Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/476884
IN THE TRENCHES ANDREW OWENS W hen Matt LaFleur 's departure from the position of quarter- backs coach created a vacancy on the Irish coaching staff, most ex- pected head coach Brian Kelly to do what he usually does. In the past, Kelly has been reluctant to reach outside of his coaching tree to bring in an offensive coach — arguably to a fault. For five years, the assumption has been that Jeff Quinn would reunite with Kelly if the opportunity ever pre- sented itself. This offseason, it did. Quinn was fired as Buffalo's head coach. It seemed inevitable that Kelly would add him to help run the show on offense. (Note: Quinn could still be hired in an off- field analyst role this month.) The soon-to-be sixth-year Irish head coach instead desired a new voice for the offense. "[Assistant Mike Denbrock and I] agreed at the end that what we were looking for was somebody that could turn the room upside down," Kelly said. "We didn't want somebody to be equal. We wanted somebody that was going to turn that room upside down, that was that good. "We weren't going to settle for some- body that was on the same plane. We wanted somebody that was going to challenge us on a day-to-day basis." That person is Mike Sanford, the new Turning The Room Upside Down Irish head coach Brian Kelly has added a fresh voice to the meeting room by hiring Mike Sanford (pictured above) as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND