BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2023 25
COACHING STABILITY
When a program switches head
coaches, a rash of assistant coaching
changes always follows. Notre Dame
went through it with the transition from
Brian Kelly to Freeman a year ago. This
year, Freeman's staff from Year 1 re-
mained intact going into Year 2. The im-
portance of that cannot be overstated.
This offseason won't be dominated by
storylines of what wide receivers coach
Chansi Stuckey can do for a struggling
wide receivers room or what Harry Hi-
estand can provide for the Notre Dame
offensive line in his return to South
Bend. It won't be centered on the Irish
nabbing a near-Super Bowl champion as
its defensive coordinator in Al Golden.
All of those assistants have been on
staff at Notre Dame for a year now, give
or take a month. The rest of Notre Dame's
primary assistants — offensive coordina-
tor Tommy Rees, tight ends coach Gerad
Parker, running backs coach Deland Mc-
Cullough, defensive line coach Al Wash-
ington, cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens
and safeties coach Chris O'Leary — are
still on staff, too. Even strength and con-
ditioning coach Matt Balis is still in place.
Who they are and what they have to
offer is common knowledge at this point.
New tidbits about them will come to light
in 2023, for better or worse, but there is
Freeman went 9-4 with a Gator Bowl victory in
his first season as Notre Dame's head coach.
PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER
