Blue and Gold Illustrated

February 2013

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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Under the Dome Notre Dame's Creative Coaching Moves In 2012 Paid Off Following the 22-13 victory at Southern California to end the regular season, Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick admitted he didn't expect the Fighting Irish football team to make a national splash until 2013. Happily all went ahead of schedule, and he explained how the signs did indicate marked improvement was possible this fall. Just as head coach Brian Kelly has, Swarbrick points to a cohesive coaching staff as one of the main reasons Notre Dame clawed its way to a No. 1 ranking and the BCS National Championship game against No. 2 Alabama. As he reflected on those changes that were made in the offseason, Swarbrick surveyed the Loftus Center, where all those coaches were talking to reporters a few weeks before the title game. A program that could have easily seen several assistants poached after a 12-0 record, including defensive coordinator Bob Diaco, who interviewed for the head coaching vacancy at Boston College, managed to retain them all. "I'm not surprised, and an important reason that they are still here is they were so committed to this last game," Swarbrick said. "A lot of people who were interested in them wanted them sooner than that. It's a great tribute to these coaches. They felt a real obligation and commitment to this team and this championship game. They wanted to be here through it. That creates a different dynamic when a lot of people don't want to wait. "My obligation is to help our coaches reach their professional goals. I'm here to help them. If they're ready, and it's time and they have the right opportunity, I'm going to be their biggest supporter. You're right, you've got to be thinking about, when that happens, how do you deal with it? Brian and I do talk about that. Sort of, 'What if, and how do you approach it?'" Kelly lost running backs coach Tim Hinton and offensive line coach Ed Warinner to Ohio State and Urban Meyer following an 8-5 campaign in 2011. He also watched Charley Molnar vacate his offensive coordinator post to oversee a Massachusetts program Swarbrick transitioning from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision. Some personnel moves seemed amicable, but still required plugging the holes. Kelly brought in Harry Hiestand to head up the line and coordinate the running game, and Bob Elliott to take over the safeties when assistant Chuck Martin was promoted to offensive coordinator. Swarbrick is pleased with how Kelly shuffled the coaches still on the payroll to address needs, which included promoting intern Scott Booker to tight ends coach, cornerbacks coach Kerry Cooks to co-defensive coordinator and moving Tony Alford back to running backs while adding slot receivers to his load. "Part of it is the careful assessment of your current staff," Swarbrick explained. "The moves he made when we had people leave last year are a good indication of that, where he really strengthened the program by getting people in places where they could be even better, more effective. Putting Chuck as the [offensive coordinator], putting Tony back with the slot [receivers] and running backs; that was a really creative combination combining the slot and running back together. That's part of the dynamic saying to yourself, 'Okay, if I lose this guy, are there changes I'd make internally before I hire somebody?' "We need to be financially competitive and we are. For coaches to work with these kids, it's a pretty nice place to be. There are a lot of problems you don't have when you're working with young men like this. They recognize that. They're pretty selective about what their next opportunities will be." — Wes Morgan

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