you"

John Carroll enjoyed varying levels of success on both the gridiron and the hardwood during Conley's tenure. Most notably in football, John Carroll won the Ohio Athletic Conference crown in 1938 and the Big Four championship in 1939. 

Basketball was more of a struggle. His best season as the cagers' mentor was 1939-40, when the team went 12-8 and posted wins over the likes of Niagara, Akron and Kent. Overall, his teams won 58 games.

Conley continued in all three positions until 1943, when his tenure was abruptly halted by the university's decision to abandon athletics and become a Navy V-12 training facility during World War II. Conley went into private business and never returned to John Carroll, even after the war ended.