Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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fensive coordinator Chuck Martin accepted the job as head coach at Miami (Ohio), until January. When Kelly does pick a new man for his defense, he said he'll look for someone with a history of defending a wide variety of offenses and a willingness to bounce between a 3-4 scheme and a 4-3 alignment. That versatility is essential because Notre Dame might face the triple option one week, a spread team the next and a power running attack thereafter. It can't be, 'I just do this.' We've got to have some flexibility," Kelly said. "One of the most important things is you don't have a lot of knowledge of your opponents, unfortunately, with so many different teams that come in and off our schedule, so you have to have a great bank of experience." Much of Diaco's experience was acquired on the job. He and Kelly helped re-route a Notre Dame defense that has been significantly improved in their four years together. While he was learning, Diaco displayed a passion for his players that made him a man who will be virtually impossible to fully replace. ✦ Irish Land Diaco's Replacement Notre Dame brought home an extra gift from its Christmas trip to New York City. Multiple media outlets reported in the hours after the Irish bowl victory that Brian Kelly planned to hire New York Jets linebacker coach Brian VanGorder to replace Bob Diaco as his new defensive coordinator. Kelly said following the game that he had a new coach in mind, but couldn't release the name until it became official. "I've made a decision already, just can't make it public right now because we're still in the process of finalizing contracts and things of that nature," Kelly said. VanGorder, 54, is a Michigan native and coached with Kelly at Grand Valley State University from 198991 before he accepted the head coaching position at Wayne State University, his alma mater. He played with Irish strength and conditioning coach Paul Longo on the Wayne State football team. Currently with the Jets, VanGorder has also worked as defensive coordinator for the University of Georgia and the Atlanta Falcons. He won the Frank Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant — an award Diaco won following the 2012 season — in 2003 while with Georgia. VanGorder coordinated the 2012 Auburn defense in head coach Gene Chizik's final season at the helm. He spent five seasons before that in the NFL with Atlanta. — Andrew Owens BRIAN VANGORDER'S COACHING CAREER 1981 West Bloomfield High School (assistant) 1982-83 Boca Raton Academy 1984-87 American Heritage School 1988 Boca Raton Community High School 1989-91 Grand Valley State University (DC/LB) 1992-94 Wayne State University (HC) 1994-96 Central Florida (LB/ST) 1996-97 Central Florida (DC) 1998-99 Central Michigan (DC) 2000 Western Illinois (DC) 2001-04 Georgia (DC) 2005 Jacksonville Jaguars (LB) 2006 Georgia Southern (HC) 2007 Atlanta Falcons (LB) 2008-11 Atlanta Falcons (DC) 2012 Auburn (DC) 2013 New York Jets (LB)