New OL coach <t>Looks like the guy definatley has a ton of experience.<br/> <br/> Coaching Background:<br/> 1980 Colorado State, assistant<br/> 1981-83 Maryland, tight ends<br/> 1984 Northern Illinois, running backs/strength coach<br/> 1985-86 Iowa, assistant<br/> 1987-88 Northwestern, wide receivers<br/> 1989-98 Iowa, offensive line<br/> 1999-2001 Cincinnati Bengals, tight ends<br/> 2002 Dallas Cowboys, offensive line<br/> 2004 Buffalo Bills, assistant offensive line/tight ends<br/> 2005 Buffalo Bills, offensive line<br/> 2007-08 Cleveland Browns, offensive assistant coac</t>
New OL coach <r>I really don't think CW had any choice in this. It would be hard for him to justify not making a change here. Same with OC. <br/> <br/> I really liked Latina as recruiter and when you looked at his previous work you had to think he could get it done but it just wasn't happening. Really not in the past 3 years. Maybe it wasn't all his fault. I guess we'll find out this coming season for sure. Hopefully he lands a good job somewhere. <br/> <br/> <E>:?</E></r>
this guy will have his work cut out for him.... ND pass blocking improved greatly this year so any step backward would or could be seen as a major negative.. but the run blocking must improve... on a related note, our backs do a crap job of hitting the hole and waiting for blocks (which may not be coming)...
ND Coach <r>Corey,<br/> <br/> I'm hearing some rumblings about the possibility of getting Tony Alford as the RB coach. I hope that holds true. Guy seems to be a a great coach AND great recruiter. <E></E></r>
That's interesting...the guy is my age... looks to have had success in the past... I guess the question would be... does he have the stomach for the job?
Luke Fickell who is on Tressel's staff at Ohio State has interviewed for the DL position. He's a young guy who is a great recruiter, but has never coached the DL even though he played it at OSU. He's their LB coach right now.
I had heard the rumor about Fickell, but that would be a lateral move? Only reason might be Tuneta? Don
Yeah it would be a lateral move. But the theory is that he needs to get a more varied background in his coaching resume if he wants to eventually be a head coach and esp if he wants to be a head coach at Ohio State. Isn't he sort of blocked at moving up to DCoord at Ohio State? So maybe move to ND add DL to his list of positions he's coached along with LB. Then maybe move from there to DCoord or even HC in the MAC after a couple of years. I'm sure he's happy at Ohio State, but if he wants to move up he might have to move on for now. Terry
I can see this as being a move with some bait on the hook. Look at the situation he'd be walking into: -Tenuta is fun to have, but I'd bet he would leave to take another gig or an HC spot IF he were to land one... -Corwin Brown is one of the most promising AA assistant coaches on the market with NFL experience to boot... On top of all that, he's a recruiting machine... We won't be able to hold onto him for long. He could be walking into a spot in which the DC spot could be his within a few years, while he builds resume variety...
Fickell is staying at Ohio State. The next guy up is Steve Stripling formerly the Michigan DL coach for Lloyd Carr and who was not retained when RR took over. He's supposed to be a better coach than Fickell but not nearly as good a recruiter. Mich always seemed to have well coached DL's so I hope we can get him onboard. Terry
Stripling <r>Between the two(Fickell and Stripling), Stripling definitely has much more experience at the DL and the bigger/better resume. I did like the idea of Fickell because of his reported recruiting ability especially since the DL position is consistently where ND is worst at recruiting(in numbers anyway). <br/> <br/> Stripling would obviously be a great get for the coaching staff. <E>8)</E></r>
Weis is a great recruiter as is Ianello and now Verducci. We have plenty of "Svengalis". What we need to do is show it on the field. We have just about exhausted our talking "capital" . We must bring results to the table NOW.
Well I agree we need to show it on the field NOW. I think the old paradigm that you need 5 years to rebuild a program is outdated, but even so this will be his 5th year so he really needs to show that the team has turned. But with regard to balencing the staff. On defense Tenuata is known to be a reluctant recruiter, at Ga.Tech he never left the campus other guys had to do his work and bring them to him. At ND it's rumoured that he's pretty much the same way, doesn't like recruiting and doesn't put in the work. He's getting by on his supposed superior coaching ability. Corwin Brown on the other hand is a tireless recruiter who loves the game. Jappy was supposedly a terrible recruiter who didn't bring in a single player in his 4years. That's makes it quite a load for the other defensive coaches, really for Corwin. So I think it's important that whoever takes the DL job be at least a hard working recruiter as well as great position coach. Fickell's upside was he was supposedly the best OSU recruiter, the downside was that even though he played DL, he's never coached DL. Stripling is supposedly not in Fickell's class as a recruiter, but a hard working recruiter never the less and he's a long time DL coach who has produced some excellent DL's over his tenure. Terry
Tony Alford <r>According to Irish Eyes, Tony Alford will be ND's new RB coach. Personally, I think this is a great hire.<br/> <E></E> <E></E> <E></E> <E></E> <E></E> <E></E> <E></E></r>
I don't know much about him other than what I've read and he seems like he could be a good hire, he's also supposedly a very good recruiter and has a lot of contacts in North Texas. Irish have not been much of a factor in Texas since Lou and Davie. There is so much talent in Texas we need to be back in on it. Also it's being reported that former ND AA DL and San Francisco All Pro DL Bryant Young is returning to ND as a Graduate Asst with the DL's. That's terrific news.
Tim Grunhard is the new OL Grad Assistant. Tim was a great ND OL and had a excellent NFL career with the Chiefs. Grunhard and Young those are a couple of really fine additions to the Irish staff, even if they are only Grad Assistants. This new staff is shaping up quite well.