Tag: joe moore

All of Harry Hiestand’s NFL draft picks at Notre Dame

A legend at his craft.

I’d be curious to know when talking to maybe a slightly above average fan from each Power Five college football program, how many could name their school’s offensive line coach.  I know there are passionate fans everywhere that can name the last preferred walk-on from a class that passed through a decade ago, but I’m talking the more average fans.

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I’m not saying it’s better or worse but Notre Dame is clearly different.  But I suppose that’s what happens when you produce offensive linemen like the Irish have.  And you produce that number of star NFL linemen because of coaching – and having Joe Moore and Harry Hiestand for as long as the program did formed quite the haul of offensive line talent.

Hiestand announced his retirement Sunday in a press release that came out literal moments before the ball was kicked off for Super Bowl LVII.  That means he retires with nine former players at Notre Dame being drafted, a number that will certainly rise with Jarrett Patterson, Joe Alt and Blake Fisher, if not more in the next couple of years.

Here are all nine offensive lineman to play for Hiestand at Notre Dame who had their names called at the NFL draft.  He averaged more than one a season for the time he spent under the Golden Dome.

Notre Dame star highest graded Power Five offensive lineman per PFF

Is he the best offensive lineman in college football?

Notre Dame has a long history of being referred to as “O-Line U”.  Names like [autotag]Quenton Nelson[/autotag], [autotag]Ronnie Stanley[/autotag], and [autotag]Zach Martin[/autotag] are just some of the recent stars that have gone on to successful NFL careers after dominating with the Irish.  Notre Dame offensive line coach [autotag]Harry Hiestand[/autotag] gets well-deserved praise for helping develop talent at a truly elite level but Notre Dame’s offensive line successes predate his arrival.

For all you youngsters out there, look up the name Joe Moore.  Just know that all those run-heavy teams that thrived under Lou Holtz were guided by offensive lines coached by Moore.  He’s also the man that the team award for the best offensive line in college football goes to annually.

Enough with the history lesson for now and back to regularly scheduled programming.

Pro Football Focus released their top-five graded Power Five offensive linemen in 2022 through Week 10’s games.  If you’ve watched Notre Dame’s offensive line in 2022 you won’t be surprised to see who checked out first overall.