Clark Lea - Defensive Coordinator

[Southside Sully]

Clark Lea isn't married and doesn't have kids.

I have seen enough mental gymnastics in the last few days on ND Internet and I can't help but laugh. This is an industry where guys move around. Especially if they are young and doing good things. Lea is 38 years old and has been a DC for all of three years.

This fan base was drawing up goofy schemes not that long ago to have Chuck Martin and or Bob Diaco come back one day to take over at ND after Kelly goes to the NFL or whatever. A good, consistent football program loses assistant coaches. It's life, and for whatever reason, ND fans have a hard time accepting this and or don't have the faith in the brass to replace these guys.

Many of us were skeptical of Lea being promoted to replace Elko and wanted outside hire. Harry Hiestand wasn't a popular hire at first. By the time he left, it was a disaapointment.

Things end up panning out in the end, one way or another.

Clark does, but my quote was to his comment about Elston, as referenced in my post

 

[Rogue219]

Bruh...

https://und.com/coach/clark-lea/

Thank you. Sorry for the oversight, but I literally looked up his bio and didn't see anything about personal stuff regarding family, so I assumed.

I stand by the rest of the post. Zero point in hand wringing about assistants leaving. Married guys with kids still take other football jobs. It's what they do. This fan base seems to have a hard time with it.

Try giving him a raise. That'll make is boy Elko happy down at TAMU, I bet.

 

[Rogue219]

Clark does, but my quote was to his comment about Elston, as referenced in my post

I realize that.

It should also be noted that Elston is the anomoly of the profession and not the rule. He's good at what he does because he (and Kelly) hasn't been fired and has probably had inquiries but has been able to stay put. That's quite a luxury in this profession.

Maybe Elston one day gets the offer HE WANTS and leaves. Then what, we hike up our depends and act like men?

 

[SoIll]

Try giving him a raise. That'll make is boy Elko happy down at TAMU, I bet.

I think Elko is perfectly happy where he is.

 

[Rogue219]

I think Elko is perfectly happy where he is.

He'd be even happier if ND followed their fan base's advice and "pays Lea whatever he wants."

If ND gave Lea a salary bump, you don't think Elko goes to TAMU and tries to get more? What about Venables or the guy at UF?

Say Lea goes to Vanderbilt or wherever. If Brian Kelly's contingency plan is to call Marcus Freeman, nobody should lose a moment of sleep or internet bandwidth. Life is going to go on.

The knee jerk reactions in the last couple of days scheming to get Lea not to leave ND just aren't necessary, if they are even plausible. I'm sure you guys cruise other boards as I do. The same people who want to throw money at a coach to force him to stay are probably the same folks who wouldn't dare throw money are more complex and serious issues in life. It's purely speculation at this point and while it's fun to shoot the shit about, this isn't dire by any stretch. I still remember all the Titanic music when Tony Alford left. Running game has been just fine since he's been gone.

Beat Syracuse and see what happens in the next few months on the coaching carousel.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I think Elko is perfectly happy where he is.

He got paid.

 

[Rogue219]

He got paid.

His life got a lot easier, too. No admissions hoops to jump through and he isn't obligated to recruit nationally for players.

Fair play to him for working ND and TAMU against each other to get what he wanted.

If the guy he mentors gets a raise from ND, you don't think Elko uses that to his advantage for future negotiation? Not to mention if you put Lea up there with what Venables gets or what Aranda was getting before he want to Baylor, that puts Venables at an advantage because he's got two rings and could immediately start using Lea's bump to get more.

All hypothetical at this point, but the idea of ND giving Lea a boost in salary would be good news to more people than just Clark Lea.

 

[IrishLax]

I realize that.

It should also be noted that Elston is the anomoly of the profession and not the rule. He's good at what he does because he (and Kelly) hasn't been fired and has probably had inquiries but has been able to stay put. That's quite a luxury in this profession.

Maybe Elston one day gets the offer HE WANTS and leaves. Then what, we hike up our depends and act like men?

Agree and disagree on some levels. The best programs out there often have significant staff continuity with key assistants. For example, Brent Venables. Another example is Kirby Smart who was with Saban at Alabama for 8 years before moving on to Georgia. There is also Lincoln Riley, who was enticed to stay put because people at Oklahoma viewed him as the "future." I can name dozens of examples.

Bad programs often have the opposite hallmark -- lack of continuity, frequent staff turnover. This isn't to say good programs don't often have that at some staff positions including coordinator positions, but many have been derailed by losing a "key" assistants.

While Diaco can be used of an example of a flawed coach that was built up to be an "elite" coordinator, it should also be recognized that his departure led to the hiring of Brian Van Gorder... and that decision had a near cataclysmic impact on Notre Dame football. Ramifications of Diaco should not be understated, and there is a roll of the dice every time you have to replace someone with an unknown quantity.

In my opinion, the "key" assistants at Notre Dame right now are Lea, Elston, and Balis. Any of them leaving has potential to have a significant negative impact on your program. You do everything in your power to keep them. Period. If they leave, then so be it... but the reason shouldn't be that you didn't use every tool at your disposal to keep them or thought that you would be just fine without them.

Finally, the reason that coaches leave is rarely that they want to leave. Typically, it's that the best way to advance their careers is to leave. So ND should be doing everything in their power to make the latter true for key assistants, including compensation and contract structure, so that they only reason they leave is because it's an offer they can't refuse.

 

[ulukinatme]

Agree and disagree on some levels. The best programs out there often have significant staff continuity with key assistants. For example, Brent Venables. Another example is Kirby Smart who was with Saban at Alabama for 8 years before moving on to Georgia. There is also Lincoln Riley, who was enticed to stay put because people at Oklahoma viewed him as the "future." I can name dozens of examples.

Bad programs often have the opposite hallmark -- lack of continuity, frequent staff turnover. This isn't to say good programs don't often have that at some staff positions including coordinator positions, but many have been derailed by losing a "key" assistants.

While Diaco can be used of an example of a flawed coach that was built up to be an "elite" coordinator, it should also be recognized that his departure led to the hiring of Brian Van Gorder... and that decision had a near cataclysmic impact on Notre Dame football. Ramifications of Diaco should not be understated, and there is a roll of the dice every time you have to replace someone with an unknown quantity.

In my opinion, the "key" assistants at Notre Dame right now are Lea, Elston, and Balis. Any of them leaving has potential to have a significant negative impact on your program. You do everything in your power to keep them. Period. If they leave, then so be it... but the reason shouldn't be that you didn't use every tool at your disposal to keep them or thought that you would be just fine without them.

Finally, the reason that coaches leave is rarely that they want to leave. Typically, it's that the best way to advance their careers is to leave. So ND should be doing everything in their power to make the latter true for key assistants, including compensation and contract structure, so that they only reason they leave is because it's an offer they can't refuse.

Our offensive coordinator and savior would like to have a word with you...

 

[IrishLax]

Our offensive coordinator and savior would like to have a word with you...

#ReesusSaves

 

[Rogue219]

Agree and disagree on some levels. The best programs out there often have significant staff continuity with key assistants. For example, Brent Venables. Another example is Kirby Smart who was with Saban at Alabama for 8 years before moving on to Georgia. There is also Lincoln Riley, who was enticed to stay put because people at Oklahoma viewed him as the "future." I can name dozens of examples.

Bad programs often have the opposite hallmark -- lack of continuity, frequent staff turnover. This isn't to say good programs don't often have that at some staff positions including coordinator positions, but many have been derailed by losing a "key" assistants.

While Diaco can be used of an example of a flawed coach that was built up to be an "elite" coordinator, it should also be recognized that his departure led to the hiring of Brian Van Gorder... and that decision had a near cataclysmic impact on Notre Dame football. Ramifications of Diaco should not be understated, and there is a roll of the dice every time you have to replace someone with an unknown quantity.

In my opinion, the "key" assistants at Notre Dame right now are Lea, Elston, and Balis. Any of them leaving has potential to have a significant negative impact on your program. You do everything in your power to keep them. Period. If they leave, then so be it... but the reason shouldn't be that you didn't use every tool at your disposal to keep them or thought that you would be just fine without them.

Finally, the reason that coaches leave is rarely that they want to leave. Typically, it's that the best way to advance their careers is to leave. So ND should be doing everything in their power to make the latter true for key assistants, including compensation and contract structure, so that they only reason they leave is because it's an offer they can't refuse.

Those programs are the exception and not the rule. Smart was DC at Alabama under Saban. Saban was running that defense and still is. Smart may very well have been content in riding it out until UGA opened up because that's the job he wanted. It worked out that UGA finally let Richt go and the opportunity was there. Those situations are few and far between. It is a profession of nomads and they're all connected in some way. One domino falls, others go down, etc. How many Bud Fosters are running around out there in 2020? It is as much about timing as it is the individual ambitions of these guys.

Part of the reason "bad programs" have a harder time winning is any good coaches perform well and get scooped up to go elsewhere. Look at how PJ Fleck and Dino Babers are having a hard time this year. Fleck lost some assistant coaches. Babers has too. Minnesota and Syracuse are hard places to win. You're not going to be the OC at Minnesota when you can be the OC at Penn State. Resources, money, etc. are all better at one than the other.

Bob Diaco went to UConn, which is not an easy place to win either, so there is certainly a cautionary tale there for Lea to consider. Kelly could not have possibly thought that hiring BVG was going to result in failure let alone a catastrophic one. The alpha types like these don't think that way. These guys don't hire people thinking it is going to go bad. Brian Van Gorder's hire and fire led to Mike Elko, which led to Clark Lea. Brian Kelly reaudited himself at that point and realized he needed to start reaching out beyond his UC/CMU/GVSU connections. If he continues to do that, there is no reason why once Lea rolls out that Kelly can't go find the next guy. Maybe that is Marcus Freeman, maybe it is someone else. Could go either way, but you can't hang onto Lea with the idea that once he's gone there is going to be a "negative impact".

Top programs have highly valuable assets that move on and they replace them. Either Notre Dame is one of those or they are not. In this profession, how you can afford to break your back in an effort to hang onto assistant coaches when assistant coaches move around or successful ones move on to the next step of their careers, is frankly beyond me. Bowden had Amato and Richt by his side for years at FSU back in those days, but this isn't that era any longer. A guy like Bud Foster is the exception, not the rule. On the flipside, how much would people have paid for Todd Orlando a few years back? He got fired by Herman at UT and went from never coaching at Texas Tech to USC. And it cost Texas money to buy him out. The AD and HC know this is part of the gig. You have a short list ready for when something unexpected happens and you need to replace a guy.

It is naive to think that these guys don't have other goals and ambitions outside of being lieutenants for Brian Kelly. Tommy Rees is a smart kid. As his offenses continue to perform, he's going to get offers for higher title and higher salary. It isn't realistic to think ND can afford to keep him around forever and that he'll be content with being offensive coordinator with an added title on of associate head coach or something made up down the line. It's the nature of the beast.

Again, I think our fan base makes this out to be a far bigger deal than it is. You want as little turnover as possible, but in the end, it's part of the business and you deal with it. To some degree you do what you can to keep people, but within reasonable limits in terms of time and money.

 

[IrishBoognish]

Thats some good stuff, Rogue

 

[BobbyMac]

If he's leaving, he ain't going out like Harry. He's straight stocking the shelves for his replacement.

 

[rtrn2glory]

Everyone who thinks we'll get Freeman from Cincy should know that he and fickell are best friends and currently living together in Cincy while he's having a house built. Freeman isn't going anywhere unless it's return fickell

 

[IrishLax]

Those programs are the exception and not the rule. Smart was DC at Alabama under Saban. Saban was running that defense and still is. Smart may very well have been content in riding it out until UGA opened up because that's the job he wanted. It worked out that UGA finally let Richt go and the opportunity was there. Those situations are few and far between. It is a profession of nomads and they're all connected in some way. One domino falls, others go down, etc. How many Bud Fosters are running around out there in 2020? It is as much about timing as it is the individual ambitions of these guys.

Pretty much every consistently top tier program over the past 20 years has had a "Bud Foster"... a long tenured assistant responsible for culture, recruiting, coordinating a side of the game, or some other key aspect of the program. The ones that haven't have been flashes in the pan or rudderless floundering around like Tennessee or Michigan.

Alabama = built their way to the top of the ladder with Kirby Smart as DC for 8 years. Their most consistent success (3 championships in 4 years) and best defense came with Smart at the helm.
Clemson = Brent Venables is still there.
Ohio State = Marotti has been there since Urban got the job and is continuing under Day

Is it "rare" for programs to have long-tenured assistants? Sure. Do the Tier 1 programs all do that in at least some key positions? Yep. And that's what Notre Dame should be aspiring to do. It also allows you to groom people in order to promote from within and continue continuity if/when they do eventually leave. Like how Ryan Day went from co-OC/QB to OC to HC. Or how Tony Elliot went from RB to co-OC/RB to OC and has been at Clemson for 9 years.

It is naive to think that these guys don't have other goals and ambitions outside of being lieutenants for Brian Kelly. Tommy Rees is a smart kid. As his offenses continue to perform, he's going to get offers for higher title and higher salary. It isn't realistic to think ND can afford to keep him around forever and that he'll be content with being offensive coordinator with an added title on of associate head coach or something made up down the line. It's the nature of the beast.

To be clear, this isn't even close to what I said. I also specifically didn't list Tommy anywhere for a myriad of reasons.

Again, I think our fan base makes this out to be a far bigger deal than it is. You want as little turnover as possible, but in the end, it's part of the business and you deal with it. To some degree you do what you can to keep people, but within reasonable limits in terms of time and money.

Our fan base makes a big deal out of it because they want to keep building, and they want the school to function like a true Tier 1 program. Yes, that means your assistants (especially offensive ones!) will always be attractive and will get poached. But all of the Tier 1 programs -- I'm talking about the four that make up 70%+ of all CFP appearances between them -- find ways to not just retain key assistants but to generally promote from within to continue continuity. Whether it's a Dabo + Venables marriage, or grooming Tony Elliot under Chad Morris, or Saban having an army of analysts so he can easily tab the "next" guy without having to scour the market, or Oklahoma having a transition plan in place for Bob Stoops, or etc. etc. there is a right way to do things. Part of that is paying your key assistants that you know are good coaches top dollar with secure contracts so that they are retained as long as possible and don't leave unless it is the "right" promotion plus having a plan in place for when they do leave. Being nonchalant about assistants is what ultimately undid Mack Brown at Texas (and he's talked about this quite a bit in his stint as a television personality), as well as many other ascending programs or "dynasties."

 

[Rogue219]

Pretty much every consistently top tier program over the past 20 years has had a "Bud Foster"... a long tenured assistant responsible for culture, recruiting, coordinating a side of the game, or some other key aspect of the program. The ones that haven't have been flashes in the pan or rudderless floundering around like Tennessee or Michigan.

Alabama = built their way to the top of the ladder with Kirby Smart as DC for 8 years. Their most consistent success (3 championships in 4 years) and best defense came with Smart at the helm.
Clemson = Brent Venables is still there.
Ohio State = Marotti has been there since Urban got the job and is continuing under Day

Is it "rare" for programs to have long-tenured assistants? Sure. Do the Tier 1 programs all do that in at least some key positions? Yep. And that's what Notre Dame should be aspiring to do. It also allows you to groom people in order to promote from within and continue continuity if/when they do eventually leave. Like how Ryan Day went from co-OC/QB to OC to HC. Or how Tony Elliot went from RB to co-OC/RB to OC and has been at Clemson for 9 years.



To be clear, this isn't even close to what I said. I also specifically didn't list Tommy anywhere for a myriad of reasons.



Our fan base makes a big deal out of it because they want to keep building, and they want the school to function like a true Tier 1 program. Yes, that means your assistants (especially offensive ones!) will always be attractive and will get poached. But all of the Tier 1 programs -- I'm talking about the four that make up 70%+ of all CFP appearances between them -- find ways to not just retain key assistants but to generally promote from within to continue continuity. Whether it's a Dabo + Venables marriage, or grooming Tony Elliot under Chad Morris, or Saban having an army of analysts so he can easily tab the "next" guy without having to scour the market, or Oklahoma having a transition plan in place for Bob Stoops, or etc. etc. there is a right way to do things. Part of that is paying your key assistants that you know are good coaches top dollar with secure contracts so that they are retained as long as possible and don't leave unless it is the "right" promotion plus having a plan in place for when they do leave. Being nonchalant about assistants is what ultimately undid Mack Brown at Texas (and he's talked about this quite a bit in his stint as a television personality), as well as many other ascending programs or "dynasties."

I guess if you attribute Alabama's defense to Smart, that's fair. It's also a fair assumption that Saban is the guy behind that. Saban has had significant turnover with his offensive staff over the years because guys have moved on. Clemson has had turnover on the offensive side of the coaching staff, too. Ohio State has kept clicking despite assistants moving on, or beating up their wives. Keep the talent coming and keep filling open coaching jobs with talented individuals.

It's part of the business. Fan bases, ND or otherwise, should get over themselves and understand that coaches move around. It's a business with a lot of turnover for that reason. It is up to Brian Kelly to make smart hires like he did with Elko and Long, Lea and Rees, etc. Better to be prepared and expect talent to leave because they're doing well and are wanted. You're not holding onto everyone forever. If you can, great. If your guys are in demand and in the rumor mill, it's good in the grand scheme of things. If no one is sniffing around your guys, you probably should wish they are.

Clark Lea or no Clark Lea, ND is going to have a season next year.

Well, most likely. ***

 

[Rogue219]

Everyone who thinks we'll get Freeman from Cincy should know that he and fickell are best friends and currently living together in Cincy while he's having a house built. Freeman isn't going anywhere unless it's return fickell

This is interesting to note.

If it isn't him, it's going to be someone like him, or should be anyway. Kelly found Elko. He promoted Lea when Elko left. I don't have any reason to believe he can't find a replacement for Lea that can keep the defense performing at a high level and recruit his ass off.

Dave Aranda was making more as a DC at LSU than some HC. They won a title and he took the HC job at Baylor. This profession gonna do what the profession gonna do.

 

[ulukinatme]

This is interesting to note.

If it isn't him, it's going to be someone like him, or should be anyway. Kelly found Elko. He promoted Lea when Elko left. I don't have any reason to believe he can't find a replacement for Lea that can keep the defense performing at a high level and recruit his ass off.

Dave Aranda was making more as a DC at LSU than some HC. They won a title and he took the HC job at Baylor. This profession gonna do what the profession gonna do.

History says otherwise. I think we got lucky that Lea knew Elko's system well and may have even improved upon it. Kelly has had so many duds at DC, and Notre Dame's defense was overall lacking under previous regimes for so long it makes me think it's harder to find a stalwart DC coordinator than you would think. Some of it could be the Balis effect too, who knows.

 

[NDRock]

History says otherwise. I think we got lucky that Lea knew Elko's system well and may have even improved upon it. Kelly has had so many duds at DC, and Notre Dame's defense was overall lacking under previous regimes for so long it makes me think it's harder to find a stalwart DC coordinator than you would think. Some of it could be the Balis effect too, who knows.

Pretty much just BVG, correct? Diaco was good, Elko/Lea have proven to be very good.

 

[Dizzyphil]

Not trying to be a 'party-pooper'...


But, I'm going to use Rees as an example 'IF' the Irish was to loose Lea.


Of all the things one may say about Kelly; he has been B+/ A- in picking assistants for what he or the University can or will pay them.



If Lea was to leave, there are other choices out there and it may sound stupid to some but, if Lea goes to Vandy or wherever - if I was BK, I would either promote Elko or go after Derek Mason...


Laugh or say what you want, Mason did a decent job at Stanford as DC.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Pretty much just BVG, correct? Diaco was good, Elko/Lea have proven to be very good.

Yes, though it was a pretty huge miss. Single-handedly sunk four seasons (including the best offense we'd fielded in decades in 2014) and nearly cost Kelly his job.

Echoing Lax's post above, replacing a successful coordinator is a huge risk, particularly for a program like ours that's on the cusp of reaching sustainable high-level success. The anxiety our fans feel about losing Lea is very well-founded.

 

[Luckylucci]

I wonder if Lea being who he is, makes it any easier to pony up the cash needed to keep him. Is that taken into account at all? I mean, there is a stark difference in paying a football coach like BVG 2M/year versus a guy like Lea. Lea oozes role model. BVG oozes old spice. We can't let this guy go without a sufficient fight.

 

[ThePiombino]

What do we actually KNOW at this point? Other than Lea is awesome and that it's likely some program will throw HC at him? Vanderbilt, which was thought to be maybe the most likely threat, is supposedly looking for an offensive minded coach. Has anything been leaked that I'm not aware of?

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Whiskeyjack]

BVG oozes old spice.

 

[Dizzyphil]

What do we actually KNOW at this point? Other than Lea is awesome and that it's likely some program will throw HC at him? Vanderbilt, which was thought to be maybe the most likely threat, is supposedly looking for an offensive minded coach. Has anything been leaked that I'm not aware of?

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

What I know from radio, local news outlets and interview with Vandy AD -



Top Picks in order Vandy is going based on a Chad Withrow - close to Vandy resources:


<samp class="EmbedCode-container"><code class="EmbedCode-code"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">My Top 10 for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Vandy?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Vandy</a> job :<br><br>1) Monken<br>2) Niumatalolo<br>3) Healy<br>4) Lea<br>5) Chadwell<br>6) Huff<br>7) Lashley<br>8) Gattis<br>9) Elliott<br>10) The Stache</p>— Chad Withrow (@withrowzone) <a href="https://twitter.com/withrowzone/status/1333839552390295554?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </code></samp>

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

Color me skeptical that Vandy's top two choices are triple option HCs.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

What do we actually KNOW at this point? Other than Lea is awesome and that it's likely some program will throw HC at him? Vanderbilt, which was thought to be maybe the most likely threat, is supposedly looking for an offensive minded coach. Has anything been leaked that I'm not aware of?

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

It seems he almost became the head coach at Boston College last offseason.

 

[Dizzyphil]

Color me skeptical that Vandy's top two choices are triple option HCs.

would seriously throw a 'monkey wrench' against SEC opponents...


let them deal with what the Irish have had to deal with OL's going out with leg injuries like the Irish have had to the past 60+ years

 

[Rogue219]

Pretty much just BVG, correct? Diaco was good, Elko/Lea have proven to be very good.

Right. Diaco got the defense to perform consistently, which in relative terms to where Weis' defenses were when he left, was over the moon for us at the time.

I want to know how many people wanted Lea promoted at the time. I think the majority of us wanted a hire from outside of the program and keeping Lea would have been a bonus. I was very skeptical of Lea getting promoted at the time.

That's why I'm rolling with BK when the time comes. He found Elko, he saw Lea had it, he can get another hire if he needs to.

 

[Rogue219]

What do we actually KNOW at this point? Other than Lea is awesome and that it's likely some program will throw HC at him? Vanderbilt, which was thought to be maybe the most likely threat, is supposedly looking for an offensive minded coach. Has anything been leaked that I'm not aware of?

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

What do we know? Nothing.

Does he have the makings of a future HC? Yes.

Anything leaked? A lot of diapers because an assistant could eventually go.

You're covered.