Five former Notre Dame assistant coaches that went on to huge things elsewhere
Today is the last day for former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Barry Alvarez as Wisconsin’s athletic director. Effective July 1 he will officially be retired after spending the last nearly 30 years at Wisconsin as head football coach and eventually athletic director after being the defensive coordinator for Lou Holtz and the Irish.
Alvarez’s resume after leaving Notre Dame is mighty impressive considering he took Wisconsin from a bottom-feeder of the Big Ten to a perennial Rose Bowl threat.
As great as Alvarez was at Wisconsin both as their head football coach and athletic director, it’s hard to call him the most successful after leaving Notre Dame.
In no particular order, here are five former Notre Dame assistant coaches that went on to grand things away from the golden dome, and who you perhaps weren’t even aware once coached the Irish.
Charlie Strong
Long before Charlie Strong was coaching the Texas Longhorns (2014-16) he was an assistant under Lou Holtz and then Bob Davie from 1995-98 at Notre Dame where he coached the defensive line.
Stops at South Carolina and Florida where he coordinated both defenses eventually led to his head coaching opportunities at Louisville, Texas, and South Florida.
Strong is currently a defensive assistant for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Jim Johnson
One of the most respected defensive coordinators in the history of the NFL spent seven seasons as a defensive backs coach at Notre Dame between 1977 and 1983 as he was a former player of Dan Devine’s at Missouri.
Johnson is credited with being one of the best ever at designing zone-blitzes and was regularly one of the highest-paid assistants in the NFL during his time with the Philadelphia Eagles and Andy Reid.
Johnson passed away in July of 2009.
Tom Clements
We’re all aware that Tom Clements quarterbacked Notre Dame to a national championship in 1973 but the eventual Super Bowl-winning offensive coordinator with the Green Bay Packers also spent time as Notre Dame’s quarterback coach from 1992-95.
Many wanted Clements to get the Notre Dame head coaching job that went to Charlie Weis in 2005.
Clements recently retired from coaching with his most recent stop having been as a passing game coordinator with the Arizona Cardinals.
Hank Stram
“Set ’em up there, Rats!”
Before leading the Kansas City Chiefs to three AFL championships and a Super Bowl IV title, Stram was Notre Dame’s backfield coach on Terry Brennan’s staff between 1957 and 1958 as the Irish went a combined 13-7 in that time.
Stram passed away in 2005.
Urban Meyer
What might have been?
Urban Meyer was an up-and-coming assistant coach in the college ranks in the late-nineties but unfortunately, his head coaching chance never came at Notre Dame.
After coaching receivers at Notre Dame from 1996-2000, Meyer took the head coaching job at Bowling Green before accepting the Utah job a few short years later.
Meyer went on to become one of the greatest coaches the sport has ever seen as he would eventually lead Florida and Ohio State to a combined three national championships.
Meyer is now the head coach of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.
