The Irish remain in the market for two coaches, specifically tight end and defensive backfield help. Here is what I've heard from my main source(s) close to the football office.
*** As we have learned at DB, Daronte Jones, who has not coached at the collegiate level since 2015, will remain in the NFL after signing with the Minnesota Vikings. He had previously been with the Dolphins and Bengals. The word I received on Christian Parker — who was the defensive analyst at ND in 2017 — is it appears he will get a raise and promotion at Green Bay at his quality control post. That's not to say he is "out" as a candidate.
*** This is a slow-moving process and will likely remain so this week, but one Brian Kelly and the staff are comfortable with because 1) they want to "get it right" with regard to having someone around multiple years and 2) not be "one-and-done," especially with returning to or moving on to the NFL.
Kelly has been on the road the past couple of weeks, and with Junior Day coming up this weekend he wants to concentrate there before returning and finalizing the staff in February. Admittedly, it's been difficult to nail down, but not a panic situation.
*** The two names I was told to watch for the DB vacancy are former Kelly All-American Mike Mickens, and Cory Sanders, who has been a head coach at the Division II level.
Mickens, who will turn 33 in July, starred at Cincinnati from 2005-08, the last two under Kelly. He is the Bearcats' career leader in interceptions (14) and yardage return (296) on picks, earning first-team All-Big East honors in 2008 and also was a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award.
He's been in coaching the past nine seasons, beginning with alma mater Cincinnati in 2011, Indiana State (2012), Idaho (2013), Bowling Green (2014-17) before returning to Cincinnati the last two years, where the Bearcats have thrived under head coach Luke Fickell, with former Kelly assistant Mike Denbrock the OC. Mickens has coached cornerbacks during that time.
With the Pitt Panthers the past two years as the safeties coach, Sanders, a Grand Rapids, Mich., native, will turn 35 in March. He has possibly the top returning safety tandem in the ACC returning this year in first-team All-ACC Paris Ford and honorable mention Damar Hamlin.
Previously he was the defensive backs coach at Western Michigan, where two of his pupils, Darius Phillips and Sam Beal, made it into the NFL. A four-time all-conference pick and three-time captain at Division II St. Joseph's in Rensselaer, Ind. — which closed its doors in 2017 — he was the defensive coordinator at his alma mater in 2010 before getting promoted to head coach in 2011, finishing with a 24-19 record, highlighted by an 8-3 mark his final season in 2014.
*** When I asked whether current grad assistant Nick Lezynski or defensive analyst Chris O'Leary could also be in the mix, the reply was they are "highly mentioned" and very well regarded by the current staff. The overwhelming theme is the camaraderie on the staff — including the support staff — is exceptional, which makes it all the more imperative to not muck it up with the chemistry, which is why they are comfortable with the due diligence in the process.
*** As for offense, this is not going to be about moving pieces around. The goal is to get someone with a strong background at coaching tight ends because of the level of talent already on campus with Tommy Tremble, Brock Wright and George Takacs, plus coming in with Michael Mayer and Kevin Bauman. For all the disruption that occurred with Chip Long, the tight end position began to flourish more under him, and there is no reason not to continue that development with what the Irish have in personnel.
*** The man to watch there is John McNulty, who I was told had "a great interview" and possesses "an infectious personality." The Penn State grad excelled as a walk-on safety from 1988-90 has been mainly a receiver and quarterbacks coach — beginning with Skip Holtz at UConn in 1995-97.
He then coached in the NFL for five years before making his mark at Rutgers from 2004-08 under head coach Greg Schiano when the Scarlet Knights had one of their better eras. He returned to the NFL, and his resume included a stint as the 2016-17 tight ends coach for the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers in which he coached future Hall-of-Famer Antonio Gates (116 career touchdowns are the most by a tight end) and Hunter Henry, who is becoming one of the rising young tight ends in the game.
He returned to Rutgers as a coordinator, but it has been a much more difficult era for the Scarlet Knights than his first. Most recently he served as an analyst at Penn State.
*** From what I gathered, don't expect offensive line duties to be divided between Jeff Quinn and someone else. A primary emphasis with the staff on offense this month has been to zero in on specific blocking schemes and be on the same page with the running plays they want to employ and how they want it blocked. That became a problem last year that festered.
*** As we have learned at DB, Daronte Jones, who has not coached at the collegiate level since 2015, will remain in the NFL after signing with the Minnesota Vikings. He had previously been with the Dolphins and Bengals. The word I received on Christian Parker — who was the defensive analyst at ND in 2017 — is it appears he will get a raise and promotion at Green Bay at his quality control post. That's not to say he is "out" as a candidate.
*** This is a slow-moving process and will likely remain so this week, but one Brian Kelly and the staff are comfortable with because 1) they want to "get it right" with regard to having someone around multiple years and 2) not be "one-and-done," especially with returning to or moving on to the NFL.
Kelly has been on the road the past couple of weeks, and with Junior Day coming up this weekend he wants to concentrate there before returning and finalizing the staff in February. Admittedly, it's been difficult to nail down, but not a panic situation.
*** The two names I was told to watch for the DB vacancy are former Kelly All-American Mike Mickens, and Cory Sanders, who has been a head coach at the Division II level.
Mickens, who will turn 33 in July, starred at Cincinnati from 2005-08, the last two under Kelly. He is the Bearcats' career leader in interceptions (14) and yardage return (296) on picks, earning first-team All-Big East honors in 2008 and also was a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award.
He's been in coaching the past nine seasons, beginning with alma mater Cincinnati in 2011, Indiana State (2012), Idaho (2013), Bowling Green (2014-17) before returning to Cincinnati the last two years, where the Bearcats have thrived under head coach Luke Fickell, with former Kelly assistant Mike Denbrock the OC. Mickens has coached cornerbacks during that time.
With the Pitt Panthers the past two years as the safeties coach, Sanders, a Grand Rapids, Mich., native, will turn 35 in March. He has possibly the top returning safety tandem in the ACC returning this year in first-team All-ACC Paris Ford and honorable mention Damar Hamlin.
Previously he was the defensive backs coach at Western Michigan, where two of his pupils, Darius Phillips and Sam Beal, made it into the NFL. A four-time all-conference pick and three-time captain at Division II St. Joseph's in Rensselaer, Ind. — which closed its doors in 2017 — he was the defensive coordinator at his alma mater in 2010 before getting promoted to head coach in 2011, finishing with a 24-19 record, highlighted by an 8-3 mark his final season in 2014.
*** When I asked whether current grad assistant Nick Lezynski or defensive analyst Chris O'Leary could also be in the mix, the reply was they are "highly mentioned" and very well regarded by the current staff. The overwhelming theme is the camaraderie on the staff — including the support staff — is exceptional, which makes it all the more imperative to not muck it up with the chemistry, which is why they are comfortable with the due diligence in the process.
*** As for offense, this is not going to be about moving pieces around. The goal is to get someone with a strong background at coaching tight ends because of the level of talent already on campus with Tommy Tremble, Brock Wright and George Takacs, plus coming in with Michael Mayer and Kevin Bauman. For all the disruption that occurred with Chip Long, the tight end position began to flourish more under him, and there is no reason not to continue that development with what the Irish have in personnel.
*** The man to watch there is John McNulty, who I was told had "a great interview" and possesses "an infectious personality." The Penn State grad excelled as a walk-on safety from 1988-90 has been mainly a receiver and quarterbacks coach — beginning with Skip Holtz at UConn in 1995-97.
He then coached in the NFL for five years before making his mark at Rutgers from 2004-08 under head coach Greg Schiano when the Scarlet Knights had one of their better eras. He returned to the NFL, and his resume included a stint as the 2016-17 tight ends coach for the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers in which he coached future Hall-of-Famer Antonio Gates (116 career touchdowns are the most by a tight end) and Hunter Henry, who is becoming one of the rising young tight ends in the game.
He returned to Rutgers as a coordinator, but it has been a much more difficult era for the Scarlet Knights than his first. Most recently he served as an analyst at Penn State.
*** From what I gathered, don't expect offensive line duties to be divided between Jeff Quinn and someone else. A primary emphasis with the staff on offense this month has been to zero in on specific blocking schemes and be on the same page with the running plays they want to employ and how they want it blocked. That became a problem last year that festered.
Last edited:
