Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL 2024 9 UNDER THE DOME ing to be his last. He doesn't have any desire to be a head coach anymore. So the Irish got a guy who just led the na- tion's No. 1 offense at LSU, coached the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner in Jayden Daniels and is dead set on having just as good of fortunes if not better ones at Notre Dame. Sign the Irish up for that. "Sometimes I forget how competi- tive he is," Freeman said after Notre Dame's first spring practice March 7. "And I probably said that when I first talked about him. He's a competitive dude, and I heard him out there today chirping. They threw a long ball, and he was like, 'Get back there. Get used to it. That's what we do.' OK, I like that. And he's a leader. He's a leader." Making Mickens the corners and safeties coach opened up an additional on-field posi- tion. It went to Max Bullough, who was a graduate assistant last year but is now the full- time linebackers coach. That frees up Golden to wander around the field a bit more instead of spending most of his practice time with the linebackers. It also allows Bullough to fully dive into being the coach in charge of an entire unit. He said he sort of felt like one last fall, but there are extra ounces of motivation and inspiration that come with having the actual title next to his name. Plus, the promotion came with an of- fice and a reserved parking spot. Jackpot. "He's doing an unbelievable job," Freeman said. "He's earned that right to be the linebackers coach, and I re- ally look forward to seeing what he does with this unit." The only on-field external hires Notre Dame made in this offseason cy- cle in addition to Denbrock were Mike Brown, the Irish's new wide receivers coach, and Loren Landow, the Irish's new strength and conditioning coach. Brown's arrival feels like old news. He came on board in December and has hit the ground running. The hiring of Landow was also made official in De- cember, but the buzz of that addition is still ringing loud and clear. A strength coach is as vital to a pro- gram's success at this time of year as anyone else. Freeman made a calcu- lated move to bringing someone in who places so much emphasis on the impor- tance of exercise science. There can be pushback with that from young men in their late teens and early 20s. But not in this case. "I am observing the buy-in," Freeman said of Landow's impact. "And that's what I've been most pleased with, the buy-in from our players to his leader- ship, the way he's training them. And that, to me, is impressive, to be able to gain that trust from your players in such a short period of time. "He's been a great partner in our sports performance team, in our meet- ings. The ability to utilize some of his ideas and previous experiences has been huge in terms of making sure we're do- ing what we feel is best for the player, the individual, to perform at the level that we have to perform." There is no better example of the power of buy-in than former Notre Dame director of recruiting Chad Bowden. And the only reason "for- mer" is the proper qualifier is because just like Mickens, McCullough and Bullough, Bowden received a promotion this offseason. He's now the assistant athletics director for player personnel. No, Notre Dame didn't have to go out and get someone to replace him in his recruiting role. Dre Brown, who's been on staff for nearly three years, slid into that role. Those two have been peas in a pod, teaming up to make the behind- the-scenes work that keeps Freeman's program on a progressive track possible. Why has Notre Dame been in or just outside the top 10 in team recruiting rankings every year Freeman has been in South Bend? Well, Freeman himself, for one. That's obvious. Less obvious to the casual observer? Bowden and Brown. If the entire enterprise of Notre Dame re- cruiting was an engine, that duo would be the gasoline. It doesn't run without them. "Chad's elite at what he does," Free- man said. "The opportunity for him to lead our entire personnel staff is some- thing that's earned. He's earned that right, and he's doing a great job. He does such a good job at what he does. That's not just connecting with recruits, but planning, leading a group of people and evaluations. "I speak about Dre in the same light. He's done a great job in his role. It's very im- portant, the consistency, but more importantly that we have the right people, people that can do that role, and per- form it at a high level." There's that word again. Consistency. This Notre Dame coaching staff has it. That's why it's imperative to take ad- vantage of it. Mickens might be a defensive coordinator somewhere else at this time next year. McCullough might be a head coach. His predecessor, Lance Taylor, went from Notre Dame running backs coach to Western Michigan head coach with one year as the offensive co- ordinator at Louisville in between. Freeman isn't making this stuff up. He's smart. He knows a good coach when he sees one. He's surrounded by them, which is a testament to the job he's done crafting a coaching staff in an era when it's not so easy to do so. His collection of 12 on-field coaches, from Freeman to Landow, probably only has nine more months to work with each other. Turnover is inevitable. Somebody is going to get a new opportunity and take it. But that's what 2024 is for this dozen. An opportunity. A grand one at that, given who they are, what they're capa- ble of and who they have helping them in the facility. So they might as well take this first. ✦ NOTRE DAME'S 12 ON-FIELD COACHES Name Position Years At Notre Dame Marcus Freeman Head Coach 4 Al Golden Defensive Coordinator 3 Mike Denbrock Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends 1* Marty Biagi Special Teams Coordinator 2 Mike Brown Wide Receivers Coach 1 Max Bullough Linebackers Coach 2 Gino Guidugli Quarterbacks Coach 2 Deland McCullough Running Backs Coach 3 Mike Mickens Defensive Backs Coach 5 Joe Rudolph Offensive Line Coach 2 Al Washington Defensive Line Coach 3 Loren Landow Strength Coach 1 * Also was at Notre Dame from 2002-04 and 2010-16