Mike Sanford Jr. To WKU

[KPENN]

Can't embed tweets so if somebody can reps but our boy J. Hop tweeted this out. He's an ABSOLUTE STUD. Tireless recruiter and incredibly bright mind. Dudes a baller.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/NDFister">@NDFister</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SWiltfong247">@SWiltfong247</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SanfordBSU">@SanfordBSU</a> He's an ABSOLUTE STUD. Tireless recruiter and incredibly bright young mind. Dudes a baller.</p>— Justin Hopkins (@JHopkins247) <a href="https://twitter.com/JHopkins247/status/565628878937681921">February 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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[ulukinatme]

Well, if Hopkins says it, it must be true. That guy can do no wrong. He's probably right in this case though.

 

[Nick Setta]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/NDFister">@NDFister</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SWiltfong247">@SWiltfong247</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SanfordBSU">@SanfordBSU</a> He's an ABSOLUTE STUD. Tireless recruiter and incredibly bright young mind. Dudes a baller.</p>— Justin Hopkins (@JHopkins247) <a href="https://twitter.com/JHopkins247/status/565628878937681921">February 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Lol NDFister. What a tool.

 

[irishff1014]

I will have to do some searching one this young man I say young because I am around his age. But I love what I am hearing about him.

 

[ohara831]

Love this hire!!

 

[stlnd01]

And I still say that we should not assume all of these moves from Notre Dame were voluntary, including the other one which is currently being rumored.

And also do not assume Swarbrick was not involved in some of these involuntary move decisions, either - as well as in identifying and recruiting the replacements.

These are good points, especially given Kelly's past comments about not wanting staff to move for lateral jobs (Alford felt voluntary. But maybe not some of the others.). And his general preference for hiring coaches he's worked with before (unlike Sanford and Lyght).
Wonder if that says anything Swarbrick raising expectations for Kelly going forward? Or if they got The Dome to finally up the coaching budget and they made some moves.
So many parlor games!

 

[NOLAIrish]

Questions for those that wish to take the time to answer them:

Has he coached any notable big-name/NFL talent?
Stepfan Taylor is probably the biggest. Bobby Rainey played for Western Kentucky while he was the QB coach there.

Does he plan on staying here for long? Or should we expect him to be gone at the first HC spot that comes his way?
Most of the articles on his rejection of other offers imply that he's looking to become a head coach sooner rather than later. One implied that he's a potential heir to Kelly.

Is his offensive style consistent with Kelly's?
Boise ran out of a lot of formations last year. I'd expect a slightly more run-heavy offense.

What's his pedigree for coaching QB talent?
His primary claims here would be learning from his father (Utes OC during the Alex Smith years), Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh. He hasn't had a lot of QB talent to work with. Grant Hedrick had his best season last year after the switch to Sanford's scheme. 3700 yards passing, 600 rushing, 31 total TDs and 14 INTs.

How did Boise St. do last year on offense?
8th in total offense
16th in passing
22nd in rushing
9th in points

Answered above. Most of this comes from articles or looking at stats.

 

[ndftbl]

These are good points, especially given Kelly's past comments about not wanting staff to move for lateral jobs (Alford felt voluntary. But maybe not some of the others.). And his general preference for hiring coaches he's worked with before (unlike Sanford and Lyght).
Wonder if that says anything Swarbrick raising expectations for Kelly going forward? Or if they got The Dome to finally up the coaching budget and they made some moves.
So many parlor games!

All I know is, these are two pretty darn good hires.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

@greyhammer:

Why would he turn down OSU but come to ND?

I'm guessing it's two-fold. One, went to HS at Penn High near South Bend when his dad was an assistant on Davie's staff. Two, he's well versed in recruiting kids to institutions w/ higher academic standards.

 

[kmoose]

Questions for those that wish to take the time to answer them:

Has he coached any notable big-name/NFL talent?

Not really, in terms of NFL level talent. Stepfan Taylor did have back to back 1,000 yard seasons during Sanford's term as RB coach (2011 and 2012). Hogan was 232 /352(66%), for 2792 yards, 19 TDs and 8 INTs, in Sanford's one year coaching QBs and receivers.

Does he give us an immediate advantage with any specific prospects?

I don't follow recruiting so I couldn't tell you. But he must be a pretty decent recruiter. He was named Recruiting Coordinator at Stanford in his second season as an assistant at Stanford. And Boise State recruits California big time, so I would imagine that he has established some good relationships in that hotbed.

Does he plan on staying here for long? Or should we expect him to be gone at the first HC spot that comes his way?

Who knows? He says that his goal is to be a Head Coach. But he also said that he understands if it takes 20 years, and is ok with that.

Is his offensive style consistent with Kelly's?

He is absolutely committed to running the football. He and Kelly might have some minor issues there, but I wouldn't think that they would be too big a deal.

What's his pedigree for coaching QB talent?

According to Sanford, he first caught the coaching bug as Jared Zabransky's backup at Boise State. He was the conduit between the coach and Zabransky, according to him, and he found that he had a great interest in the coaching side of it. He was QB Coach and Passing Game Coordinator, at Western Kentucky, in 2010. And he coached QBs and Receivers, at Stanford, in 2013.

Why would he turn down OSU but come to ND?

Not sure. Could be the Slime Effect? (the integrity gap between Kelly and Meyer)

How did Boise St. do last year on offense?

Total Offense: 494.3 yards per game; 14th in country
Passing Offense: 280.4/game; 23rd
Rushing Offense: 213.9/game; 29th
Scoring Offense: 39.7/game 9th
Of particular note: their leading rusher ran for 1800+ yards and 28 TDs for the season

 

[RyCo1983]

Alamo approves. Hell, groom him to replace Kelly when/if he bolts for the league.

 

[koonja]

Questions for those that wish to take the time to answer them:

Has he coached any notable big-name/NFL talent?
Does he give us an immediate advantage with any specific prospects?
Does he plan on staying here for long? Or should we expect him to be gone at the first HC spot that comes his way?
Is his offensive style consistent with Kelly's?
What's his pedigree for coaching QB talent?
Why would he turn down OSU but come to ND?
How did Boise St. do last year on offense?

^This guy just came to the carwash and asked to have his ride pimped! lol.

 

[koonja]

Rivals, voice of Gorney:

"Sanford has a tremendous amount of connection in the West, so that should be an area of focus for him at Notre Dame,"

"He's young likable and he has Ivy League coaching experience which should help with his academic bona fides at Notre Dame.


"He's been wanted by a lot of schools because of his coaching acumen and his ability to recruit. So it's definitely a big hire getting him away from Boise."

Voice of Sanford:

"You are limited in terms of the amount of help that you have,"

"If you are at Stanford or Boise State you have massive staffs but I had a job I had to do for a national recruiting operation at Yale. You end up bringing in 28-30 different prospects in at Yale and we only bring in usually 18-20 or 25 so it is a lot of work but I had a chance in my career to organize something for a staff, organize staff meetings which really helped me as an offensive coordinator.

"The experience I have to have a meeting with Dean of Admissions Dean (Jeff) Brenzel talking about kids who were applying, vouch for them, talk about their character, their academics, understand the academic index in the Ivy League. There is a lot of stuff looking back that I am really grateful for that experience as a coach."

 

[ACamp1900]

Voices of ND Message boards:

'I don't care who he is, Run. The. Ball.'

'Playoffs'

'Does he use fullbacks'

'Golson for Heisman'

'Goal line fades all day baby'

'Eh, at least he isn't fat'

 

[dwshade]

youtube him. Impressive guy.

 

[PANDFAN]

Hate all the different threads about coaching changes but, since we hired him, I like the fact you started a new thread dedicated to him". Lets just hope it doesn't get derailed.

Question for those that know, does this mean Quinn isn't coming?

Lol

I'll only add to that, being from BSU, he's aware that you can find talent anywhere. They find a lot of talent that nobody wants. Below is his 247 profile. He is credited with bringing Peter Kalambayi to Stanford, that was a huge get for them. Also, Brett Rypien to BSU. Rypien was their highest rated recruit ever, this according to their 247 board.

Mike Sanford Jr.

Also mr mcaffery

 

[Irish#1]

I'll only add to that, being from BSU, he's aware that you can find talent anywhere. They find a lot of talent that nobody wants. Below is his 247 profile. He is credited with bringing Peter Kalambayi to Stanford, that was a huge get for them. Also, Brett Rypien to BSU. Rypien was their highest rated recruit ever, this according to their 247 board.

Mike Sanford Jr.

Per BGI, he was the recruiting coordinator for Stanford's 2012 class in which they finished at #5 in the country. That is their highest ranking during the rivals era.

Per Adam Gorney, he has a tremendous amount of connections out West.

Stop, you're making me giddy.

 

[Irish#1]

What about Denbrock?
What about the reports on Quinn.

I'm so confused.

Someone posted in the other thread that Denbrock may move to a position coach or to a recruiting coordinator. Quinn idk. I hope he coaches TEs and Booker moves to Defense.

Pretty sure he was joking. Just didn't use the sarcasm font.

 

[scUM Hater]

I am pretty excited about this hire. I see definite future in him. I have read he is a great recruiter, won't be out worked by anyone.

 

[koonja]

I'll only add to that, being from BSU, he's aware that you can find talent anywhere. They find a lot of talent that nobody wants. Below is his 247 profile. He is credited with bringing Peter Kalambayi to Stanford, that was a huge get for them. Also, Brett Rypien to BSU. Rypien was their highest rated recruit ever, this according to their 247 board.

Mike Sanford Jr.

Just an FYI - not that he's not a great recruiter - but that's not true. I looked at 2015 and 2014, and that Dylan Sumner is a 94/96, and Brett Rypien is a 90/91. Still a great recruiter, but 247 has that wrong.

Boise State 2014 Football Commits

 

[Irishman77]

Ecsatic!

 

[Luckylucci]

This will probably make NDCrusader a very happy man. Mike and KJ Costello have developed a pretty good relationship and he was recruiting him to BSU quite hard. Costello visted BSU last April for a Junior Day. I would think that he continues that when he gets to ND. Costello has also visited ND.

 

[domerfreak]

Is this official? Have not seen anything confirming it.

 

[BeauBenken]

Is this official? Have not seen anything confirming it.

It is not.

Anything official would not be announced until next week, most likely.

 

[connor_in]

Didn't take like 2 weeks before BVG was official?

 

[PANDFAN]

They took forever prior to o Leary and since then it's like an additional. 2-3weeks...making sure All ducks are in a row...

 

[IrishLax]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Boise State OC Mike Sanford to Notre Dame in same role is now official per source.</p>— Thayer Evans (@ThayerEvansSI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThayerEvansSI/status/567327083513135104">February 16, 2015</a></blockquote>
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[BeauBenken]

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Does this mean just OC?

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[IrishLax]

Does this mean just OC?

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I'd always heard OC/QB so I'm assuming that's still accurate.

 

[Johannes]

Does this mean just OC?

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If the question is whether it is literally the same role, then he was both offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Boise State.