Wow this seems to me like he wasn't welcomed back or was getting a demotion back to WR's coach.
You don't leave ND as the OC to become Cinnci's OC
Good luck coach and thanks for everything
As I noted in the ND coaching thread,
the second report, Matt Jones, isn't confirmation. Jones simply copied Thamel's tweet/story with attribution but with no additional info. That's a circular rumor.
I could see Denbrock leaving a real possibility. I expected him to go before Sanford. Sanford was hired as an offensive wizard/QB guru/HC in the making ... with Denbrock on the job. Sanford got rave reviews on arrival but seemed to be kept in the background. Although Kelly's on thin ice, Sanford didn't wait around for change in head coach.
I still haven't figured out who really planned the offense this year, who coached the QBs, and who called the plays despite the job titles. Supposedly Kelly spent more time on defense, leaving the offense to Denbrock and Sanford and QBs to Sanford.
The offense still had redzone shortcomings as in years past. Kizer, to me, regressed regardless of the NCS/hurricane game. He underthrew, overthrew, was wide left, or wide right with open receivers in many game. Did they all run the wrong route? Sometimes 2nd year QB's have a down year but with a "guru" establishing his mark to be a HC?
In game threads and post game threads there were frequent laments that the game calling looked like it had over the past half dozen years. Was it really Denbock's and/or Sanford's or was it really Kelly's.
Has Denbrock seen the writing on the wall? New ND hires have contract's "with the university". ALL contracts are with the university but the new guys get clauses that it's independent of the head coaches status. Are the existing coaches get that clause added?
I wouldn't find it strange to see Denbrock grab job security, regardless of title. Fickell's a defensive guy and is't going to be overcalling his OC ... at least not the first year. Considering that prospective it would be a promotion over being OC under Kelly.
