2024 WR Coach Search

[Jiggafini19Deux]

How much of his successful recruiting and development really about the pull of OSU though?

It's a combo of a lot of things, but make no mistake, during his time as WR coach he's signed some very talented WR to Ohio State. I can't really recall any of them having been three star diamonds in the rough that outplayed their recruiting projections, but he's without question been able to bring in some stars.

Hartline became WR coach in 2018. They've had Haskins, Fields, Stroud and now McCord at QB1 during that time. You see how good Marvin Harrison Jr. is even with a "game manager" like McCord, but for the most part Hartline's tenure there has coincided with three QB who were drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft.

Weren't they pretty high on Rico Flores as well? He was a take for them was he not?

 

[Katzenboyer]

Wasn’t it like a month before spring practice? Might explain why MF decided to wrap things up quickly.

Rees was hired by Alabama in early February, and Ludwig was brought in the week after that.

 

[irishff1014]

It’s probably gonna be Brown from Wisconsin

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

It’s probably gonna be Brown from Wisconsin

Makes $550K at Wisconsin.

 

[NDohio]

Rees was hired by Alabama in early February, and Ludwig was brought in the week after that.

Spring practice started in mid-March.

 

[Free Manera]

It’s probably gonna be Brown from Wisconsin

 

[GATTACA!]

That may have been true - that the buyout was higher than ND expected - but that just means JS and company screwed up the vetting process. Sampson reported after the debacle that the details of Ludwig's contract, including his buyout, were public long before he interviewed. Local Utah beat reporters had reported those details sometime after Ludwig signed his deal. If ND got those details wrong it was through their own negligence.

Also, it doesn't matter if somehow they innocently got the buyout details wrong. After the fact, JS said ND was willing to pay it. OK, well if in the end it didn't matter that the buyout was 3x higher than expected, then you better have a process in place to expedite approving the final deal. Bama didn't let Rees get back on a plane until they had a deal in hand. ND let Ludwig get on a plane without a deal and then tried to circle back to him after letting him think there was a good chance no deal could be made. It's no surprise that he made peace with the idea that he was going to stick with Utah. That's ND's fault for not being prepared for any scenario and not getting the deal done while Ludwig was on campus.

Oh I agree. ND fumbled that bag in many regards. I’m not trying to make an excuse for them. I just don’t believe ND balked because of the price like many people like to say.

 

[SoIll]

Its going to be Mike Brown......

 

[SoIll]

Freeman really going down swinging with his buddies. Bk style!

 

[NDohio]

It’s probably gonna be Brown from Wisconsin

Mike Brown is 'the whole package' for Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell

The Badgers' new wide receivers coach was given a tough gig under Fickell at Cincinnati. Brown's performance earned him the top assistant role at UW.

badgerextra.com

Brown is now one of Fickell’s top assistants after being named associate head coach, and the man who will be charged with leading the Badgers’ wide receivers into a new system.

“So when people start to say titles, like I'm not a big title guy," Fickell said. "I know that now, this day and age, they mean more things to more people. This is one that I would say this was basically just saying, ‘I respect what the hell you've done, and where you're going to put you in a situation that if you know, hey, we need somebody to fill in.’ He's one of those guys I feel like that's a bright future for him. And just because I've seen what he's done with the group when he walked in as a really young coach, and how he's continued to grow himself. And I just think he's a whole package.”

 

[ab2cmiller]

Freeman really going down swinging with his buddies. Bk style!

This is not unique to BK or Freeman. The vast majority of assistant coach hires are people who the head coach has had direct coaching interaction with and somebody who the head coach knows personally ensuring that they would be a good fit with the rest of the coaching staff.

The problem, as it relates to Freeman, is that list of candidates that fit that bill is relatively small.

 

[Irishnuke]

Is there smoke here with Brown or just people guessing?

 

[Lberry]

Is there smoke here with Brown or just people guessing?

Smoke. Loy posted just now he's a very real possibility.

Freeman thinks everyone he's worked with is the best. He lives in a fish bowl.

 

[SoIll]

This is not unique to BK or Freeman. The vast majority of assistant coach hires are people who the head coach has had direct coaching interaction with and somebody who the head coach knows personally ensuring that they would be a good fit with the rest of the coaching staff.

The problem, as it relates to Freeman, is that list of candidates that fit that bill is relatively small.

and none have panned out..

 

[Luckylucci]

Actually, I have zero problems with Freeman wanting to surround himself with coaches that he is familiar with. If he deems they are good enough then that's exactly what he should be doing.

However, that is taking 100% ownership of the situation (again, as he should) and I don't want to hear anymore excuses if it doesn't pan out.

 

[ColinKSU]

lol, Loy’s post getting downvoted to Hell.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

lol, Loy’s post getting downvoted to Hell.

And that's why reporters end up being sunshine pumpers.

 

[Giddyup]

Idk. MF had really never worked with Golden, Biagi, Rudolph, McCullough and Stuckey before they were hired.

 

[Irish#1]

Hartline's positive is he can recruit receivers at Ohio State, and Notre Dame is not Ohio State when it comes to admissions said everyone ever who has drawn breath for the last five minutes.

Is there an issue with the players not respecting Parker? Is he liked among the offensive personnel?

Brian Hartline is a pipedream, and for me, a lot more hype than substance. Somebody in Loy's profession is going to drop the name as long as he can to stir the pot because there is a minority that believes it's possible. The guy is well documented as a die hard Buckeye and to @BoredIrish's point, he can keep doing what he's doing with relative ease at Ohio State vs coming to Notre Dame and having one hand tied behind his back in comparison.

He may very well be a viable option behind the scenes, but from what we see on the surface, it doesn't feel at all plausible unless a lot of what we know to be true suddenly changes in 180 degree fashion. As ND fans, we're sure as hell not used to that.

 

[bumpdaddy]

The implication is that Ludwig didn’t really want a deal with Notre Dame. He wanted a better deal with Utah. If that is in fact true, and he leveraged ND for a better contract. I don’t have a problem with ND walking away.

The problem is that's a bullshit story. We know it's a bullshit story because Swarbrick agreed that the early reporting about the buyout being the obstacle that prevented a deal was accurate. There's no getting around that. If the real story is Ludwig was actually the real obstacle - that his interest in ND wasn't earnest -then Ludwig was the obstacle. It wasn't the buyout. In that scenario, there is no way JS would have confirmed the buyout was the obstacle. He would have point-blank said the obstacle was something other than the buyout. He may not have outright said Ludwig was trying to use ND as leverage for a better deal with Utah. He may have said something like, "The buyout wasn't the obstacle. There were other obstacles but the buyout itself wasn't one of them," and that would be an absolutely true statement if it was true that Ludwig and Utah were misleading ND about the buyout.

I don't doubt there is a story going around in ND circles about Ludwig being misleading, but I believe that is a face-saving bullshit story that is now being told to obscure what really happened. Swarbrick confirmed the buyout itself was the obstacle that prevented ND from making a deal while Ludwig was on campus. There is no getting around that.

 

[T-Boone]

Actually, I have zero problems with Freeman wanting to surround himself with coaches that he is familiar with. If he deems they are good enough then that's exactly what he should be doing.

However, that is taking 100% ownership of the situation (again, as he should) and I don't want to hear anymore excuses if it doesn't pan out.

He is such a rookie HC - or coach in general. We need him to be self-aware. Instead, he seems all ego.

 

[SoIll]

This is how Loy gets himself in trouble. Just put a list of candidates out. Don't say Shepard is the favorite and shit until he knows for sure what's going on. He got everyone High School hard again and in the end, it turns out we have to pop that little blue pill again.

 

[Irish#1]

That may have been true - that the buyout was higher than ND expected - but that just means JS and company screwed up the vetting process. Sampson reported after the debacle that the details of Ludwig's contract, including his buyout, were public long before he interviewed. Local Utah beat reporters had reported those details sometime after Ludwig signed his deal. If ND got those details wrong it was through their own negligence.

Also, it doesn't matter if somehow they innocently got the buyout details wrong. After the fact, JS said ND was willing to pay it. OK, well if in the end it didn't matter that the buyout was 3x higher than expected, then you better have a process in place to expedite approving the final deal. Bama didn't let Rees get back on a plane until they had a deal in hand. ND let Ludwig get on a plane without a deal and then tried to circle back to him after letting him think there was a good chance no deal could be made. It's no surprise that he made peace with the idea that he was going to stick with Utah. That's ND's fault for not being prepared for any scenario and not getting the deal done while Ludwig was on campus.

And that's why you take the guy to a titty bar and not a hockey game. Amateurs.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

And that's why you take the guy to a titty bar and not a hockey game. Amateurs.

Mike Price? Is that you?

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Actually, I have zero problems with Freeman wanting to surround himself with coaches that he is familiar with. If he deems they are good enough then that's exactly what he should be doing.

However, that is taking 100% ownership of the situation (again, as he should) and I don't want to hear anymore excuses if it doesn't pan out.

He's still in his thirties and has had limited time to build a network. That's what worries me about this. His options are going to be incredibly limited. Hell, even with Kelly's experience it got to the point where he'd run his course with the GVSU Rolodex and he had to overhaul his staff after the 2016 season. It was a fantastic pivot on his part hiring Elko and Chip Long. It turned the trajectory of the program completely around. Marcus is far younger and far less experienced that Kelly was when he came to ND. He's not afforded the luxury of having a network that Kelly had.

Freeman has his own image and persona at his disposal along with the Notre Dame brand, which still counts for something huge when you consider how long it's been since they've won a championship or even New Year's Day bowl. He projects to everyone what the university is about, what it stands for, how special it is, etc. when speaking to media and recruits. It's no different. Like the media and recruits, there are coaches that ND won't be able to reach, but you cast the net as wide as you can. I think Freeman can attract the right assistant coaches just as he has proven to do with players on the recruiting trail.

Freeman should take the same approach to hiring assistants as he does recruiting. Dig a little deeper, because Kelly did not for so long and had he done so many of his frustrations may have been alleviated.

 

[BoredIrish]

Mike Brown is 'the whole package' for Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell

The Badgers' new wide receivers coach was given a tough gig under Fickell at Cincinnati. Brown's performance earned him the top assistant role at UW.

badgerextra.com

At what point does Fickell get pissed at MF for stealing his assistants and stop answering his calls? Brown is AHC @ Wisconsin... so presumably he would want more than just the WR position at ND?

Maybe he brings CJ Williams with him...

 

[Lberry]

This is how Loy gets himself in trouble. Just put a list of candidates out. Don't say Shepard is the favorite and shit until he knows for sure what's going on. He got everyone High School hard again and in the end, it turns out we have to pop that little blue pill again.

Alternative thought - have some grace and stop demanding a stacked order of likely candidates the moment something opens. Like he's in the coaches office as they figure shit out themselves trying to figure out who's first..

He's providing names as they get to him - it's fluid and I'd rather know who's being vetted while it happens, even if another name pops up. I appreciate timely info, even if subject to updates..

 

[NDFAN2008]

Is Mike Brown really an upgrade?

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

At what point does Fickell get pissed at MF for stealing his assistants and stop answering his calls? Brown is AHC @ Wisconsin... so presumably he would want more than just the WR position at ND?

Maybe he brings CJ Williams with him...

Might be a while.

 

[lcaps20]

Is Mike Brown really an upgrade?

There's not a ton of chatter on the Wiscy boards about it yet, but from what there is....it sounds like no.

Popular among players but they weren't impressed with the WR room this year.