Notre Dame Completes A Major Staff Upgrade On Offense
Notre Dame has now officially completed its offensive staff, and the results were outstanding for head coach Marcus Freeman and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. Notre Dame should enter the 2022 season with a significantly better overall staff than it had in recent seasons.
The Irish went into the offseason with two important goals, to upgrade the coaches it decided not to retain. After losing two very good assistants there was also the risk of taking a step back at those positions. Freeman and Rees were able to avoid that step back while significantly upgrading the problem areas.
RECRUITING UPGRADE
The biggest jump for the new staff should be on the recruiting trail. Notre Dame seems to have put together a staff that should be a significant upgrade on the recruiting trail compared to the recent staffs.
Deland McCullough should at least provide a jump from a recruiting standpoint, and despite a lack of coaching experience the early reviews for wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey have been impressive. Gerad Parker comes to Notre Dame with a strong reputation as a recruiter, and Harry Hiestand's success on the recruiting trail is well-known and obvious to anyone paying attention.
Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees should have a much better supporting cast on the recruiting trail moving forward, but we'll find out immediately if that is true. Notre Dame is involved with a high number of very talented, high ranking and coveted offensive recruits. The new-look offensive staff will need to hit the ground running and start landing top of the board players.
KEEPING THE STRENGTHS STRONG
When the offseason arrived the goal was to add two quality coaches to the quality coaches that were returning, which was expected to be Lance Taylor and John McNulty. Eventually both left for offensive coordinator positions in the ACC, which were impressive promotions for both Taylor (Louisville) and McNulty (Boston College).
That meant on top of upgrading at the other spots, Freeman and Rees needed to make sure they didn't take a step back at those two positions.
Mission accomplished.
McCullough is widely regarded as one of the best running back coaches in the business, regardless of the level. That's why the Kansas City Chiefs hired him in 2018, which allowed him to be part of a pair of Super Bowls, including a championship in 2019. It's why the New York Giants came calling this month and why more NFL and college teams will come calling in the future.
Taylor was an excellent position coach and McCullough should keep that rolling. McCullough is also more of a pure running backs coach, whereas what made Taylor effective was his all-around ability.
Parker hasn't coached tight ends all that often during his 16-year coaching career, but he has a good reputation as a wide receivers coach and recruiter. McNulty was a very good position coach, and Parker will have a lot to prove, but his experience as a wide receivers coach should be beneficial to him in the Irish offense, which uses its tight ends a great deal in the pass game.
STUCKEY WILL BE AN UPGRADE
I have no doubt that Stuckey will be an upgrade as a position coach and recruiter. Even based on what he did last season at Baylor there is no doubt in my mind he'll be a coaching upgrade, and improving on the recruiting trail won't be all that challenging.
The question moving forward is how much of an upgrade will Stuckey be for Notre Dame. That will determine just how much better the wide receivers get during his tenure. If Stuckey is as good as I'm told he is the improvements should be immediate, and substantial.
Wide receiver is one of the positions where I feel former players translate much better, and faster, than other positions. That should allow Stuckey to quickly dismiss any notion that he lacks experience after coaching for just one season prior to being hired by Notre Dame. His time in the NFL, at Clemson and then Baylor should have him well prepared to thrive as a coach.
My question about Stuckey has more to do with recruiting, because that's the one part of the job that playing doesn't prepare you for. Recruiting isn't just about having a great personality; a successful recruiter must be an incredibly hard worker, be a strong evaluator of talent, be able to put together a recruiting plan for his position, be very organized and of course he must be a closer.
The early returns have been positive, but now Stuckey needs to prove he can close on top players.
OFFENSIVE LINE HOME RUN
Championships at Notre Dame can't be won without excellent offensive line play, and the return of Harry Hiestand puts the Irish on the path to get back to having that type of line.
Like McCullough, Hiestand is considered one of the best coaches in the business. He already proved that during his first tenure at Notre Dame, when twice he put the nation's best offensive line on the field (2015, 2017), another line that helped lead to an undefeated regular season (2012) and another unit that was one of the best pass protecting units in Notre Dame history (2013).
Hiestand inherits a line that has a lot more talent in it now than it did when he arrived the first time. That is due in part to the foundation he laid during his tenure, and the work that Tommy Rees and Jeff Quinn put in over the last two years.
If Hiestand picks up where he left off Notre Dame should see immediate results on the field. If that happens the recruiting success will follow, just like it did during his first tenure.
There's also the reality that Rees now has two years of experience under his belt as a coordinator. Like any good young coach he'll need to learn from his mistakes, continue to evolve and adapt, and build around his successes. If he does that, and I'm confident he will, the job he does will also be even better as both a coordinator and quarterbacks coach than what it was the last two seasons.
Add it all up and Notre Dame should field a much, much better offensive staff moving forward. An argument could be made that it is the best of the last decade.
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