Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/941859
80 MARCH 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI A year ago after a 4-8 finish, Notre Dame's football infrastructure underwent a radical overhaul that resulted in six changes among on-field assistants, plus a new strength and conditioning operation. Particularly notable was head coach Brian Kelly went outside his comfort zone when five of the six hires had no previous affiliation with him, includ- ing offensive coordinator Chip Long and defensive coordinator Mike Elko. This year, after a 10-3 outcome and No. 11 placement in the final Asso- ciated Press poll, three changes were needed again. This time, though, sta- bility and continuity to build on the improvement were at a premium. First, when Elko accepted the de- fensive coordinator position at Texas A&M after initially turning it down, Kelly quickly elevated linebackers coach Clark Lea to coordinator. Notre Dame reportedly upped Elko's salary to $1.5 million per year (second highest then among defensive coordinators na- tionally). However, when Texas A&M reportedly countered at $1.8 million, the Irish did not engage in a bidding war and Kelly vowed "we'll certainly add our next great defensive coordina- tor in very short order." Elko had brought Lea with him from Wake Forest in 2017, so the defensive upgrade that was demonstrated last season will keep the same terminology and system. While Elko's departure was a blind- side hit, the move of 2012-17 offensive line coach Harry Hiestand to the Chi- cago Bears, where he coached from 2005-09 and had a Super Bowl appear- ance, did not catch Kelly off guard. The 59-year-old Hiestand had previously expressed a desire to return to the NFL. With the hiring of Matt Nagy as the new head coach of the Bears, the tim- ing was ripe for Hiestand to conclude his career in the NFL. This time a wider net was cast to fill the vacancy, with Kelly and Long, among others, interviewing Boston College's Justin Frye, Wisconsin's Bob Bostad, the Indianapolis Colts' Joe Gil- bert — who had previously worked with Long — and three-year Fighting Irish offensive analyst Jeff Quinn, who had been Kelly's right-hand man for 20 years before becoming head coach of the Buffalo Bulls from 2010-14. The pick was Quinn, who knows the internal working of Kelly and wit- Continuity Counts Notre Dame promotes Clark Lea to defensive coordinator and Jeff Quinn to offensive line coach, and adds Terry Joseph to coach safeties Head coach Brian Kelly called Lea, his new defensive coordinator, "a rising star" in the profession who motivates and teaches in a positive way. PHOTO BY COREY BODDEN