Notre Dame Announces Official Coaching Changes
by Eric Murtaugh on Feb 13, 2012 7:00 AM EST
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PrintIt took nearly two months to solidify and officially announce the new coaching staff in South Bend, but late last week Brian Kelly and the university finally came through with the official changes.
There are a few new coaches, a couple subtle shifts of responsibilities, and one major shift of responsibility from defense to offense.
Details and discussion about the moves coming after the jump.
Chuck Martin- Offensive Coordinator & Quarterbacks Coach
Martin makes the big move of the offseason, dropping his recruiting coordinator title and switching from defense to offense. He was previously coaching the safeties.
Brian Kelly really stressed familiarity and being on the same page with Martin. There will be a lot of pressure on Martin and Kelly to sort through the quarterback battle and improve the offense in 2012.
Scott Booker- Tight Ends & Special Teams Coordinator
Booker moves from graduate assistant and will coach a position with good depth and possibly the offense's best player. In other words, he'll likely have the least amount of pressure on him in his first season on the staff.
Kelly talked about the special teams and how that area will be a group effort from all the coaches. Booker will be thrown into the fire in recruiting where he will be responsible for northern Florida and Georgia---two very competitive regions.
Harry Hiestand- Offensive Line & Running Game Coordinator
One of the new coaches, Hiestand comes over from the University of Tennessee where he coached for three seasons. Before that he was the O-line coach for the Chicago Bears for six seasons.
Kelly mentioned that there will be more zone blocking and mentioned that Hiestand came very-highly-thought-of from Kirk Ferentz. He will recruit in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and parts of the Midwest and northern regions of the South.
Mike Denbrock- Outside Receivers & Passing Game Coordinator
One of the more quiet members of the staff, Denbrock moves from tight ends to coaching the outside receivers and is now the passing game coordinator.
With these coaching changes it is curious to see how the receivers are being coached by two different people. It will be interesting to see just exactly who the outside receivers will be come spring time and into 2012.
Tony Alford- Slot Receivers, Running Backs & Recruiting Coordinator
Alford interviewed with the Green Bay Packers lately but will be staying in South Bend.
He'll stay with the wide receivers but coach the slot athletes, and also adds running backs (where he coached under Charlie Weis) and recruiting coordinator. It appears the rumors of Notre Dame running the ball more with the quarterback and especially on jet sweeps might be true with this combination of slot receivers/running backs coaching responsibilities.
Bob Diaco- Assistant Head Coach, Defensive Coordinator, & Linebackers
Diaco will stay with the linebackers but adds the somewhat-prestigious title of assistant head coach. Kelly said Diaco will be the face of the program when he is not in town---and why not?
Diaco is a rising star and has been pretty impressive so far at Notre Dame, but he'll have his work cut out for him this year replacing a handful of defenders.
Kerry Cooks- Co-Defensive Coordinator & Cornerbacks
Cooks stays with the corners but adds the co-DC title as well.
He'll have a lot of young and inexperienced players to work with this season, let's hope Cooks can make some progress at his position.
Mike Elston- Defensive Line
Elston drops the special teams coordinator title and will focus solely on the defensive line.
Kelly said he'll have to really focus all his efforts on the D-line because there is a lot of young talent there. That's probably not a bad thing I'd say.
Bob Elliot- Safeties
Elliot is one of the new coaches who comes from Iowa State where he coached the secondary for two seasons. He has a long career as a coach in the secondary at Iowa State, Iowa, Kansas State, San Diego State, and Ball State.
He will recruit in the Midwest west of the Mississippi and Southern California.
Other Moves:
Josh Reardon and Pat Welsh have been hired as graduate assistants. Reardon comes from Holy Cross where he coached outside linebackers last season, and Welsh from Grand Valley State where he was graduate assistant.
Former Irish receiver David Grimes have been hired as a defensive graduate assistant as the NCAA is now allowing 4 GA's per team now.
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Irish Eyes and Irish Illustrated are reporting that BK is adding
Buffalos Ernest Jones to the Irish staff in a yet to be named position.
Yes, I heard that
That position isn’t a coaching position is it? I wonder why that wasn’t brought up on Friday.
Sky rockets in flight.
by Eric Murtaugh on Feb 13, 2012 8:12 AM EST up reply actions
Basically a Scott Booker type position...
an “interview” of sorts with the hopes that he can take over someone’s position when they leave in the next year or two. He will help/be in charge of a lot of the on campus recruiting visits and I believe he will have “quality control” responsibilities as well. He is not a coach. Cooks, Diaco, Elston, Martin, Alford, and Denbrock all are raising their profiles and could conceivably get promotions elsewhere in the near future, so I would expect him to be a coach at that point.
According to KA's blog...
Jones will be in the office. The next anticipated move would be to the field, but in the meantime…he helps with recruiting.
But indirectly...
it is an important distinction that he won’t (read: can’t) directly recruit the players. He will be responsible for scheduling visits and other administrative stuff. It is likely that he will look at a ton of film and evaluate the players, so that can only help.
I don't tweet often--but when I do, you can be sure it isn't important.
@jemiesle
I gotta say
not a flattering picture of Hiestand.
Also, “more zone blocking”? I’m interested to see what that means. We were pretty heavy on the zone runs last season.
One Foot Down
On teh Twitterz
Hiestand's picture is off-set by Elliot's though
Does anyone else think Hiestand’s name should be spelled with the “e” first? I’m going to mess that up all the time.
I’ve already heard many people say the same thing as you burgs about the zone blocking.
/StaresAtDoubleRainbow
//WhatDoesItMean?
Sky rockets in flight.
by Eric Murtaugh on Feb 13, 2012 8:25 AM EST up reply actions
People do that to my last name all the time.
My dad’s office is littered with plaques and trophies with the i and e inverted…
"You've got to have poise. You've got to walk away. You're a long snapper!"
B. Kelly
Think about the Heisman
Joe Theismann.
Or ND media relations man John Heisler.
I LIKE THE E FIRST!
Sky rockets in flight.
by Eric Murtaugh on Feb 13, 2012 1:41 PM EST up reply actions
Or Gunner Kiel.
Or walk-ons Mike Grieco and Ryan Liebscher. DaVaris Daniels. Cam McDaniel. I’s before e’s. Hiestand has company.
#figureitoutbobby
by fishoutofwater on Feb 13, 2012 1:55 PM EST up reply actions
It's a German thing.
In German and German-related words/names, “ei” rhymes with “eye” and “ie” is “ee”.
Notice the difference of pronunciation:
Theismann, Heisler, Heisman = “th-eye”, “h-eye” (rhyme with “thigh” and “high”)
Kiel, Hiestand = “k-eel”, “h-eestand”
No?
by SirWalter on Feb 13, 2012 2:15 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Is it pronounced Heeeeestand?
I should probably pay attention a little better.
I’ve been saying Hiiiiighstand in my head.
Sky rockets in flight.
by Eric Murtaugh on Feb 13, 2012 2:45 PM EST up reply actions
And also.....
What would Hitler do?
Am I right?
Sky rockets in flight.
by Eric Murtaugh on Feb 13, 2012 3:20 PM EST up reply actions
Very good sir...
I can attest to that first hand, as the rules apply to my name as well.
I don't tweet often--but when I do, you can be sure it isn't important.
@jemiesle
That is an interesting comment.
I’m thinking that the offense as a whole is going to look quite a bit different than it has these last couple of years. Can’t wait to check it out.
whiskey
www.onefootdown.com
He could also be referring to our pass blocking
I don’t know off-hand what we used for pass-blocking (gap vs. zone), but that’s another thing to think about.
One Foot Down
On teh Twitterz
Zone blocking on pass plays...
makes a lot of sense, as the line would tend to not get beat on stunts and twists too often then (theoretically anyway).
I don't tweet often--but when I do, you can be sure it isn't important.
@jemiesle
I see Bob Elliot's picture and all I can think of is Jack Nicholson.
Certainly a resemblance in the face.
If BIG LOUIS NIX was a Mississippi Blues Man, he'd be Jellyroll T-Bone McPorkchop, ‘cuz he's all meat, with just a little bit of sweet.
Jonathan Toews will eat your baby if it means two points.
Viva El Churro! El Churro lo ve todo!
A few thoughts...
we have known about the hires for some time now, and I like them more and more every day. Sure, they aren’ t the high profile names some wanted, but they bring a lot of knowledge and teaching (in Hiestand and Elliott) and another young up-and-comer (in Booker). The old guard brings some stability if/when other assistants leave for HC gigs (Martin, Diaco, Alford).
Also, I like that Alford is putting Booker in some of the tougher recruiting grounds (GA, North FL). He will better be able to relate to the kids than some of the older coaches and should be able to grab a few out of this area soon.
The one final thing that stuck out to me is BK’s comments on the offense. Clearly, it was a Jekyll and Hyde 2011, but they still averaged 29+ pts/game. Something tells me he won’t be happy until they are in the 40+ pts/game territory. This should make fans very, very happy.
I don't tweet often--but when I do, you can be sure it isn't important.
@jemiesle
40 points per game you say?
Sky rockets in flight.
by Eric Murtaugh on Feb 13, 2012 1:43 PM EST up reply actions
It seems like, with the points per game issue, the Jekyll/Hyde quality outweighed the value of a season average of 29+ pts/game.
There were a few big games like Purdue (38), Air Force (59), Navy (56), and MD (45) that pushed the average up, but our defense handled those teams in such a way that those points had less value in winning those games. Where it counted – where the Irish defense fought its hardest and ND faced talented defenses – their points were still pretty low: 17 (USC), 14 (Stanford), 14 (FSU). Add to that the other close games where our offense just couldn’t score when they should have (BC – 14, Wake Forest – 24, Pitt – 15, USF – 20), and the high-ish average means a bit less.
#figureitoutbobby
by fishoutofwater on Feb 13, 2012 2:04 PM EST up reply actions
I agree 100 percent
Sky rockets in flight.
by Eric Murtaugh on Feb 13, 2012 2:46 PM EST up reply actions
Our TO's in the low scoring games
USF 5
Pitt 2
USC 3
BC 1
Wake 2
STAN 3
FSU 3
the four high scoring ones you mentioned total? 2.
key takeaway for ’12…HOLD ON TO THE DAMN BALL
BACK TO BACK ZERO BLITZES WITH NO SAFETY HELP!! MAKE PLAYS!!
by jpeters6 on Feb 13, 2012 3:19 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Agreed. Other key takeaways:
IF YOU GET TO THE RED ZONE, YOU NEED TO SCORE POINTS.
RETURN PUNTS.
DO NOT MAKE TOMMY REES BE YOUR QUARTERBACK.
#figureitoutbobby
by fishoutofwater on Feb 13, 2012 3:29 PM EST up reply actions
Those are almost in reverse order of importance
I don't tweet often--but when I do, you can be sure it isn't important.
@jemiesle
I read this in the voice of Michigan State radio host meltdown guy
H R PUF N STUFF!
PUCKER PUCKER PUCKER!
Never, ever, ever gets less funny.
by The Guys Get Shirts! on Feb 13, 2012 4:24 PM EST up reply actions
It's so full of win
The 3 different groups that get 50% of the blame, and the “I’m not calling out kids for choking, but Drew Stanton has to step up in these big games” are probably my favorite parts.
Honorable mention for audible choking noise on the radio though.
BACK TO BACK ZERO BLITZES WITH NO SAFETY HELP!! MAKE PLAYS!!
And his co-host begging him to drink some tea and his outright refusal
One Foot Down
On teh Twitterz
He was busy firing up his section
it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.
BACK TO BACK ZERO BLITZES WITH NO SAFETY HELP!! MAKE PLAYS!!
Give the man a break
He paid his 75 dollars and got a bunch of old asses off their feet and into the air.
May God have mercy on my enemies, because I won't
-Patton
by Three and Eight-Elevenths Men on Feb 13, 2012 7:52 PM EST up reply actions
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