Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Under the Dome Five Questions With … Director Of Player Personnel David Peloquin David Peloquin is in his first year as director of player personnel, but in his 10th with the Notre Dame football program. The Notre Dame alumnus started as a student manager in 2000 and worked himself up from recruiting assistant to coordinator of player personnel development to director of football development. In his new role, Peloquin serves as a liaison between the football program and various university departments, and he also aids Notre Dame's recruiting efforts. Blue & Gold Illustrated: You've been at Notre Dame for quite some time, first as a student, now as an employee. What about the university has made you stick around? Peloquin: "The best part about the university, overall, is it's really a family environment. From the faculty to the staff to the students, I think everyone on campus really has a care for one another and is willing to help each other." ▼ Blue & Gold Illustrated: Of all your responsibilities as director of player personnel, what would you say is your favorite and why? Peloquin: "The favorite part of my job is really seeing our players develop into young men, from the time that we start recruiting them in their sophomore/junior year to when you see them finally graduate. That is pretty awesome. "You take it even one step further for me when guys come back —when Brady Quinn comes back and sits down with you and talks to you about what's going on in his life. You see just how they've come along from young men in high school to really developing and seeing how your interaction with them and what the university can do for them and have developed them into leaders in the world." Blue & Gold Illustrated: How did being a student manager for the football team help you get to the Peloquin position you are in today? Peloquin: "The student manager position has changed over the years, but you get the sense of how a program like Notre Dame operates. You get a sense from what happens from the coaches to the equipment to the personnel to the medical side of it. "There's a lot of different things happening, so as a student manager, you really get a feel for all that." Blue & Gold Illustrated: Through your time at Notre Dame, you've been under four head coaches: Bob Davie, Ty Willingham, Charlie Weis and Brian Kelly. How do you handle those transitions? Peloquin: Each one has been a different learning experience. It's always unique and it's part of the business. But you learn from the next and it helps you grow as an employee in this business." Blue & Gold Illustrated: One of your responsibilities is assisting in social media strategies. How important is social media in the world of college football these days? Peloquin: "It's one of the strong points of our program. It's part of the recruiting base. The generation now uses Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Vine, all these different social media. "That's how they communicate. So [you need to] adapt your coaches and staffs to use that to find the best players in the country." — Staci Gasser Click here to listen to Blue & Gold Illustrated's complete interview with Peloquin.