Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/226401
Under the Dome Charting The Irish Division Of Labor The months of December and January are a time for rearranging coaching staffs or at least coaching titles. In each of the four winters Brian Kelly has spent at Notre Dame, at least one coach received a new job or new title for the Irish. With the loss of offensive coordinator Chuck Martin, that trend will continue this year. There are dozens of ways to divide the responsibilities of a college football staff, and no one proven correct recipe. For Notre Dame, an 8-4 season caused some fans to call into question its division of labor. The Irish use two coaches in their secondary rather than double up elsewhere or dedicate one coach to special teams. That approach turns out to be more common that one might expect. Of the 73 teams in automatic qualifier conferences (including Notre Dame), only 13 have full-time special teams coordinators. Most staffs put a position coach in charge of special teams. Notre Dame uses Scott Booker, its tight end coach, which is by far the most common choice. The secondary is also the most popular place to add an extra position coach. Forty-three teams double down with two coaches for one level of their defense, and 25 of those teams add the extra guy to the defensive backfield. The other 18 split up the outside and inside linebackers or linemen. Special Teams Coaching Choices No ST coach label: 22 Dedicated ST Coordinator: 13 Other Position/ ST Coach: 18 Tight End/ ST Coach: 20 Splitting Defensive Duties Secondary25 Linebackers11 Linemen7 Limited Bowl Options One of the reasons Notre Dame became a partial member of the ACC in football, starting next season, was to have more bowl options. Conference tie-ins to second-tier bowls made 2013 a "BCS or Bust" year for Notre Dame in terms of postseason options. Head coach Brian Kelly said the Irish had mainly three choices. The Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl had allure, but with final exams concluding Dec. 20, it had too many logistical snafus. "We would have had to have gone out there on 21, 22, 23," Kelly explained. "They don't hold the hotel rooms after the game for you. … Didn't make a lot of sense to go there three days, practice, play the game, then, 'Sorry guys.' "If we could have stayed for two, three days after, have some things organized, maybe we could have done something with the Hawaii Bowl." The Dec. 26 Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego also was enticing, but when 12-0 Northern Illinois lost in the MAC championship game, its BCS hopes were dashed and the Poinsettia Bowl was the consolation