Notre Dame's Coaching Staff Is Complete - But Is It Better?
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Notre Dame has filled its assistant coaching staff with the announcement that Marty Biagi is the new Irish special teams coach. At least for now, Notre Dame finally has its full staff in place as the program gets ready to embark on spring practice.
Head coach Marcus Freeman saw three coaches depart from his staff, with offensive coordinator Tommy Rees leaving for Alabama, special teams coordinator Brian Mason leaving for the Indianapolis Colts and offensive line coach Harry Hiestand choosing to retire. Notre Dame also lost graduate assistant coach James Laurinaitis, who for all intents and purposes was the linebackers coach last season.
Biagi was added to the staff along with Gino Guidugli (quarterbacks) and Joe Rudolph (offensive line). The Irish also added Max Bullough as a graduate assistant coach, replacing Laurinaitis. Tight ends coach Gerad Parker was promoted to offensive coordinator. Deland McCullough (running backs), Chansi Stuckey (wide receivers), Al Washington (defensive line), Mike Mickens (cornerbacks), Chris O'Leary (safeties) and Al Golden (defensive coordinator) also all return.
Here's a look at Freeman's new-look staff:
Head Coach - Marcus Freeman
Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends - Gerad Parker
Defensive Coordinator - Al Golden
Special Teams Coordinator - Marty Biagi
Running Backs - Deland McCullough
Wide Receivers - Chansi Stuckey
Offensive Line - Joe Rudolph
Defensive Line - Al Washington
Cornerbacks - Mike Mickens
Safeties - Chris O'Leary
So now the question is this, will Freeman's coaching staff in year two be better than his year one group? That answer will go a very long way towards determining if Notre Dame can make big improvements on last year's 9-4 team.
Let's break it down.
OFFENSE
Essentially, Parker and Guidugli are both stepping into the shoes that only Rees filled in 2022. I'm not going to sit here and argue that Parker will do a better job than Rees, that remains to be seen. What I feel comfortable saying right now is the combination of Parker and Guidugli should allow the staff to get even more out of the quarterback position by allowing Guidugli to focus more on that position than we saw in previous seasons when Rees was splitting duty.
Rudolph isn't Hiestand, but he comes to Notre Dame with an outstanding reputation as an offensive line coach. During his seven seasons coaching the Wisconsin offensive line the Badgers averaged 211.7 rushing yards per game. During that same stretch (2015-21), the Notre Dame offense averaged 194.0 yards per game on the ground.
McCullough did an excellent job coaching the Irish running backs last season and he returns, as does his entire depth chart. Notre Dame is in great position at running back, and the same is true at wide receiver with the return of Stuckey. Parker also returns as the program's tight ends coach.
Overall, the quarterback situation, landing a veteran coach and the fact both McCullough and Stuckey return makes me comfortable saying that from a position coaching standpoint the Irish staff should be even better in 2023. The ultimate success will be determined by whether or not Parker can get more out of the offense this upcoming season than Rees got during his three seasons in charge.
DEFENSE
There isn't as much to discuss on defense due to the fact Golden and Washington both return for their second seasons, O'Leary returns for his third season and Mickens returns for his fourth campaign. That continuity should allow the technical aspects of the defense to be better, and the Irish players should have a better feel for what Golden wants out of his defense.
Bullough replaces Laurinaitis as the linebackers coach. Laurinaitis was a first-time coach last season, whereas Bullough enters his third season as an assistant coach after spending the last two seasons coaching at Alabama under Nick Saban.
The continuity alone and the addition of Bullough should lead to the defense being better in year two. How much better will be determined by Golden being willing to make adjustments to his coaching method, scaling back the defense a bit and getting his unit to be more fundamentally effective.
SPECIAL TEAMS
This is the one area that on paper looks to be a bit of a downgrade for Notre Dame. Mason built an outstanding special teams unit at Notre Dame in 2022, which followed him doing the same at Cincinnati. Biagi had outstanding special teams unit at Southern and a couple at North Texas, but his units haven't been quite as good since then.
Freeman quickly moved onto Biagi after Mason left, so clearly the Irish head coach sees something he likes. Freeman puts a great emphasis on special teams, so he clearly believes that Biagi can continue the team's success in this area.
We'll find out if Freeman is correct, but at least on paper this is a downgrade from a coaching standpoint.
From a recruiting standpoint, however, the addition of Biagi is a major plus. He has a strong reputation as a recruiter, and I'm not talking about recruiting only kickers and returners. Biagi brings value as a recruiter of all positions, something we didn't really see much of from Mason.
There you have it, despite losing quality coaches there are several factors that make me believe that Notre Dame's coaching staff - as a whole - should be even better in year two than it was in year one.
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