Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Rolling Up His Sleeves First-year grad assistant Josh Reardon works hard behind the scenes By Wes Morgan There’s a casino in Mount Pleasant, Mich., and that’s about all. Yet, for his own reasons, Josh Reardon was desperate to make it his home as a member of the Central Michigan University football team. While his friends at Sturgis (Mich.) High School bled maize and blue and Spartan green, he gushed maroon and gold. It’s where his father and prep coach Ron Reardon played. It was where many family members received their educations. It was a big deal. And the fact that Reardon, a linebacker at Sturgis (1997-2000), wasn’t offered a scholarship — paired with an understanding that he’d likely never see the field at that position — mattered little. Reardon, now a first-year graduate assistant (linebackers) at Notre Dame, simply made his dreams, however humble to the outside world, come true. The preferred walk-on’s skill set included long snapping, and he eventually earned a scholarship at CMU, where he finished playing in 2004. That determination also has dominated the second phase of his life — coaching. And that connection to the Chippewas program led to his latest opportunity in South Bend. “I’ve always stayed in touch with Coach [Mike] Elston and Coach [Bob] Diaco,” said Reardon, who cut his teeth under the defensive duo at Central. “Coach [Brian] Kelly is incredibly busy, so I was never going to call him and say, ‘Hey, what’s up? It’s Josh Reardon.’ Let me preface that by saying that I always genuinely felt if I never needed something, I could pick up the phone and call him. “I always felt like I had a good relationship with those guys. When you talk about mentors, they were my introduction to [coaching] college football. I stayed in touch with those guys, and an opportunity arose where there was a need for a GA. It’s Notre Dame. I had an opportunity to get back on a staff with guys I generally respect and are your mentors and good people. It was kind of a no-brainer.” Reardon’s introduction to Notre Dame began with the defensive line, working with Elston. He was switched over to linebackers this fall after fellow graduate assistant Corey Brown joined the staff during the offseason. Brown played along the line at Iowa (1995-99). He recalls the first spring practice and what it felt like to hit the field with Fighting Irish gear on for the first time. “It’s something different; there’s no question,” he said. “When you walk into the building it’s different than anything you’ve ever experienced. When you walk out to practice, open the door and there are 20 cameras, you kind of stop, look around and you’re like, ‘You’re here for practice?’” After exhausting his eligibility at CMU, Reardon was invited by then-second-year head coach Kelly in 2005 to work as a student assistant for the Chippewas, with various duties on the defensive side of the ball under defensive coordinator Diaco. He made a good impression. Kelly and most of his coaching staff moved on to Cincinnati in 2007. Reardon stayed on as a graduate assistant before spending three seasons at Sacred Heart, where he coached the defensive line (2008) and the secondary (2009), before taking over as defensive coordinator in 2010. Last year, he served as assistant defensive coordinator at Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. Two years after Kelly took the head job at Notre Dame, he reached out to Reardon when a position opened up. “I go back to the Central Michigan days with him,” Kelly said. “He was a player for me. He was always one of those guys who worked hard. You could tell he was the son of a coach. He came from that and you could tell that he was going to coach one day. “We kept an eye on him, and he really progressed through the coaching ranks. When we had an opportunity with an opening, he was the first guy we called. We think this gives him a great platform to continue his career.” It also gives Reardon a familiar work environment. “They’re the same people, I can tell you that,” he said about reconnecting with Kelly, Diaco and defensive line coach Mike Elston. “I think everyone has grown as football coaches. You don’t get to this point without continuing to grow. As far as a working relationship goes, they are the same guys. We have a really great relationship and we have a good time. They’re fun guys to work with.” Reardon has spent his entire career on the defensive side of the ball, though he said fate had a lot to do with that. Based on the needs at CMU, and because of his background as a linebacker, Reardon’s lot was cast by Kelly. “He’s got the ability to coach [both sides of the football],” Kelly explained. “He’s passionate about what he does. He has the ability to communicate very well and build relationships, and he’s very meticulous. He was a long snapper. He’s Switzerland; he’s neutral.” Reardon’s transition back to linebackers this fall appears to be a perfect fit, and he’s keeping up with an extremely enthusiastic Diaco, who had nothing but praise for his understudy. “He’s going to be a great coach,” Diaco said. “He’s got great detail; he’s got great energy. He has been a full-time coach, he’s coordinated a defense and he comes to meetings with ideas. He’s just a pleasure every day. He’s not sensitive; he’s a grinding worker. There’s no job too big and there’s no job too small. I’d recommend him to any employer for a job he’s looking for, which I don’t just do [for everyone]. “I’m sure it is [less money than he was making before]. I’m sure it is. It means a lot. At the same time, we all did it. You don’t get to this level without first being a graduate assistant and all the glorious things that means. He’s doing a fantastic job and I appreciate him every day. I try to make sure I tell him that.” The Life Of A Graduate Assistant Notre Dame’s coaching staff includes graduate assistants Bill Brechin (receivers), Josh Reardon (linebackers), Pat Welsh (offensive line) and Corey Brown (defensive line). But what exactly do they do? “Opponent breakdowns, scouting reports, practice scripts and assisting and coaching at whatever position you’re working with,” Reardon said. “At the end of the day, it’s basically our job to just assist those coaches with whatever they need on a day-to-day basis. That’s the way I look at it. Whatever I can do to make this guy more efficient in what he’s doing, whatever he needs I’ll do that.” The four of them have already played musical chairs since the spring, when former Irish wide receiver David Grimes was listed as a defensive intern, Reardon worked with the defensive line, and Brown was an assistant strength and conditioning coach. Grimes replaced Brown, who shifted to the line with coach Mike Elston, in the weight room. Reardon moved to linebackers with defensive coordinator Bob Diaco. Reardon broke down a typical day for a GA. “We’ll get in around 6 a.m. or a little before,” he said. “We make sure the practice scripts are ready to go, and the handouts are ready for players and the meeting rooms are set up. Make sure the [video] we’re going to show is cut up and ready to go. We have our position meetings, whether it’s a unit meeting or position meeting, take the field, practice, get a quick workout in, come back and as a staff sit down watch practice, grade and evaluate it. Then there’s time in there where you can do your recreating, whether it’s with a position coach or as a full staff. Then you get ready to plan the next practice or meeting, whatever it is. You have to do it all again.” All four have yet to run out of the Notre Dame Stadium tunnel on a game day, which will happen for the first time against Purdue on Sept. 8. “It’s more than a steppingstone,” Reardon admitted. “Part of the reason I took the job was, hey, if I ended up coaching non-scholarship Division IX football in a year or two from now, if nothing else, I had an opportunity to come and coach at Notre Dame. In whatever aspect or whatever way I was able to do that, whether it was a GA or whatever, it doesn’t matter. I’ll have that experience. That alone was worth the price of admission. It’s an experience not many people get to … it wasn’t lost on me. It’s a humbling deal. “Some people work to live. They do what they hate five days a week, punch the clock from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and then on the weekend they go and do what they like to do. Other people live to work. I’m passionate about football and athletics. Obviously it is still work, but you’re doing what you’re passionate about every day. I would rather have it that way.” — Wes Morgan