Joe Rudolph - Offensive Line Coach

[Bane]

I honestly feel bad for the people that don't understand this. The notion that Notre Dame can just throw money at assistant coaches to get them to stay in place is truly baffling to me. This isn't how this profession works and it hasn't for decades.

There's one Bud Foster. He's the exception and not the rule.

These are jobs to these guys. They're not fans, their dads and grandfathers were not fans. They go where the opportunity is, and in many cases, it isn't about the money.

And if they grew up fans, or even if they're alums, at the end of the day they're still jobs to them.

 

[Bane]

Well we either pay up or have no staff continuity

We do pay up, we had the highest paid coordinators in the country last year. Golden still left for the NFL because that's what people do.

 

[IrishLax]

Hopefully he doesn’t make the same mistake Hiestand made

 

[stlnd01]

Well we either pay up or have no staff continuity

I believe our better-paid assistants make more than NFL assistants. Golden's salary at Notre Dame last year would've been top three or four among DCs in the NFL. It's not just about the money. In many cases it's probably not even mostly about the money. These guys want to keep growing, too.

 

[mrmcgrail]

College for coaches is so tough compared to the NFL as we have seen a lot of guys want to go to the NFL to get away from the nil transfer portal craziness

 

[MacIrish75]

My original post was mostly facetious...but it does anecdotally seem like if there is one NFL franchise that tends to keep an eye on what's going on in SB, its the Bears. It's always the Bears.

 

[dublinirish]

Rudolph deserves a new and improved contract i think

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

“Say yes to winning and no to money.” Marcus Freeman, The Pivot. June 2023

These guys all want different things for themselves. There is no way to know who wants what, but at the end of the day, most of them are used to moving around a lot.

The majority of coaching staffs in the country from the NFL down to Division III experience some level of turnover every off season. You either accept this as a fan or you do not. If you choose not to and refuse to grasp this concept, the fan experience is a bit rougher for you if you choose to go with the perspective that assistant coaches can never leave and piling money on them is the way to make everything all better.

Freeman's first staff in 2022:

Golden
Rees
Mason
Deland
Mickens
Chansi
Parker
O'Leary
Hiestand
Wash

Life has moved on. They played for a 'chip last week. So what's the damn issue for some of you? They have an opportunity to glow up their staff now and put things in place to get it done. That's all it is.

These head coaches get paid millions of dollars. Their assistants are going to leave and they're going to have to hire new ones. We, as fans, have been here before them and we'll be here after they're gone. The Dome isn't going anywhere.

 

[ColinKSU]

Rudolph deserves a new and improved contract i think

*Coach D lumbers through a pile of Mountain Dew cans to get to the keyboard to type 'not on my watch' to his IB customers.*

 

[Dale]

Actual question - if you’re an OL coach, do you want to coach a Caleb Williams team?

Bears are a gigantic rebuild on the OL and Caleb doesn’t make it any easier

 

[StPaul_Irish]

Actual question - if you’re an OL coach, do you want to coach a Caleb Williams team?

Bears are a gigantic rebuild on the OL and Caleb doesn’t make it any easier

Yes, for the same reason coaches take jobs at Rutgers, UCONN, other shitty NFL jobs ect. They are like the guy that meets the girl with tons of baggage, they think they can fix it. Their ego won't let them turn it down. It's what makes a lot of coaches great, but it's also the demise of many more.

 

[Bane]

Actual question - if you’re an OL coach, do you want to coach a Caleb Williams team?

Bears are a gigantic rebuild on the OL and Caleb doesn’t make it any easier

I do recall reading some things on how while the Bears OL wasn't great, there were some instances of them actually grading out well, but CW's playing style led to many more sacks.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I do recall reading some things on how while the Bears OL wasn't great, there were some instances of them actually grading out well, but CW's playing style led to many more sacks.

They sucked in every possible metric. 7 games with a run blocking grade of average or better. Pass blocking they came in at 84.1, which is poor. They would not have come in ranked higher than 24th overall anywhere as a unit. Darnell Wright was pretty good. Teven Jenkins did ok run blocking. Collectively, it all sucked.

So they were bad, but if we insist on blaming the mom hugger with nail polish whose numbers weren't really any different from Jayden Daniels', carry on wayward sons. Environment and situations matter. This isn't to say Caleb can improve, because he absolutely can, but the problems with the franchise in question are bigger than him. Jayden Daniels on the Bears yields similar results last year. Daniels was in a far better situation than Williams was because the new ownership went out and hired good people upstairs, in the coaching staff and brought in good players. The Commanders nailed it.

They need to retool the OL and retool Caleb. That starts with bringing in a guy like Rudolph based on the job he just did at Notre Dame. Joe is 52 and has never coached in the League. If he wants to, the time might be now for him regardless of whatever biases people have about Caleb Williams and don't want to admit.

 

[Giddyup]

Got to retain the foundational coaches. OSU has kept Hartline, no greater coach of importance than the OL coach. I think MF knows this.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Actual question - if you’re an OL coach, do you want to coach a Caleb Williams team?

Bears are a gigantic rebuild on the OL and Caleb doesn’t make it any easier

With Ben Johnson as the HC and play caller?

Yeah.

 

[Dale]

With Ben Johnson as the HC and play caller?

Yeah.

Without Sewell, Decker etc and 💅💅💅 at QB I remain skeptical

 

[calvegas04]

Got to retain the foundational coaches. OSU has kept Hartline, no greater coach of importance than the OL coach. I think MF knows this.

Does Tressles know?

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Without Sewell, Decker etc and 💅💅💅 at QB I remain skeptical

That's life. It's their job to get the guys in, coach them up and make it happen. Johnson was part of that process in Detroit. Does it translate to Chicago now? We hope so, but there are no guarantees.

Here's what I do know: that crazy fucker Ben Johnson spent three days with Jared Goff watching film. They figured out at that time what was going to work best and they went forward. He turned the guy into an MVP candidate. If they're looking at Rudolph, knowing what he just did with the injuries and how he managed the situation I'm far more hopeful that skeptical. They recognize who and where they can get better.

Caleb isn't the dickweed so many of you make him out to be, but I always forget he went to USC and everyone here was mature beyond their years at 20 years old.

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

The Bears need to get bent.

 

[GrangerIrish24]

Got to retain the foundational coaches. OSU has kept Hartline, no greater coach of importance than the OL coach. I think MF knows this.

Hartline has been interviewing at multiple places for the last couple seasons.

 

[Irish5Saint]

Singer is reporting that Rudolph has told multiple people he isn’t leaving.

 

[Dale]

Singer is reporting that Rudolph has told multiple people he isn’t leaving.

We are fucked

 

[DONTH8]

We are fucked

Gug feels good about Rudolph staying.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Irish Envy ND fans surrounding The Gug doors.

 

[Plankton]

Singer is reporting that Rudolph has told multiple people he isn’t leaving.

 

[NDisme]

So Driskell succeed in his campaign to run him off?

I’m still so confused by that. He’s landed some absolute studs in recruiting, the guys that entered the portal weren’t a big surprise to me other than I thought maybe we’d keep one of Rocco or Coogan. The Stuckey stuff seemed to make sense. The Rudolph stuff I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it.

 

[NDisme]

Obviously, no.

Ben Johnson is still looking for an OL, RB and WR coach to round out his staff: Coaches | Chicago Bears Official Website

WR coach is Randal-El

 

[Giddyup]

It’s called menopause and Driskell needs someone to vent about

 

[mrmcgrail]

I’m still so confused by that. He’s landed some absolute studs in recruiting, the guys that entered the portal weren’t a big surprise to me other than I thought maybe we’d keep one of Rocco or Coogan. The Stuckey stuff seemed to make sense. The Rudolph stuff I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it.

It's because he said it was a bad hire when it happened and he can't move off of it. He blamed a lot of last year's play calling problems on Rudolph as well

 

[dublinirish]

I’m still so confused by that. He’s landed some absolute studs in recruiting, the guys that entered the portal weren’t a big surprise to me other than I thought maybe we’d keep one of Rocco or Coogan. The Stuckey stuff seemed to make sense. The Rudolph stuff I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it.

At the end of the day Driskell will defend any ND player as long as the players dad will be his snitch. This is clearly the case with Rocco