Here's more information about ND's new DC. Notice in the last paragraph where Kelly says “I'm under review, as well. We're all in this together, all the players, coaches, everybody. So players' jobs are on the line. Every job is being evaluated as the players; all coaches' jobs are on the line as well.” How humble of him.
The inevitable is unavoidable. It just came sooner than expected at Notre Dame this fall.
Or as New England head coach Bill Belichick has said, what will be done eventually must be done immediately.
For the first time to our knowledge, the Fighting Irish football team fired an assistant during the course of the season because of underperformance. Third-year defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder, who had been under heavy criticism each of his first two seasons, was relieved of his duties one day after the 38-35 home loss to Duke.
Despite head coach Brian Kelly’s public defense of VanGorder since the opening game 50-47, double-overtime loss to Texas, followed by more of the same following the 36-28 defeat to Michigan State on Sept. 17, Kelly acknowledged he “knew what he had to do” after yet another dismal performance on defense in which the Blue Devils tallied 31 points on offense and 498 total yards (208 rushing). In its two previous games, 24-14 and 24-13 losses to Wake Forest and Northwestern, Duke totaled a combined 27 points and 154 yards rushing.
Although Kelly defended VanGorder’s defense by saying it was not as complicated as has often been written, he admitted there might have been too much paralysis by analysis in the system when he made closer evaluations in last week’s practices after taking on a greater supervisory role on that side of the ball.
He also believed too many players were getting way too many lion’s shares of the snaps, which has a residual effect during the course of the season and takes its toll in November. Kelly envisions tweaking not only some elements of the defense, but also finding correct positions for the personnel better tailored to their skill level and specific talents.
Above all, he wants to see joy on the practice field and on game day. The reality is VanGorder’s NFL approach was a palpable pall in the air that left players constricted while trying to find room to breathe. Former Notre Dame head coaches Joe Kuharich (1959-62) and Charlie Weis (2005-09) both brought the NFL touch to the college game, and it failed at unprecedented levels. The same happened with VanGorder’s NFL-like approach to a college game.
“I need to see our guys play fast, free and loose, excitement on the field, not be so mechanical and robotic,” Kelly said. “Let it go and let it happen.”
Few personnel movements in Notre Dame football go undetected, but the arrival of Greg Hudson last summer was as under the radar as they come. Fired as Purdue’s defensive coordinator at the end of a 2-10 season last year, Hudson was seen at a Notre Dame practice last spring as a visitor after having been in coaching for a quarter century.
“Any time that you can bring on experienced coaches to your staff, I'm going to look to do that,” said Kelly of adding to Notre Dame’s support staff. “Greg was available to work here in that capacity, and we jumped at it.”
News stories this June featured the hiring of former Notre Dame All-American defensive back Jeff Burris (1990-93) as a defensive analyst, but nary a word about Hudson, who also was brought on board over the summer.
Recruited in head coach Gerry Faust’s final Notre Dame class in 1985, Hudson joined players such as 1988 national champion team captains Andy Heck, Mark Green and Ned Bolcar in that freshman haul. Hudson saw limited action in 1986 and 1987 as a backup linebacker or on special teams, but he did not play as a senior, and eventually joined the baseball team as a catcher, too.
“Loves Notre Dame, knows Notre Dame,” Kelly said of Hudson. “He's got great spirit on the defensive side of the ball, and bringing him here we're looking for some more experience and brain power and we got that.
“I thought Greg was the perfect fit to bring that energy level up to where I want to see it. Guys played hard, but we lacked some of the energy and enthusiasm and fun, quite frankly, that you need to have when you're playing on defense.”
Hudson’s dossier is replete with connections to Notre Dame:
• He was a graduate assistant on head coach Lou Holtz’s 1993 team that finished 11-1 and No. 2 in the country.
• From 1994-96, Hudson was the offensive line coach for Skip Holtz, Lou’s son, at Connecticut. The two reunited at East Carolina from 2005-09 when Hudson was the younger Holtz’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach during a successful five seasons with the Pirates.
• From 1997-2000, he served under Cincinnati head coach Rick Minter — Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator in 1992-93 and 2005-06 — in various roles, starting on offense before moving to defense and being promoted to assistant head coach.
Under head coach Glen Mason, Hudson was a recruiting coordinator and defensive coordinator at Minnesota from 2001-04, highlighted by a 10-3 season in 2003 before rejoining Holtz at East Carolina.
Hired by new Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher in 2010, Hudson’s job title with the Seminoles was assistant head coach and linebackers coach the next three seasons, which included an 18-14 Champs Sports Bowl victory over the Irish in 2011.
When Darrell Hazell was named Purdue’s head coach in 2013, he selected Hudson as his defensive coordinator. Unfortunately, a 6-30 record from 2013-15 while the Boilermakers finished 95th, 83rd and 111th in total defense led to the firing of Hudson and other staff members at the end of 2015.
As the interim defensive coordinator, Hudson’s mandate will be to follow Kelly’s lead and directive on that side of the ball. Because he was at August camp with the team, Hudson has knowledge of the personnel, but most of his job description has had him involved in the film room. The hope is he can bring a "college touch" to the players.
“This will be a new relationship that he'll be building with the defensive players,” Kelly said. “We want to keep terminology effectively the same, but you'll see some certain tweaks that I feel like are necessary and some things that I know that as a group, that we will collectively come to an agreement in our best interests."
Kelly told Hudson the same as he did his entire staff and players: Each game is now a weekly audition of earning a “starting role” on the 2017 Notre Dame team. This includes Kelly.
“Everybody's interviewing,” Kelly said. “Everybody on our staff is on a very public interview. So everybody's got a chance to continue in their roles, and we'll all have that very public interview as we play each and every week.
“I'm under review, as well. We're all in this together, all the players, coaches, everybody. So players' jobs are on the line. Every job is being evaluated as the players; all coaches' jobs are on the line as well.”
