Irish Assistant Coaches That Will Be Critical To Success
When Marcus Freeman initially became the head coach at Notre Dame, there was a lot of familiarity. The roster was players that had been at the school a while and a great deal of the coaching staff had been as well, most notably Tommy Rees. What a difference a year makes.
Now, the roster has flipped considerably and the staff even more so. There are a lot of new faces at Notre Dame that are taking on some seriously important roles. And how they perform may dictate whether Notre Dame makes a playoff run or fizzles out with a record similar to last year.
Let’s examine some of these key figures and roles.
Offensive Line: Joe Rudolph
Joe Rudolph has been an offensive line coach for a long time. But not at Notre Dame. How will his teaching style translate compared to Jeff Quinn and Harry Heistand’s styles? Will the “O line U” moniker apply to the Irish in the biggest games and moments? We are soon to find out.
As I’ve stated previously, everyone loves Joe Alt and Blake Fisher, but what about the inside? What happens at the right guard position between Spindler and Kristofic? Is Billy Shrauth ready to hold down the left side?
Quarterback Coach: Gino Guidugli:
I don’t care how much Nick Saban rants and raves about what a savant Thomas Rees is, the fact is that QB development was sorely lacking in his time at Notre Dame. This also applies to the “Bayou Bengal” Kelly as well. Under these 2, statistically, every Irish QB who started more than 1 year saw their production go down, not up the more games they played. This must change.
After Hartman leaves Notre Dame for the NFL, the real work begins. Coach Guidugli will have a slate of multiple young, athletic, and high-upside signal callers to work with who must be developed properly. Is Gino up for the task?
Offensive Coordinator: Gerad Parker
Ndi Ndfb Gerard Parker Press Conference 1 02202023
Gerad Parker is not new to the Irish staff, but he is in a new role, one of critical importance as Offensive Coordinator. Especially with Hartman under center this year, big-time results are expected and justifiably so. Is Parker ready for this spotlight at Notre Dame?
What will Parker’s run-pass balance look like? How aggressive does he plan to be with the pass game with a QB that can make all of the needed throws? How creative will he get in the red zone or short-yardage situations? How will he adjust to defenses on the fly?
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