Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/705594
UNDER THE DOME JEFF BURRIS ADDED TO NOTRE DAME SUPPORT STAFF On June 3, Notre Dame announced the hiring of former Irish All-American Jeff Burris as a defensive analyst. The Rock Hill, S.C., native became a consensus All-American pick in 1993 when he served as a tri-captain for the 11-1 team that many felt should have been named national champions while finishing No. 2 in the polls. He played more minutes than any other Irish player that season. His production that season also resulted in the Buffalo Bills selecting him in the first round of the 1994 NFL Draft. He spent 10 seasons in the league. Burris was a defensive assistant for the Miami Dolphins from 2013-15. In 2012, he served as a cornerbacks coach for UMass under the program's head coach and former Irish offensive coor- dinator Charley Molnar. The addition of Burris continues the recent trend of adding Notre Dame football alumni to the staff and beyond. Last year, all-time leading rusher Autry Denson (class of '99) and two-time consensus All-America Todd Lyght ('91) were hired as the running backs and defensive backs coaches, respectively. Already among the support staff were four-year starting quar- terback Ron Powlus ('97) as director of player development, and former wide receiver and captain David Grimes ('09) as assistant strength and conditioning coach. Former linebacker and NFL player Brian Ratigan ('93) is in his ninth year as head of orthopedic sports medicine for the Fighting Irish. Not yet officially announced by the university but also expected to join the support staff in an off- the-field capacity is 1984-87 linebacker Greg Hudson ('88), who coached at East Carolina (2005-09) and Florida State (2010-12), and was the defensive coordinator at Purdue from 2013-15. The women's basketball staff includes Niele Ivey, the point guard for the 2001 national champs, and Beth Morgan Cunningham, the second all-time scoring leader who helped Notre Dame to its first Final Four in 1997. Men's basketball recently hired former captains Ryan Humphry ('02) and Ryan Ayers ('09) as on-court assistants and three-time captain Eric Atkins ('14) as video coordinator. They join director of basketball operations Harold Swanagan ('02). "There are two dynamics in play," Notre Dame vice president and director of athletics Jack Swarbrick said of the recent hirings. "One is that we have the great fortune of coaches who have been here a long time. So Muffet [McGraw] and Mike [Brey] are bringing back people they've coached, that they know well, have great confidence in and know their system. "The other is we like to think we produce exceptional young people here. We're not interested in bringing them back because they happened to go to school here; we're interested in bringing them back because they're so successful as a result of being here, and they represent everything this place has to offer." Burris, a consensus All-American cornerback for the Irish in 1993, will serve as a defensive analyst on head coach Brian Kelly's staff this season. FILE PHOTO