Blue and Gold Illustrated

December 2012

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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THE HELPING HANDS Notre Dame assistants shine in the background S BY LOU SOMOGYI coaches will be fired. If a staff is thriving, assis- tants will be hired as head coaches elsewhere, or the head coach will move up the coaching ladder. Other times, a better op- portunity might come along for the assistants. Notre Dame did not is extremely difficult to achieve. If a program is failing, thrive in 2011 with an 8-5 record under head coach Brian Kelly, but still lost three coaches: of- fensive coordinator Char- ley Molnar accepted the head coaching job at new Football Bowl Subdivi- sion member UMass, and running backs coach Tim Hinton and offensive line taff continuity is often preached in college football coaching, but it coach Ed Warinner joined Urban Meyer's new staff at Ohio State. This led to some sig- who was an intern with the program. In the months prior to nificant moving of the furniture in Notre Dame's house, including shifting Chuck Martin from safe- ties coach to of- fensive coordi- nator, where his vision was in lockstep with Kelly after having apprenticed for him at Grand Valley State. Also, offensive line in- the 1988 drive toward the national title, Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz also had dramatic shifts. • He promoted structor Harry Hiestand (Tennessee) and safe- ties mentor Bob Elliot (Iowa State) arrived from struggling programs but brought 30 and 34 years of experience with them, respectively. They have blended in seamlessly with a younger staff that included newly hired tight ends/special teams coordinator Scott Booker, even though Alvarez had never previously held a coordinator's title. • Unheralded John outside lineback- ers coach Barry Alvarez to defen- sive coordinator — Palermo was brought in from Minnesota to re- place esteemed veteran Joe Yonto. • Crusty veteran Joe Moore was brought in from under-the-radar Temple to assist offensive line coach Tony Yelov- ich while instructing the tackles and tights ends. • Meanwhile, former tight ends and special

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