Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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than the X's and O's. "Great relationships, footwork, body position, balance, those were the words that resonated in the inter- view, and Matt hit every single one of those," Kelly said. The nitty gritty was also a big fo- cus when selecting a new offensive coordinator. When Kelly decided to return to calling plays after a one-year hiatus, he knew he wanted a coordina- tor who could help develop players and run the day-to-day operations of the offense. His long relationship with Denbrock, and Denbrock's history of coaching just about every position group on the field, made him an obvi- ous choice. Denbrock first worked with Kelly at Grand Valley State when both were starting their careers a quarter-cen- tury ago. He has since coached wide receivers, tight ends, offensive line- men, quarterbacks and linebackers at various stops, including a previous three-year stint at Notre Dame under Ty Willingham. He got a trial run at offensive coordi- nator while the Irish prepared for the Pinstripe Bowl in December and did well enough to retain the job. "[I learned] more than anything how important it is to take input from the other staff members," he said. "Make sure there is a consensus in the of- fensive staff room, number one about where we're going and what we're doing." The Irish ran 90 plays in the bowl game, a 29-16 win over Rutgers. They, at times, started to move at a faster clip. It was a brief teaser for the changes Notre Dame hopes to make heading into the 2014 season with new players and now a new offensive staff fully in place. ✦