Blue and Gold Illustrated

January 2014 Issue

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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That would leave the Irish without an experienced quarterback coach outside of Kelly. They could hire a coach to fill that role, but would likely find a better quarterbacks instructor if they let him coordinate the offense as well. There are several coaches who fit the bill, according to Pete Roussel, who runs the website coachingsearch.com and is a former college coach. Roussel mentioned Illinois offensive coordinator Bill Cubit, former Penn State assistant Charlie Fisher and Indiana quarterbacks coach Kevin Johns as possible candidates. All three have experience coaching quarterbacks and, more importantly, all three would be willing to run with Kelly's playbook rather than trying to install their own upon arrival. Given Kelly's hiring history, Roussel said, don't expect a hire in the near future, and when he does pull the trigger, expect the unexpected. "Brian Kelly is not going to move quickly on this, I don't think. There's no reason to rush at all," he said. "Brian's got a track record of doing some totally unexpected things. It could be a name that's not on the radar right now." Martin might have fallen under that category in 2000 when he first joined Kelly's Grand Valley State team. He had just lost his job at Eastern Michigan when he interviewed with Kelly, and it didn't take long for the head coach to see that Martin was worth hanging on to. "I knew his football acumen. He's a very smart football coach. Just remember having a conversation with him, very short conversation, and knowing that he was going to be somebody that I wanted to hire," Kelly said. "He'll do a great job at Miami. I think they made a great hire." That duo won two Division II national championships together before Kelly left for a Division I job and Martin took over the program. He won two more championships on his own during a Division II-record 40-game winning streak from 2005-07. Martin made the leap to the Football Bowl Subdivision level when Kelly started at Notre Dame in 2010. Kelly hired him as a safeties coach and eventually moved him to offensive coordinator to replace Charley Molnar two years later. With the Irish, Martin helped defensive backs Harrison Smith and Zeke Motta settle into a demanding position and eventually land jobs in the National Football League. He coached rookie quarterback Everett Golson through an undefeated season in 2012 and took over play-calling duties from the offensive-minded Kelly a year later. "It changed my life in coaching, just getting to Grand Valley State let alone what it's led to past then," Martin said about the opportunity granted to him by Kelly. "It's very rare that somebody has the success that he's had but has the ability and the willingness to change at times." More change will be coming soon for Kelly while needing to replace Martin and possibly defensive coordinator Bob Diaco, who has been mentioned in a number of job searches during the past two years. The new hires will be important decisions in keeping that consistent level of success intact. ✦

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