Tag: Harry Hiestand

Hiestand wasting no time, out on the recruiting trail for Notre Dame

Hiestand is making connections right away

It looks like the time off for Notre Dame’s “new” offensive line coach Harry Hiestand has reinvigorated him. After leaving the Irish for the NFL and the Chicago Bears, one of the most well regarded OL coaches seems like he was calling it a career.

Then Marcus Freeman came calling, and enticed Hiestand to return to South Bend for a second go-around. He looks like he isn’t wasting any time getting to make connections on the recruiting trail as he visited in-state powerhouse Lawrenceburg High School, Ashton Craig just signed with the Irish this cycle.

I have interviewed their head coach Ryan Knigga previously, and he runs a fantastic program with a lot of talent. Expect to hear another name soon from LHS getting a look from the Irish in the coming years.

Oh and Hiestand wasn’t the only Irish coach visiting …..

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Notre Dame Football makes it official, welcomes in two new coaches

It’s now official

It was a fairly big day for Irish football, as they saw an old face officially return to South Bend while welcoming in a new one. For Harry Hiestand, he returns to Notre Dame after a two-year stint in the NFL with the Chicago Bears. Even though Hiestand hasn’t been a coach for the past two years, that didn’t deter new Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman from coaxing him to join his staff. He is still viewed as one of the best offensive line coaches at any level.

As for Chansi Stuckey, his rise in the coaching ranks has been impressive. After playing in the NFL from 2007-2012, he took a few years away from the game. Stuckey didn’t take long to find a job, at his Alma Mater Clemson, first as a graduate assistant then as an offensive player development coach. Baylor picked him up last year as their wide receivers coach before ending up in South Bend. Stuckey helped senior Tyquan Thornton have a career season with 62 receptions for 948-yards and 10 scores.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

Marcus Freeman speaks on Harry Hiestand hiring

He’s back.

Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman made a splash when reports came that the Fighting Irish would be bringing back veteran offensive line coach Harry Hiestand.  That hiring is now official as Notre Dame sent out their press release on the matter on Monday.

In it, Freeman spoke about the Hiestand, who coached Notre Dame’s offensive line from 2012-2107.

“Harry built the standard of excellence for the Notre Dame offensive line and we are excited to have him back in our program,” said Freeman. ”Our focus is on player development and pushing our players to reach their full potential and that is where Harry excels.” – Marcus Freeman

Just how big of a deal is it to get Hiestand back with the Irish?  Take one quick this note from the release:

In his six years in South Bend, he had six offensive linemen selected in the first three rounds (Quenton Nelson, first; Ronnie Stanley, first; Zack Martin, first; Mike McGlinchey, first; Nick Martin, second; and Chris Watt, third). Over the 11 NFL Drafts (2002-12) prior to Hiestand’s arrival, only two Irish offensive linemen were drafted in the first three rounds and not a single one since 2007.

That’ll play.

Related:

Notre Dame coaching staff tracker

Notre Dame transfer portal tracker

Bears once offered Olin Kreutz $15 an hour to serve as O-line consultant

The Bears offered Olin Kreutz a job to serve as player consultant under Harry Hiestand for just $15 an hour. Seriously.

The Chicago Bears have garnered a reputation for being a cheap organization. As Mike Ditka once said about the great George Halas, “(Halas) throws nickels around like manhole covers.”

Well, this story from former Bears center Olin Kreutz isn’t going to help the franchise shed that reputation.

Kreutz appeared on 670 the Score Friday, where he explained that former Bears offensive line coach Harry Hiestand wanted to bring him aboard in 2018. Kreutz said the Bears offered him a position as a player consultant to work with the offensive line for a mere $15 an hour.

Seriously.

“That’s the way they do business,” Kreutz said on 670 the Score. “Those are the things that have to change.”

Recently, there’s been a discussion among former Bears players about wanting to be heard by the organization as a means to get the team on the right track.

Players like Kreutz, Charles Tillman, Alex Brown, Jerry Azumah and Patrick Mannelly have all expressed a desire to meet with the front office and share their thoughts on the organization.

One of the criticisms of Chariman George McCaskey and the Bears organization as a whole has been their inability to impact positive change. It doesn’t help that McCaskey and President/CEO Ted Phillips aren’t “football guys.”

So why not listen to some “football guys,” aka some former players who have some insight to provide that could help get this organization back on the right track?

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Notre Dame to make massive hire at offensive line coach

Will he bring the same success he did a few years back?

Rumors have been swirling for weeks that Notre Dame may be going back to a well that was once very good to it and now it appears that is true.  According to Matt Fortuna of The Athletic, Notre Dame is close to officially naming Harry Hiestand as their new offensive line coach.  Hiestand will replace Jeff Quinn who came under much scrutiny during his time but especially this past season.

Hiestand is viewed by many as one of the best offensive line coaches in all of football.  He coached Notre Dame’s offensive line previously from 2012-2017 and saw six of his players be drafted in that time.  Zack Martin, Ronnie Stanley, Quenton Nelson, and Mike McGlinchey were all selected in the first round of their respective drafts.

His history at Notre Dame makes this an incredibly exciting hire that I was hoping for the second Brian Kelly departed for LSU.

Hiestand was also the offensive line coach of the Chicago Bears from 2005-2009 as well as for the 2018 and 2019 seasons.  He’s had stops throughout his career at Tennessee, Illinois, Missouri, Cincinnati, and Toledo as well as being a graduate assistant at USC back in the late eighties.

Related:

Notre Dame coaching staff tracker

An early look at Notre Dame’s 2022 schedule

Notre Dame 2022 transfer portal tracker 

Notre Dame Football Coaching Staff Wish List

The next Notre Dame football coaching staff dream team…

Notre Dame is looking for a new head coach after Brian Kelly bolted to Baton Rouge to head the LSU football program.  Where does athletic director Jack Swarbrick look after the tidal wave Kelly left in his wake?

The good news is Swarbrick shouldn’t have to travel very far to fill the suddenly open spot and that the program was clearly left in a great place.

So what would a dream Notre Dame coaching staff look like at the end of this coaching search?

Here’s the Notre Dame dream team that Swarbrick can start to piece together:

Notre Dame’s Good, Not Great Offensive Line Gets Graded by PFF

Unfortunately, the dominance was not nearly as evident in the running game for Notre Dame. 

Notre Dame had a good offensive line in 2019.

However, in some places, certain things simply require more than being just “good”.

When it comes to Notre Dame, the play of the offensive line is one such thing.

A look at the recent NFL All-Pro First-Team saw three of the five selected offensive linemen be products of Notre Dame where the standard is being dominating as a unit, not simply good.

Pro Football Focus released their team rankings for offensive lines and Notre Dame, although rated fairly high, came in far from elite.

Here is the PFF write-up of the 13th ranked Notre Dame offensive line:

Splitting hairs with the team right above them, both Notre Dame and Penn State ranked 17th in overall grade from their offensive lines this year, but the Fighting Irish get the advantage due to their second-ranked pass-blocking grade in 2019. The Fighting Irish were led by Eichenberg, who didn’t allow a single sack all year long.

-Pro Football Focus on 1/6/2020

Liam Eichenberg graded the best of any Notre Dame offensive lineman, largely because of his ability in pass-protection, something the entire unit was rather dominant in.

Unfortunately, the dominance was not nearly as evident in the running game for Notre Dame.  The most telling number to that comes when you look at the Irish’s ability, or lack thereof, to run the ball successfully against the two best teams they played at Georgia and Michigan.

In those two games Notre Dame ran for just 93 yards total on 45 attempts, good for an average of just 2.06 yards per carry.

If Notre Dame is going to take that next step and close the gap separating them from the likes of Clemson, Alabama, LSU and Georgia, they’ll have to re-establish the ability to run the ball with regularity.

For what it’s worth Oregon, Alabama and Georgia graded out as the three best offensive line units for 2019.

Report: Juan Castillo joining Bears as offensive line coach

Matt Nagy has appointed NFL veteran assistant Juan Castillo as the Bears’ new offensive line coach, with a speciality in the run game.

The Chicago Bears didn’t wait long before addressing an offensive coaching vacancy. Following the firing of four coaches, including offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich, on Tuesday, Matt Nagy has already made a new addition to his coaching staff.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Juan Castillo will be joining the Bears as their new offensive line coach.

Castillo will be replacing Harry Hiestand, who served as Chicago’s offensive line coach from 2018-19 and also previously from 2005-09. Castillo is a veteran NFL assistant who also has experience as a running game coordinator, something that Nagy clearly valued as that’s a key area where the Bears need to get better on offense.

Castillo most recently served two years as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator for the Buffalo Bills, where he was let go following a disappointing season from his offensive line. But some insisted it was more about the personnel than the coach.

Before his time in Buffalo, Castillo spent four years as an assistant to John Harbaugh with the Baltimore Ravens, where he spent one season as run game coordinator before changing over to offensive line coach.

Castillo does have some ties to Matt Nagy, as he worked with Nagy under Andy Reid with the Philadelphia Eagles. In fact, Castillo was with the Eagles from 1995 to 2012, where he served different roles. He worked as an offensive assistant, tight ends coach, offensive line coach and defensive coordinator.

It’s clear that this hiring is reliant on Castillo’s reputation as a running game coordinator, which remains one of the Bears’ biggest offensive concerns.

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5 takeaways from Bears end-of-year press conference

Bears GM Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy expressed frustration for the team’s lack of success, but maintained belief to right the ship in 2020.

The Bears final press conference of the 2019 season came and went with many quick answers, a few bold statements and lots of praise for a team that underachieved in almost every way.

Speaking to the media for the first time since early September, general manager Ryan Pace, along with coach Matt Nagy, expressed frustration for the team’s lack of success, but maintained belief in their core players and the system in place to right the ship and steer the team back to the postseason.

With the rather short availability of roughly 30 minutes, Pace and Nagy gave their answers to the media’s tough questions. Here are my five biggest takeaways from what the Bears’ brass had to say.

1. Pace and Nagy are committed to Mitchell Trubisky – but only to an extent

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

When asked about quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and whether he’d be the starter going into 2020, Pace was quick to say yes. It’s not surprising, given he has one more guaranteed year under contract and they gain nothing by showing their hand and creating a quarterback controversy in late December.

But they did stress the need to bring in additional competition with quarterbacks Chase Daniel and Tyler Bray entering free agency. Pace also wouldn’t commit to picking up Trubisky’s fifth-year option, a decision that must be made this spring. Chances are the Bears find someone this offseason to push Trubisky, but the front office still sees promise in the now-veteran quarterback.

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Bears dismiss OC Mark Helfrich, OL coach Harry Hiestand, TE coach Kevin Gilbride

Following a season filled with disappointing offensive execution, the Bears dismissed Mark Helfrich, Harry Hiestand and Kevin Gilbride.

Following the offensive struggles this season, it was expected that there would be big changes made on the offensive side of the football.

Shortly after general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy met with the media for their end of the year press conference, the Bears made some changes to their offensive coaching staff.

The Bears are dismissing offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, tight ends coach Kevin Gilbride and assistant special teams coach Brock Olivo the Bears announced Tuesday.

 

“We struggled in that area this year. That’s real,” Pace said during his presser. “I think we know it starts up front with those guys. That’s something we really got to look at from a personnel standpoint. From a schematic standpoint we’re going to look at it. That was real this year. That hurt us.”

The moves don’t really come as a big surprise considering the offense’s deficiencies this season. Specifically looking at the dismissal of Hiestand and Gilbride, who oversaw two of the most frustrating aspects of the offense this season with the offensive line and tight ends.

While Helfrich didn’t call plays for the Bears — that was Nagy — he was responsible for the install and execution of the offense. He also appears to be the fall guy for the offense’s struggles, and the Bears will look to fill the holes on Nagy’s coaching staff.

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