It's Official: Harry Hiestand To Return As Notre Dame's Offensive Line Coach
Notre Dame has finally made it official, Harry Hiestand will return to coach the team's offensive line. Hiestand coached the Irish offensive line from 2012-17 before leaving for the Chicago Bears, and he returns with the task of rebuilding the line to what it was when he left, and that is the best unit in college football.
Twice during Hiestand's tenure the Fighting Irish had arguably the best offensive line in college football. Notre Dame's 2015 offensive line fueled a unit that set a program record with 7.0 yards per play on offense, and the Irish averaged 207.9 rushing yards and 5.63 yards per attempt that season.
Notre Dame's 2015 offensive line contained three future first round picks and a second round pick.
The 2017 offensive line fueled a ground attack that rushed for 269.3 yards per game and set another Notre Dame record, this time with 6.25 yards per rushing attempt. That line had a pair of first round picks and third round pick in the lineup. Notre Dame finished in the Top 10 nationally in rushing yards per attempt in both 2015 and 2017.
Notre Dame finished the regular season with an average of over 200 rushing yards per game three times during Hiestand's tenure, and his 2013 offensive line ranked second nationally with just eight sacks allowed.
During his tenure Hiestand produced four first round NFL Draft picks. Zack Martin was picked 16th by the Dallas Cowboys in 2014, Ronnie Stanley was picked 6th by the Baltimore Ravens in 2016, Quenton Nelson was picked 6th by the Indianapolis Colts in 2018 and Mike McGlinchey was picked 9th by the San Francisco 49ers in 2018. Nick Martin was a 2nd round pick in 2015 and Chris Watt was a 3rd round pick in 2014.
Speaking of Watt, he will also be returning to Notre Dame in some capacity. Watt will likely have an off-field role in 2022 as he looks to assist Hiestand with the offensive line.
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