Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME Offensive Coordinator Mike Denbrock Returns To Practice Field Notre Dame offensive co- ordinator/receivers coach Mike Denbrock was sidelined during the first week of the Fighting Irish training camp Aug. 4-8 at Culver Acad- emies, about an hour from campus. Now in his fifth season at Notre Dame on head coach Brian Kelly's staff, and the first as the offensive coordi- nator, Denbrock underwent an unspecified surgery in July that precluded him from tak- ing part in practices. In Denbrock's absence, Kelly instructed the wide receivers for the most part while at Culver with help from graduate assistant Ryan Mahaffey, who was the tight ends coach at the University of Northern Iowa in 2013 af- ter playing for three different NFL teams from 2011-12. When Notre Dame re- turned to campus for its prac- tice Aug. 9, Denbrock was back on the field but still in a limited capacity. "He's not going to be able to be out here for long periods of time," Kelly said after the practice. "He's going to pick his spots. I think he'll be able to do maybe an hour a day here for the next week or so, couple of weeks. He'll gradually increase his time with us." Denbrock was promoted to the coordinator role after Chuck Martin ac- cepted the head coaching post at Miami (Ohio) following the 2013 season. Kelly had relinquished play-calling duties to Martin last year, a first in his head coaching career, but indicated he would have that role again this season. Denbrock was sidelined during the first week of fall practice after undergoing an unspecified surgery in July. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND