Mike Denbrock Adds A Proven Track Record To The Notre Dame Offense

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock has proven he can put outstanding offenses on the field

Arguably the biggest move of the offseason for Notre Dame was the addition of Mike Denbrock as the program's new offensive coordinator. This will be Denbrock's third stint at Notre Dame, but this time he brings a recent track record of outstanding success.

The last two times Denbrock was hired at Notre Dame he was coming in as a position coach to be a position coach. During his second stint at Notre Dame (2010-16), Denbrock wasn't promoted to offensive coordinator until year five.

After departing Notre Dame in 2016, Denbrock has been the offensive coordinator at Cincinnati (2017-21) and LSU (2022-23). Over the last four years Denbrock has consistently put much more effective offenses on the field than what we've seen at Notre Dame.

Over the last four seasons, Denbrock's offenses averaged 38.6 points per game (Notre Dame was at 34.9 the last four seasons). His offenses have averaged 464.4 yards per game and 7.0 yards per play. Notre Dame wants to be a team that can run the football, and Denbrock's offenses averaged 193.5 yards per game on the ground and 5.5 yards per attempt.

Let's take a look at the Notre Dame offense vs. Denbrock's offenses over the last four years.

Denbrock inherited an offense at LSU that ranked 88th in third-down offense in 2021. In his first season the Tiger offense jumped all the way up to 9th, and this past season the LSU offense ranked 1st nationally in third-down offense prior to the bowl game before dropping to 2nd after the bowl game. Denbrock, of course, didn't coach in the bowl game for LSU.

Notre Dame has never finished higher than 7th (2020) in red zone offense during that stretch. 

The LSU offense ranked 69th in red zone touchdown rate in 2021, the year before his arrival. In year one under Denbrock the LSU offense jumped up to 14th nationally in red zone touchdown rate and then jumped again to 9th in 2023. 

Notre Dame finished no higher than 16th in red zone touchdown rate during that stretch, and it came during the 2023 season.

Despite having the nation's best offense in 2023, the Denbrock offense was also very good at limiting turnovers. The Tigers turned the ball over just six times during the regular season and finished the season ranked 3rd in fewest turnovers given up. That was a big jump from the previous season when the Tigers turned it over 19 times.

RILEY LEONARD IS THE IDEAL FIT

Notre Dame landed former Duke quarterback Riley Leonard before Denbrock was hired, which can raise concerns about the fit. We saw that last year with Sam Hartman, who came to Notre Dame thinking he would play for Tommy Rees, only to play for Gerad Parker. With Leonard, however, the Irish are transitioning to an offensive philosophy that fits him very, very well.

When Denbrock has had veteran quarterbacks with legit dual threat ability he has been able to take full advantage of those skills.

An interesting note; Jayden Daniels threw 10 interceptions in 2021, the year before he transferred to LSU and played under Denbrock. He only threw 7 interceptions in two years under Denbrock, which was a span of 26 games and 715 pass attempts.

Denbrock has had three different quarterbacks rush for at least 10 touchdowns in a season, and as you can see he knows how to utilize quarterbacks in the run game. Denbrock also has shown a preference for spreading the field from a formational/personnel standpoint, which also opens up more opportunities for creases for his quarterbacks if they have to scramble.

All of this fits Leonard's skillset to a T, and the former Duke signal caller should make a very smooth, clean transition. Denbrock has also shown a fondness for making the RPO game a big part of his offense, which also fits quite nicely into Leonard's skillset.

Having a quarterback that can run your offense certainly helps an offensive coordinator make a smooth transition, and Leonard is a great fit for the Denbrock offense.

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