In The Trenches & On The Trail
When Harry Hiestand was hired as Notre Dame’s new offensive line coach last January, the general buzz had him as a more-than-capable coach, but one who was lacking a dazzling reputation as a recruiter.
In almost 16 months on the job, Hiestand has managed high marks as an instructor and a salesman, one who’s been able to let his coaching speak for itself in his pursuit of offensive linemen.
Steve Elmer got Notre Dame’s 2013 recruiting class start with a commitment in September of 2011, while Hiestand was still coaching at Tennessee, but Hiestand ended up being the driving force behind the Irish’s stellar 2013 offensive line haul.
He used the Irish’s Junior Day in March of 2012 to seal the deal with Colin McGovern, Hunter Bivin and Mike McGlinchey, who all committed within hours of meeting Hiestand. He then wrapped up the offensive line score by securing John Montelus’ pledge at the Irish’s spring game a month later.
Bivin and McGlinchey were fortunate to have Hiestand as both their primary recruiter and position coach.
“Oh yeah, he played a big-time role in my commitment,” Bivin said. “Most of the time there are coaches who aren’t o-line coaches trying to recruit offensive linemen. You can’t really understand what it’s like to be an o-lineman unless you are an o-lineman.
“Coach Hiestand has been there and done that. He can relate to us really well and he seems like he doesn’t really care about anything except the o-line. I know, at least in my point of view, that went a long way for me. I’m sure it went a long way with everybody else.”
“As an offensive lineman, he definitely gave me insight into what he does,” McGlinchey said. “I looked him up and researched him a little bit and found out he was one of the best offensive line coaches you could get. That obviously intrigued me, but as a recruiter I think Coach Hiestand is very non-traditional.
“He’s not going to (cater to) you just because you’re a recruit and he’s not going to blow smoke where it doesn’t need to be. I think he’s honest in that regard and I think it’s a big credit to him that he takes the guys that he wants and believes are going to be the best for him. The guys who connect with him are the ones who are going to buy into his system.”
Bivin wanted to play for somebody who wanted to be an offensive line coach and embraced the position.
“I didn’t really want anybody who was going to be there one year and trying to move up to being a coordinator the next,” he said. “I think Coach Hiestand is going to be with the o-line no matter what.”
With the 2013 offensive line group in the fold by May, Hiestand was able to sharpen his focus on 2014 offensive linemen last summer. It became readily apparent he was the chief reason the Irish were so high on Jimmy Byrne’s early list. The Cleveland offensive lineman would offer his commitment to Notre Dame in December.
Byrne identified with some of the same things as Bivin.
“He kind of stays away from the facts behind the school,” Byrne said. “He did talk about them, but at the same time, he was able to talk about the offensive line and how much he loves coaching the offensive line and how much it’s up to him to make players better on the offensive line. I think that’s why he connects so well with some of the offensive linemen, because he loves what he does and doesn’t want to do anything else.”
Hiestand met Maryland offensive lineman Sam Mustipher during a campus visit in January and the Irish were clearly in the lead pack following that trip. Mustipher would follow through with his pledge in April.
“He’s really the deciding factor for a lot of us,” Mustipher said of his future position coach. “The way the players respond to him and his coaching style, he’s a guy who’s going to get the best out of you day in and day out no matter if you like it or not. That’s not to say he’s not one of those coaches who will get into you, but the way the players respond is very impressive.
“He doesn’t do too much bragging about it. It’s something he lets you find out for yourself.”
Mustipher had the opportunity to speak with Hiestand’s current players and even a former player from Illinois.
“They have nothing but good things to say about him,” Mustipher said of the current Irish offensive linemen. “I kind of told the guys, I was like, ‘Keep it real with me. It’s not like I’m going to decide not to come to Notre Dame if you guys bash the coaches.’ They were like, ‘We don’t really have anything bad to say about them.’ That’s one thing that speaks volumes. It kind of speaks for itself.
“I actually got the chance to eat lunch with them. They said, ‘If you come here, he’s going to get on you every day. There may be some days when you may not like it, but his coaching style is one that is going to help you become the best player you can possibly be.’”
Mustipher relayed much that information to New Jersey’s Quenton Nelson, who named the Irish his leader after a South Bend visit in April and offered his commitment in May. Again, Hiestand’s influence was critical.
“When I went to practice, his coaching did the talking for him,” Nelson said. “He’s not a good coach, he’s a great coach. That’s who I want to play for. He’s very technical. He critiques and really teaches the linemen what technique he wants. He just takes a lot of time perfecting the lineman’s technique. He doesn’t try to do as many reps as possible. He tries to do as many perfect reps as possible.”
Seeing Hiestand in action at Notre Dame’s LaBar Practice Complex had a major impact on each of the future Irish lineman.
“Being at practice and seeing how he acts with his players, you see that everything he told you about how he coaches and how he acts is really true,” McGlinchey said. “He acts the same way in practice and treats you the same way in practice as he would if he recruited you.
“He’s a good guy, a great guy. He’s funny, but he’s very honest with you. I think people can take that the wrong way sometimes, but if you know what you’re looking for, Coach Hiestand is definitely the guy for you. He was the best option that I could have had as a recruiter for Notre Dame and I would have never had it any other way.”
McGovern admitted that he may have taken that honesty the wrong way initially.
“You can tell he’s the type of coach who's not afraid to make a point,” McGovern said. “ At first, I have to admit, I was kind of afraid of that type of coach because in high school, I never really had that type of coach and what I wanted in college was a coach that could be understanding and not scream and yell all the time. After watching Coach Hiestand in action, I saw both sides of his coaching style and realized that's the type of coach I wanted to play for.
“He's definitely going to make you the best offensive lineman you can possibly be, but at the same time he's never going to sugarcoat things or blow smoke up your you-know-what. He's going to tell you like it is and that's what I respect about him the most.”
Byrne saw both sides as well.
“He’s very intense on the football field, but he’s very helpful too,” he said. “He’s not just yelling.”
Knowing how much time he’d be spending with Hiestand, it was important for Mustipher to check out his approach in person.
“I definitely wanted to see his coaching style and the individual guys he coaches and his style is different for each one of them,” Mustipher said. “You have a guy like Zach Martin, who’s been playing, who’s been in the offense and understands how to play at a very high level, you have to approach that differently than a guy who’s coming in as a freshman. Coach Hiestand understands that and that’s something he emphasizes in practice. Seeing practice allowed me to see that for myself.”
Nelson may have summed it up best.
“I don’t want to play for someone who is a fantastic recruiter, I want to play for someone who’s a fantastic coach and will develop me best,” he said.
“I agree 100 percent,” McGlinchey said. “Compared to other schools, Coach Hiestand definitely isn’t the guy who is going to write you or e-mail you or text you or call you every day. He checks up on you when he needs to. He’s not going to treat you like you’re a king when you’re just a recruit. It’s different from everybody else and how they treat their players and recruits, but it definitely works for me.”
Bivin agreed with Nelson’s statement as well.
“That hits it on the head,” said Bivin. “I don’t want somebody you can tell that’s not how they’re going to be during practice; somebody who is putting up a front. You don’t want a coach that you can see right through him that this isn’t how he really is. I never thought that for one second with Coach Hiestand.”
McGlinchey added, “He was more real than anybody else. That was probably the best feeling I had with him with regards to recruiting.”
According to Byrne and the others, Hiestand doesn’t blow anybody away with keeping in contact on a daily basis or sending all sorts of mail, but does hit on things that are important.
“He’ll talk to you and sit down and tell you how he thinks he can develop you as a player, where you fit in with the program and stuff like that,” Byrne said. “Obviously, he’s really knowledgeable about the position. As a prospect wanting to go to a school like Notre Dame, being able to connect with a coach like that and being with a coach who can develop you for the future is much better than being with a coach who is just going to send you recruiting paraphernalia.”
And it’s not as if Hiestand has anything against going out and working hard to get the players he wants.
“He’s not an old grouch who doesn’t care about recruiting,” said Bivin. “He understands his job in recruiting and he understands it’s a vital point of today’s game. He goes out and gets the job done obviously.
“In my opinion, I think we have the best o-line class in the country and that’s mainly due to him and how he is as a recruiter. I think he’s going to be a great coach. He’s a great guy and the good character guys we have coming in on the o-line recognized that and that’s why we signed with Notre Dame.”
Bivin isn’t sure the approaches of some of the game’s slicker recruiters is as effective with linemen as it can be with other prospects.
“I’m sure those guys are appealing to some of the big-time recruits,” Bivin said.
“I wouldn’t consider him a recruiter. He’s like, ‘This is who I am, this is what we’re going to do, this is going to be our philosophy. You can take it or leave it.’ That appealed to me from day one.”
