Offensive Coordinator Search

[Polish Leppy 22]

I think he would've been a home run a few years back when ND had Wimbush and that '17 OL.

I do not want him coaching Book, because his feast-or-famine big play offense is not well suited to what Book excelled at the past 5 games.

Moorhead had a very nice RPO package with McSorley at PSU. I'd be OK with that given Book's athleticism and the big question marks at WR and TE going into 2020.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

Moorhead had a very nice RPO package with McSorley at PSU. I'd be OK with that given Book's athleticism and the big question marks at WR and TE going into 2020.

I just don't see eye to eye with the posters who share this take in the bold. Sorry for the rant, but seriously, we will be fine.

Losing Claypool and Kmet is huge. Do not get me wrong.

But I feel like we have a deep, versatile group of pass catchers coming back next year, assuming Kevin Austin is ready to go. I think he is the best pure WR we've had around here in a while. Keys can, and I suspect will, match or even surpass Finke's slot production. Lenzy will have another offseason to add a little more muscle and continue to work on his craft as a WR to go along with that unbelievable speed. Jordan Johnson will see the field in some capacity and his raw talent alone is exciting. We should be more confident in what we have at WR heading into 2020 than what we had returning in 2019, IMO.

I recall last year people worried about losing Boykin, and one could make the argument that Claypool was even better.

And I don't understand why people are overlooking Tremble. The dude played very, very well behind Kmet in a limited capacity. 16/183/4 TDs is solid TE for a guy that wasn't even on (most of our) radars this season. Not to mention had some highlight real blocks. I think we have some serious potential with him, with the addition of Mayer, a lot of promise with a healthy Takacs, and another star in the making with Mayer.

The sum of the parts can equal the whole. We will be fine next year. I'm much more worried about improving at RB (I have high hopes with Kyren getting involved more and Tyree getting in the mix) and figuring out the DB situation, but, I said it a lot last off-season with the LBs, I trust Clark Lea to figure it out.

 

[Me2SouthBend]

I think he would've been a home run a few years back when ND had Wimbush and that '17 OL.

I do not want him coaching Book, because his feast-or-famine big play offense is not well suited to what Book excelled at the past 5 games.

Paging Phil J.

 

[IrishLax]

Paging Phil J.

Touche

 

[texbender]

Kellen Moore anyone?

He won't be leaving Dallas unless the new Coach insists on hiring his own staff.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

I just don't see eye to eye with the posters who share this take in the bold. Sorry for the rant, but seriously, we will be fine.

Losing Claypool and Kmet is huge. Do not get me wrong.

But I feel like we have a deep, versatile group of pass catchers coming back next year, assuming Kevin Austin is ready to go. I think he is the best pure WR we've had around here in a while. Keys can, and I suspect will, match or even surpass Finke's slot production. Lenzy will have another offseason to add a little more muscle and continue to work on his craft as a WR to go along with that unbelievable speed. Jordan Johnson will see the field in some capacity and his raw talent alone is exciting. We should be more confident in what we have at WR heading into 2020 than what we had returning in 2019, IMO.

I recall last year people worried about losing Boykin, and one could make the argument that Claypool was even better.

And I don't understand why people are overlooking Tremble. The dude played very, very well behind Kmet in a limited capacity. 16/183/4 TDs is solid TE for a guy that wasn't even on (most of our) radars this season. Not to mention had some highlight real blocks. I think we have some serious potential with him, with the addition of Mayer, a lot of promise with a healthy Takacs, and another star in the making with Mayer.

The sum of the parts can equal the whole. We will be fine next year. I'm much more worried about improving at RB (I have high hopes with Kyren getting involved more and Tyree getting in the mix) and figuring out the DB situation, but, I said it a lot last off-season with the LBs, I trust Clark Lea to figure it out.

The concern around lack of returning talent at TE and WR is legit. Tremble was a solid #2 this year, but he doesn't have the size or strength Kmet has. We'll see how he performs as option 1.

Lenzy is a weapon but not a #1 WR, Keys hasn't played much, Austin hasn't played much, and maybe the kid from Northwestern gives that group a boost?

Running backs...will continue to be average until the O line plays above average. Josh Adams is on a practice squad in the NFL and the 2017 O line made him look like a Heisman contender.

As to the incoming freshmen...it would be silly to rely on them for any kind of consistency. Whatever they can add is icing on the cake, but ND can't bank on them being go to options as 18 year olds.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

And now Miami has hired the SMU offensive coordinator to fill their own vacancy.

 

[BabyIrish]

The concern around lack of returning talent at TE and WR is legit. Tremble was a solid #2 this year, but he doesn't have the size or strength Kmet has. We'll see how he performs as option 1.

Lenzy is a weapon but not a #1 WR, Keys hasn't played much, Austin hasn't played much, and maybe the kid from Northwestern gives that group a boost?

Running backs...will continue to be average until the O line plays above average. Josh Adams is on a practice squad in the NFL and the 2017 O line made him look like a Heisman contender.

As to the incoming freshmen...it would be silly to rely on them for any kind of consistency. Whatever they can add is icing on the cake, but ND can't bank on them being go to options as 18 year olds.

To the bolded on Tremble. If you are worried about his size and strength as it relates to blocking, then no need. Tremble graded as a higher blocker on PPF then Kmet.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

To the bolded on Tremble. If you are worried about his size and strength as it relates to blocking, then no need. Tremble graded as a higher blocker on PPF then Kmet.

Not worried about his blocking. Brock Wright is one solid dude. Tremble will be needed to get open and catch balls, and to a QB there's a big difference between a 6'3" target and a 6'6" target.

I hope he plays like Eifert, but it's still a question mark in addition to the entire WR corps being a question mark.

 

[BeatSC]

I don’t think Brock is being given enough credit for his patch catching ability. I think he will be a pleasant surprise and is certainly a big target and our top TE blocker. Wish we could get an update on Austin. He looked like the best physical specimen we had at the WR position but I am still hoping McKinnley returns and plays a Bigger role. Dude is a big body out there and blocks.

 

[arndtjc]

Offensive Coordinator Search

I just don't see eye to eye with the posters who share this take in the bold. Sorry for the rant, but seriously, we will be fine.



Losing Claypool and Kmet is huge. Do not get me wrong.



But I feel like we have a deep, versatile group of pass catchers coming back next year, assuming Kevin Austin is ready to go. I think he is the best pure WR we've had around here in a while. Keys can, and I suspect will, match or even surpass Finke's slot production. Lenzy will have another offseason to add a little more muscle and continue to work on his craft as a WR to go along with that unbelievable speed. Jordan Johnson will see the field in some capacity and his raw talent alone is exciting. We should be more confident in what we have at WR heading into 2020 than what we had returning in 2019, IMO.



I recall last year people worried about losing Boykin, and one could make the argument that Claypool was even better.



And I don't understand why people are overlooking Tremble. The dude played very, very well behind Kmet in a limited capacity. 16/183/4 TDs is solid TE for a guy that wasn't even on (most of our) radars this season. Not to mention had some highlight real blocks. I think we have some serious potential with him, with the addition of Mayer, a lot of promise with a healthy Takacs, and another star in the making with Mayer.



The sum of the parts can equal the whole. We will be fine next year. I'm much more worried about improving at RB (I have high hopes with Kyren getting involved more and Tyree getting in the mix) and figuring out the DB situation, but, I said it a lot last off-season with the LBs, I trust Clark Lea to figure it out.

Agree with all this Bloke

On Moorhead, I read that he was let go for reasons similar to why Long was let go. If true, I don’t see BK hiring him

Edit: Just read it might have just been an excuse instead of firing him for the bad season. Sign me up if he’s a good fit

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

To the bolded on Tremble. If you are worried about his size and strength as it relates to blocking, then no need. Tremble graded as a higher blocker on PPF then Kmet.

He is a plus blocker at TE and I see no issue with him being able to split out. Watch his first catch of the year against Louisville, watch his HS film. A lot of us speculated he was going to play a glorified WR role.

He isn't going to be Kmet. But he is going to be damn good. And we have depth at the position so he doesn't have to do it all.

 

[rtrn2glory]

I think tremble will be fine.... We really need takacs to take strides forward otherwise we'll be relying heavily on two freshmen at the position

 

[stlnd01]

Assuming the current offensive assistants all have jobs on next year’s staff, there’s an open position for one more, and someone has to be OC, would we rather:

A: Hire Moorhead as OC and keep Quinn at OL
B: Hire Heistand at OL, and elevate one (or a combo) of Rees/Taylor/Quinn to OC?

For discussion purposes, realizing, of course, that the most likely scenario is
C: Someone we’re not currently talking about.

 

[ThePiombino]

Assuming the current offensive assistants all have jobs on next year’s staff, there’s an open position for one more, and someone has to be OC, would we rather:

A: Hire Moorhead as OC and keep Quinn at OL
B: Hire Heistand at OL, and elevate one (or a combo) of Rees/Taylor/Quinn to OC?

For discussion purposes, realizing, of course, that the most likely scenario is
C: Someone we’re not currently talking about.

*** DELETE ***

 

[ThePiombino]

Assuming the current offensive assistants all have jobs on next year’s staff, there’s an open position for one more, and someone has to be OC, would we rather:

A: Hire Moorhead as OC and keep Quinn at OL
B: Hire Heistand at OL, and elevate one (or a combo) of Rees/Taylor/Quinn to OC?

For discussion purposes, realizing, of course, that the most likely scenario is
C: Someone we’re not currently talking about.

Not going to get into C because too many variables, so of the 1st two options, I vote A under the condition that Moorhead is OK with being "co-OC" with Rees. This way we get a proven coach at the position AND give Tommy a chance to earn his stripes so when Moorhead inevitably leaves in 2-3 years, Tommy will be ready to step in full-time in the role. Consider it a well-paying internship for Tommy.

 

[NDisme]

Not going to get into C because too many variables, so of the 1st two options, I vote A under the condition that Moorhead is OK with being "co-OC" with Rees. This way we get a proven coach at the position AND give Tommy a chance to earn his stripes so when Moorhead inevitably leaves in 2-3 years, Tommy will be ready to step in full-time in the role. Consider it a well-paying internship for Tommy.

I wouldn’t make him Co- anything. Moorhead isn’t going to take a Co title. Just keep Tommy as QB coach when Joe leaves in a year or 2 or 3 Tommy will be ready

 

[dad4aa]

Assuming the current offensive assistants all have jobs on next year’s staff, there’s an open position for one more, and someone has to be OC, would we rather:

A: Hire Moorhead as OC and keep Quinn at OL
B: Hire Heistand at OL, and elevate one (or a combo) of Rees/Taylor/Quinn to OC?

For discussion purposes, realizing, of course, that the most likely scenario is
C: Someone we’re not currently talking about.

Don't we have two open positions, Long (TE and OC) and Lyght (DB) or did we hire someone I did not hear about?

 

[stlnd01]

Don't we have two open positions, Long (TE and OC) and Lyght (DB) or did we hire someone I did not hear about?

We have two openings but the defensive staff would be pretty thin if they don’t replace Lyght with a defensive coach. Or maybe they move Polian to defense, put Quinn at ST and create another opening on offense that way?

 

[Rack Em]

Don't we have two open positions, Long (TE and OC) and Lyght (DB) or did we hire someone I did not hear about?

I think he's trying to keep continuity with the number of defensive position coaches vis-a-vis offensive position coaches

 

[dad4aa]

We have two openings but the defensive staff would be pretty thin if they don’t replace Lyght with a defensive coach. Or maybe they move Polian to defense, put Quinn at ST and create another opening on offense that way?

Thanks that makes sense

 

[Rack Em]

Assuming the current offensive assistants all have jobs on next year’s staff, there’s an open position for one more, and someone has to be OC, would we rather:

A: Hire Moorhead as OC and keep Quinn at OL
B: Hire Heistand at OL, and elevate one (or a combo) of Rees/Taylor/Quinn to OC?

For discussion purposes, realizing, of course, that the most likely scenario is
C: Someone we’re not currently talking about.

Someone still has to coach the TEs. So Moorhead would have to be the TE coach in scenario A.

I'd rather have B because (allegedly) neither Heistand nor Moorhead is a great recruiter. But we've seen what happens when our coordinators are bad recruiters or mail it in (Diaco, BVG, Denbrock, etc.). So if we have to have a "bad" recruiter, give me the OL coach who has 3 All-Pros in the NFL in Martin, Stanley, and Nelson plus McGlinchey and N. Martin. Then make one or two of Rees/Taylor/Quinn as OC and keep the offense moving.

 

[stlnd01]

Someone still has to coach the TEs. So Moorhead would have to be the TE coach in scenario A.

I'd rather have B because (allegedly) neither Heistand nor Moorhead is a great recruiter. But we've seen what happens when our coordinators are bad recruiters or mail it in (Diaco, BVG, Denbrock, etc.). So if we have to have a "bad" recruiter, give me the OL coach who has 3 All-Pros in the NFL in Martin, Stanley, and Nelson plus McGlinchey and N. Martin. Then make one or two of Rees/Taylor/Quinn as OC and keep the offense moving.

Yeah, though I get the sense that all the other offensive assistants now are “plus”’recruiters, so maybe it’s OK if Moorhead isn’t an ace in that department? Especially if BK steps up too?

Also I wouldn’t view Moorhead as more than a one or two year rental, figuring, from his perspective, that becoming OC at Notre Dame would be his fastest route back to a P5 HC job (if that’s what he wants). That’s a little more time for Rees to develop too.

I guess I don’t know enough about his offense at Penn State, or whatever went wrong with the “culture” at Mississippi State, to know if he’s really the right fit. But he’s the best available OC and we’re the best available OC job right now and it seems worth exploring for both parties.

That said, bringing back Heistand has advantages too. He’s a known commodity, and may get more out of our OL than Quinn while also providing more continuity for the offense as a whole.

 

[Meacon Irish]

I very much prefer Heistand to come back. A blind donkey could call the plays if Harry comes back and develops the O-Line at the rate that he was before he left. So sure, elevate Tommy or Taylor to OC and let them call the plays and let Heistand come in and develop these mammoth o-linemen into NFL All-Pro's.

 

[pumpdog20]

I thought the OLINE was real good at pass pro. So, I'll reserve judgement on the run blocking once we get some legit RBs in the backfield. I'm starting to feel more and more like it was the scheme holding the OLINE back rather than the players.

Time will tell.

 

[Wingman Ray]

I thought the OLINE was real good at pass pro. So, I'll reserve judgement on the run blocking once we get some legit RBs in the backfield. I'm starting to feel more and more like it was the scheme holding the OLINE back rather than the players.

Time will tell.

Not sure I can agree with the legit RB statements thrown around. Mich State for years had 3 star RBs that ran pretty good. Dont ever recall any of them being pro bound. Yes, you cant teach speed but didnt ND average like 6 yards a carry?

If speed and top end runs are your thing, you need to recruit Oregon like players that are lucky to be 200 lbs. Odds of ND getting the 240lbers that run like the wind are slim to none. Those go to Bama and live football.

Not disagreeing on the scheme comment but I do have to question why BK let it go on that long if fanboards can determine it, shouldnt the people that get paid a lot of money to coach it figure it out as well?

 

[koonja]

The OL was good in run blocking every game...

I realize no ones going to rewatch old games and focus on OL, but the lack of running game is 100% on the RBs we have

 

[drayer54]

Why the hell hasn’t Reesus been announced yet?

Why the hell hasn’t Harry been announced yet?

 

[Dizzyphil]

Why the hell hasn’t Reesus been announced yet?

Why the hell hasn’t Harry been announced yet?

HH doesn't want to recruit - will more than likely stay in pros somewhere.

 

[Irish YJ]

The OL was good in run blocking every game...

I realize no ones going to rewatch old games and focus on OL, but the lack of running game is 100% on the RBs we have

70th in stnd lines, and 90th in power success....

nominated for hot take of the new year....

btw, i rewatched 4 games this year, and spent enough time with my eyes on the OL.... yes the RB room sucked, but so did the OL at times.