Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JAN. 1, 2021 19 ficiency Index (FEI) each of the last three seasons. Cincinnati's 2020 de- fense is fourth in SP+ and second in yards allowed per play. Freeman, 34, has never worked for Kelly, but the Ohio native has spent his coaching career in the Midwest and would reunite with Mike Mick- ens, who was his cornerbacks coach from 2018-19 before Kelly hired him to the same role. A question to consider is Free- man's willingness to leave Cincin- nati head coach Luke Fickell, who gave him his first coordinator job and who coached him as a player at Ohio State from 2004-08. Fickell's name has been mentioned in connection with Power Five openings this year. As long as the Bearcats operate at a high level, he will be in demand. Would Freeman rather wait and go wherever Fickell does, instead of taking the first major offer he gets? It's also possible Freeman gets some head coaching interest himself. JAY BATEMAN North Carolina Defensive Coordinator The 47-year-old Bateman's name came up in Notre Dame's search to replace Mike Elko in 2017. At the time, he was at Army, but moved on to North Carolina in December 2018. The Tar Heels' defense has been hurt by big plays this year, but still sits in the top half of the Football Bowl Sub- division in yards per play and 43rd in SP+ data rankings. His work at Army from 2014-18 still stands out. His defense was the only one to hold the 2018 Oklahoma team, led by Heisman Trophy win- ner Kyler Murray, to fewer than 30 points. All told, he has 15 years of experience as a Division I defensive coordinator, starting in 2006 at Foot- ball Championship Subdivision Elon. He was at Ball State from 2011-13. JON HEACOCK Iowa State Defensive Coordinator Here's another name that came up in the post-Elko search. Heacock, 60, has been with Matt Campbell at Iowa State since 2016 and helped engineer one of the more impressive turn- around projects in recent years. In the offense-happy Big 12, Iowa State has been a top-35 FEI defense three of the last four seasons. The Cy- clones have also ranked among the national top 35 in tackles for loss three times in that span. They play an adapt- able and aggressive 3-3-5 defense. An Ohio native, Heacock has spent most of his career in the Midwest and was Youngstown State's head coach from 2001-09, going 60-44. He has prior coordinator experience at To- ledo (2014-15), Kent State (2010-12), Youngstown State (2000) and Indiana (1997-99). SCOTTIE HAZELTON Michigan State Defensive Coordinator The Spartans finished 2-5, but qui- etly 19th in defensive SP+, 29th in defensive FEI and 32nd in yards al- lowed per play in their first year un- der Hazelton's direction. He spent 2019 at Kansas State and 2017-18 at Wyoming, where the Cowboys ranked among the nation's top 20 in yards per play both years. Hazelton, 46, was also Notre Dame special teams coach Brian Polian's defensive coordinator at Nevada in 2013. His first major coordinator stint was at FCS power North Dakota State from 2010-11. SETH WALLACE Iowa Assistant Defensive Coordinator Wallace is longtime Hawkeyes co- ordinator Phil Parker's No. 2 man, a role he has held since 2014. He has played a part in the Hawkeyes' im- pressive track record of player de- velopment and producing pros on defense without signing classes full of four- and five-star players. Even if the M.O. shifts from year to year, Iowa keeps opponents off the score- board. Iowa's 2020 unit is third in SP+ and yards per play. Parker has been in his job since 2012 and has worked for Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz since 1999. He's entrenched. An opportunity to run his own defense would figure to be appealing to Wallace. He last called his own defense at Division II Valdo- sta State from 2011-13. TYLER STOCKTON Ball State Defensive Coordinator Stockton is a former Irish defensive lineman and graduated from Notre Dame in 2013. In his short coaching career, he has worked for former Irish defensive coordinator Bob Diaco as a graduate assistant at Connecticut from 2014-15 and spent 2016-18 at FCS Western Illinois, the final one as defensive coordinator and the first two as de- fensive run-game coordinator. His 2018 Leathernecks defense finished 23rd in yards per game and sixth in sacks while playing in the toughest conference in the FCS. Stockton is in his second season running Ball State's defense, but the first without the "co-defensive coor- dinator" label. The Cardinals won their last six games and the 2020 Mid- American Conference title. Notre Dame's defense is fourth nationally in adjusted havoc rate this season (24.1 percent), and Stockton's unit is one of the three teams above the Irish in that category. Elsewhere, though, they have finished 80th or worse in yards per play the last two years. K e l l y k n o w s S t o c k t o n . H e ' s uniquely credentialed, with an MBA from Notre Dame and a stint as a former Goldman Sachs intern. Is that enough to convince Kelly he's ready for a big jump? Perhaps a position coach job if one opens is a more fea- sible leap. TWO NFL NAMES Anthony Weaver, Houston Tex- ans defensive coordinator: Might he want to stay in the pros? Absolutely. Is this likely? No. But Weaver, a sec- ond-round pick out of Notre Dame in 2002, is worth a call. He has spent most of his 11-year coaching career in the NFL and was elevated to Hous- ton's defensive coordinator from de- fensive line coach after last season. It's hard to imagine an NFL coor- dinator going back to college, but with the Texans playing out the string with an interim head coach, perhaps the uncertainty or likely im- mediate future as a position coach leads him to giving college a try. The Texans fielded one of the NFL's worst defenses this year, so Kelly would have to be comfortable with that as Weaver's lone coordinator sampling. Matt House, Kansas City Chiefs linebackers coach: House was Ken- tucky's defensive coordinator from 2017-18, before leaving for the NFL. The Wildcats went 10-3 in his final year due in large part to his defense, which ranked in the top 25 in FEI and SP+. He was the defensive coordina- tor at Pittsburgh from 2013-14 under current Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst and also at Florida Interna- tional in 2015. ✦