February 4, 20213 yr comment_724680 Safeties coach, my free email says. Yes I saw that in SI https://www.si.com/college/notredame/football/notre-dame-football-chris-oleary-safeties-coach
February 4, 20213 yr comment_724696 Underwhelming or is this a good hire? I have no idea. With full faith in BK, I assume that Chris O'Leary will be the best Safety coach ever at ND. BK was lucky because last time Nick Saban hired a "safeties" coach, Saban had to conduct a national search and could only hire a former 4-year Florida State DC who played DB at Auburn and had 17 years of coaching experience with stints at six schools including Georgia Tech, Florida St, and Tennessee and who also had coached 16 All-Americans. In comparison, Brian Kelly was able to save time for recruiting by looking up and down the hallways of the Guglielmino complex and hiring a "safe" coach who played at Indiana St and has one full year as a DB coach at Florida Tech to go with his five years of Analyst/GA experience including two years at football power Georgia State. Looking forward to Irish safeties' performance next season since I am sure that 2 years Georgia State GA > 4 years Florida State DC Hopefully, Marcus Freeman had a large part in making this decision since, on paper, it appears to be underwhelming and I am giving Freeman the benefit of the doubt that he can identify good coaching talent. Edited February 4, 20213 yr by jbrown_9999
February 4, 20213 yr comment_724700 With full faith in BK, I assume that Chris O'Leary will be the best Safety coach ever at ND. BK was lucky because last time Nick Saban hired a "safeties" coach, Saban had to conduct a national search and could only hire a former 4-year Florida State DC who played DB at Auburn and had 17 years of coaching experience with stints at six schools including Georgia Tech, Florida St, and Tennessee and who also had coached 16 All-Americans. In comparison, Brian Kelly was able to save time for recruiting by looking up and down the hallways of the Guglielmino complex and hiring a "safe" coach who played at Indiana St and has one full year as a DB coach at Florida Tech to go with his five years of Analyst/GA experience including two years at football power Georgia State. Looking forward to Irish safeties' performance next season since I am sure that 2 years Georgia State GA > 4 years Florida State DC Hopefully, Marcus Freeman had a large part in making this decision since, on paper, it appears to be underwhelming and I am giving Freeman the benefit of the doubt that he can identify good coaching talent. I love how you trash the move when you know nothing about the guy besides what you can find via Google. BK has made some pretty good hires since 2016. I'm sure you were completely on board with the hirings of Elko, Lea, and Rees, and had no problem with those hires at all... I don't know anything about O'Leary besides what I read last night and this morning. He seems like a popular coach among the current players and has been involved in recruiting the west coast. Freeman fully endorsed the hire, and I'm guessing part of the deal when he signed on to be DC was that he got to choose his staff (minus probably being told that Elston is not going anywhere). So if Freeman wants him, then that's good enough for me.
February 4, 20213 yr comment_724705 I love how you trash the move when you know nothing about the guy besides what you can find via Google. BK has made some pretty good hires since 2016. I'm sure you were completely on board with the hirings of Elko, Lea, and Rees, and had no problem with those hires at all... I don't know anything about O'Leary besides what I read last night and this morning. He seems like a popular coach among the current players and has been involved in recruiting the west coast. Freeman fully endorsed the hire, and I'm guessing part of the deal when he signed on to be DC was that he got to choose his staff (minus probably being told that Elston is not going anywhere). So if Freeman wants him, then that's good enough for me. If beating Alabama is a goal then a head coach must benchmark every aspect of his program against that of Nick Saban. It seems that Saban hires coaches who appear to be over-qualified for the position they take on at Alabama. former DCs become safety coaches, former head coaches who become analysts, etc. The number of Saban assistants who have gone on to become head coaches is a pretty good indicator that Saban knows how to hire and develop good assistants. Kelly, on the other hand, seems to often go for low-hanging fruit unless, as rumor has it, he is forced from above to conduct an external search. Kelly's history of developing future head coaches is pretty spotty given that Chuck Martin might be his best success story at this point. (It is hard to give Kelly credit for Matt LaFleur since LaFleur was looking for a one year landing spot between NFL gigs and Kelly hired him as QB coach and not OC when I believe that both spots were open at ND that year.) I too know nothing about O'Leary. He might be a future hall of fame coach. It just seems disappointing that the best candidate that ND could find just happened to be an analyst/GA already on staff. On paper, it at least seems to a hire of least effort. Edited February 4, 20213 yr by jbrown_9999
February 4, 20213 yr comment_724708 Since when are "safety" coaches gonna have a big name and full resume? Every coach starts somewhere. I have absolutely no opinion on O'Leary either way, but to assume we didnt hire a "household" name for a position coach as a bad thing is ridiculous. There are no household names below DC and OC.
February 4, 20213 yr comment_724714 If beating Alabama is a goal then a head coach must benchmark every aspect of his program against that of Nick Saban. It seems that Saban hires coaches who appear to be over-qualified for the position they take on at Alabama. former DCs become safety coaches, former head coaches who become analysts, etc. The number of Saban assistants who have gone on to become head coaches is a pretty good indicator that Saban knows how to hire and develop good assistants. Kelly, on the other hand, seems to often go for low-hanging fruit unless, as rumor has it, he is forced from above to conduct an external search. Kelly's history of developing future head coaches is pretty spotty given that Chuck Martin might be his best success story at this point. (It is hard to give Kelly credit for Matt LaFleur since LaFleur was looking for a one year landing spot between NFL gigs and Kelly hired him as QB coach and not OC when I believe that both spots were open at ND that year.) I too know nothing about O'Leary. He might be a future hall of fame coach. It just seems disappointing that the best candidate that ND could find just happened to be an analyst/GA already on staff. On paper, it at least seems to a hire of least effort. Not necessarily disagreeing with you on Saban. His staff is incredible - littered with former college head coaches and even a former NFL head coach for this upcoming season. But not all of his hires are like that. Just look at his DC, Pete Goulding. Pete Goulding was hired in 2018 as the Co-DC and ILB coach. Prior to that? DC/CB coach at University of Texas San Antonio, DB coach at Southern Miss, DC at Southeastern Louisiana, DC at Delta State, DC at Tusculum College. Not exactly a sterling resume, although he definitely had several years of experience prior to joining Alabama. Just pointing out that the guy Nick Saban hired as his Defensive Coordinator two seasons ago had no P5 experience. I'm sure there are other guys like that he has had on his staff before, but I only checked this past years' staff. I wouldn't want 4 Chris O'Leary's on my staff in terms of resume/prior experience, but I think it's fine to have one position coach who is relatively inexperienced if he is young, passionate, and connects with the players. O'Leary seems to be all of those things, and under Freeman's tutelage, I think he'll thrive.
February 4, 20213 yr Author comment_724715 Not necessarily disagreeing with you on Saban. His staff is incredible - littered with former college head coaches and even a former NFL head coach for this upcoming season. But not all of his hires are like that. Just look at his DC, Pete Goulding. Pete Goulding was hired in 2018 as the Co-DC and ILB coach. Prior to that? DC/CB coach at University of Texas San Antonio, DB coach at Southern Miss, DC at Southeastern Louisiana, DC at Delta State, DC at Tusculum College. Not exactly a sterling resume, although he definitely had several years of experience prior to joining Alabama. Just pointing out that the guy Nick Saban hired as his Defensive Coordinator two seasons ago had no P5 experience. I'm sure there are other guys like that he has had on his staff before, but I only checked this past years' staff. I wouldn't want 4 Chris O'Leary's on my staff in terms of resume/prior experience, but I think it's fine to have one position coach who is relatively inexperienced if he is young, passionate, and connects with the players. O'Leary seems to be all of those things, and under Freeman's tutelage, I think he'll thrive. It basically makes the safety coach the assistant DB coach to Mickens who has the direct tie to the DC Freeman. There was a bit of philosophy difference between Joseph, Mickens and Freeman, I'm guessing. Joseph wanted to be the next DC, so I'm not surpised he left. Now Mickens has control of Freemans whole secondary as he did with Cincy whether ND titles it that way or not.
February 4, 20213 yr comment_724723 I’m actually ok with a new guy if he knows his stuff. Sometimes those guys can relate more to the kids and sometimes they pick up on the smallest things that the fossils may not remember, stubborn to change, or never thought about. Either way, it depends on the guy really. Also, some of these young guys may outwork the current staff just because they want to keep their job or prove something to everyone. Let’s just hope he’s a keeper.
February 5, 20213 yr comment_724750 I’m actually ok with a new guy if he knows his stuff. Sometimes those guys can relate more to the kids and sometimes they pick up on the smallest things that the fossils may not remember, stubborn to change, or never thought about. Either way, it depends on the guy really. Also, some of these young guys may outwork the current staff just because they want to keep their job or prove something to everyone. Let’s just hope he’s a keeper. Supposedly, he was well-liked and respected and would have most likely been hired away at some point by a program looking for an up-and-comer. Players said they really, really liked his coaching style. Sometimes, the best hires are right in front of your nose.
February 5, 20213 yr comment_724753 Since when are "safety" coaches gonna have a big name and full resume? Every coach starts somewhere. I have absolutely no opinion on O'Leary either way, but to assume we didnt hire a "household" name for a position coach as a bad thing is ridiculous. There are no household names below DC and OC. For a young coach, O'Leary seems to have potential. That said, when many of the recent hires after "nation-wide" searches have been current staff members (Quinn, Rees, O'Leary, and even Lea), makes you wonder just how truly national those searches have been. If Kelly has been truly blessed with an abundance of coaching talent on his staff such that the best coach for an opening is already in South Bend, it seems weird that Kelly's coaching tree is not more successful.
February 6, 20213 yr comment_724765 It basically makes the safety coach the assistant DB coach to Mickens who has the direct tie to the DC Freeman. There was a bit of philosophy difference between Joseph, Mickens and Freeman, I'm guessing. Joseph wanted to be the next DC, so I'm not surpised he left. Now Mickens has control of Freemans whole secondary as he did with Cincy whether ND titles it that way or not. I think you hit it right on the head. With Freeman and Mickens mentoring I think he going to be a great fit.
Safeties coach, my free email says.