Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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what he makes at Notre Dame ��� because he preferred the college atmosphere. Running backs coach and recruiting coordinator Tony Alford made the same decision a year ago after interviewing with the Green Bay Packers. ���I���m flattered they gave me an opportunity to go talk to them, but I love this place, and I���m a college football coach ��� I���m a college guy,��� Alford said at the time. Some deemed Kelly���s talks with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie as a simple negotiation ploy for an improved contact at Notre Dame. He reportedly put a bigger budget to pay his assistants at the top of his wish list. Kelly has done a lot to inspire loyalty from his troops, many of whom have been with him for a decade or more. Diaco, for example, labeled himself Robin to Kelly���s Batman when asked why he stuck around in South Bend this December. That bond may be a big reason why the Irish made it through the offseason intact. When everyone is making enough money to be The 59-year-old Elliott, who performed his own dialysis treatments during the past 11 months, started working on his next batch of recruits from his home in March. Photo by Joe Raymond Bob Elliott Recovering From Kidney Transplant Notre Dame did have to do without one of its coaches in the football office during February. Safeties coach Bob Elliott spent most of the month working from his home while recovering from a kidney transplant surgery. Elliott, 59, learned his kidney was failing shortly after joining the Irish staff last spring. He survived a rare form of blood cancer while coaching in Iowa during the late 1990s, but a bone marrow transplant eventually took its toll on his kidney. The coach performed his own dialysis treatments during the past 11 months by hooking up to an IV tube during team meetings and even in the car while on recruiting road trips. He finally found time to have the organ replaced in Indianapolis Feb. 6, the morning Notre Dame signed its consensus top-five recruiting class. ���It���s a tough time right now for him, but I think you���re going to see him back,��� head coach Brian Kelly said that morning. ���He���s a fighter, and I expect to see him back on the field in the spring.��� Notre Dame released a statement a week later that said both Elliott and his sister, who donated the new, functioning kidney, were recovering well at their respective homes. Elliott started working on his next batch of recruits at home this month and was expected to be back on campus as soon as possible. ��� Dan Murphy