By Brian Hamilton
As expected, Brian Kelly's new Notre Dame coaching staff is taking shape in the new year.
Kelly officially announced three more hires today, all of whom have direct ties to Kelly and his coaching philosophy: tight ends coach Mike Denbrock, defensive line coach Mike Elston and secondary coach Chuck Martin.
As expected, Brian Kelly's new Notre Dame coaching staff is taking shape in the new year.
Kelly officially announced three more hires today, all of whom have direct ties to Kelly and his coaching philosophy: tight ends coach Mike Denbrock, defensive line coach Mike Elston and secondary coach Chuck Martin.
Martin was most recently Grand Valley State's head coach and served as
Kelly's defensive coordinator during Kelly's tenure with the Lakers.
Denbrock, a former Irish assistant from 2002-04, was on Kelly's Grand
Valley staff from 1992-98.
Elston becomes the first assistant -- officially, anyway -- to migrate from Kelly's Cincinnati staff to South Bend.
"Because these guys have worked with me in the past, all three guys understand the importance of player development and we share the same philosophies for making our team better," Kelly said in a statement. "They each will be valuable recruiters for us as we put together a staff that will be able to cover the country and attract some of the best talent
available."
Running backs coach Tony Alford was already on board, the lone holdover from Charlie Weis' Irish staff.
The rest of Kelly's staff will materialize once the candidates -- primarily coaches he will import from Cincinnati, where they had duties through Jan. 1 -- pass through Notre Dame's human resources process. An official announcement of those hires shouldn't be delayed beyond next week.
Elston becomes the first assistant -- officially, anyway -- to migrate from Kelly's Cincinnati staff to South Bend.
"Because these guys have worked with me in the past, all three guys understand the importance of player development and we share the same philosophies for making our team better," Kelly said in a statement. "They each will be valuable recruiters for us as we put together a staff that will be able to cover the country and attract some of the best talent
available."
Running backs coach Tony Alford was already on board, the lone holdover from Charlie Weis' Irish staff.
The rest of Kelly's staff will materialize once the candidates -- primarily coaches he will import from Cincinnati, where they had duties through Jan. 1 -- pass through Notre Dame's human resources process. An official announcement of those hires shouldn't be delayed beyond next week.
As the story states, most of the delay is due to Cinci's Sugar Bowl appearance. Now that the Bowl is over and the H/R people are back, H/R can vet the coaches to reduce the risk of an embarrassing hire (ala George O'leary).
What ever happened to the days when coaches were actually professors of phys. ed? It looks a though Kelly is going through a more complicated process than Jerry and Lovie purportedly are. Hence college sports on this level are not amateur.