Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI accepted the Connecticut head coach- ing job last year, Brian VanGorder was brought in to coordinate the defense and the "co" was no longer on Cooks' title. At Oklahoma, Cooks is nearer to his Dallas roots, and recruiting in the Lone Star State might be easier. Either way, it might be a needed fresh start. The departure of Alford to replace Stan Drayton on the Buckeyes' staff (Drayton landed an assistant's posi- tion with the Chicago Bears) had the most seismic reaction because Alford has been such an outstanding ambas- sador of the school. This would have been Alford's sev- enth season with the Irish. Since 1981, the lone position coaches who have stayed longer at Notre Dame were of- fensive line coach Joe Moore for nine years (1988-96) and defensive coach Greg Mattison for eight seasons (1997- 2004). This December, Alford was passed over for the second time in three years for the head coaching spot at his alma mater, Colorado State, both times to SEC offensive coordinators (Jim McEl- wain and Mike Bobo). Although Alford was given the re- cruiting coordinator title in 2012 to complement his duties of instructing the running backs, he was twice by- passed to be the Irish offensive co- ordinator. In 2012, it was given to defensive backs coach Chuck Martin — ironically prompting the departure of then Irish offensive line coach Ed Warinner to Meyer 's staff, where he is now the OC — and then Mike Den- brock last season when Martin was hired as head coach at Miami (Ohio). Consequently, Alford, now also has the "assistant head coach for offense" title at OSU. It can't be undervalued either that Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer and Alabama's Nick Saban are at the top of the college football coach- ing profession, and the Buckeyes will be favored to repeat as national cham- pions in 2015. Sometimes a feeling can develop that a certain stint has run its course and a change of scenery might be beneficial. Generally, assistant coaching today can be akin to the stint of a college football player. "Eligibility" is usu- ally done after four or five seasons at a school. If you excel, you get pro- moted, maybe even become a head coach. If you don't, you get replaced. If your situation might feel stagnant, you change it yourself. A month from now, history shows that conversation will center on Notre Dame's grand new hires at the assis- tant coaching spots and how the new blood has created "exciting new en- ergy," a "fresh perspective" or "bet- ter chemistry," similar to VanGorder in place of Diaco last spring — even though Diaco just two years earlier was honored as college football's top assistant. Assistant coaches often change. What does not change is the belief that maybe change can be for the better, whether it proves accurate or not. ✦ Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com