Tag: Mike Elston

Michigan football makes big defensive line coach hire

HUGE hire for #Michigan football! #GoBlue

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It was something of a surprise this offseason to see incumbent Michigan defensive line coach Shaun Nua depart for the same position at USC in Lincoln Riley’s new staff. But in finding his replacement, Jim Harbaugh sought yet another native son to bring home.

Mike Elston has made his name as a coach at Notre Dame, where he’s been on staff since 2010. But the former Wolverines linebacker got his coaching start in Ann Arbor, first as a student intern, then a video assistant, then a graduate assistant in the Lloyd Carr era. He coached at Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan, working with Brian Kelly at the latter, before following him to Cincinnati and then Notre Dame. However, Elston did not join Kelly in Baton Rouge, and he was passed over for the defensive coordinator job by new Irish head coach Marcus Freeman.

Now, Elston, the longtime defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator is coming back to coach the Michigan defensive line at the age of 47 — making him the oldest of the Wolverines assistants.

Led by the defensive line, Notre Dame finished 12th in sacks with 41 in 2021. While his unit was 70th in sacks in 2017, his first year coaching the DL after a two year hiatus coaching the linebackers, it never finished worse than 33rd in the country. In fact, in 2016 when the team only had 28 sacks, it was linebacker-led, whereas it mostly got pressure from the line when he was coaching that unit.

Elston had been the associate head coach at Notre Dame since Jan. 2018, making him yet another Wolverines assistant to hold that title, as Mike Hart held the same distinction at Indiana. He shared with reporters that he intended on staying at Notre Dame due to family back in December.

But as Kelly worked to put his staff together at LSU, Elston made it clear that he intends to stay at Notre Dame. Elston, who also serves as Notre Dame’s recruiting coordinator, was asked Wednesday why he decided to stay.

“At the end of the day,” Elston said, “my family is the most important thing in my life.”

Elston, a father of three daughters, didn’t like the idea of moving his family out of South Bend when his children are at such important stages in their lives. His eldest daughter is a junior in high school. His middle daughter, an eighth grader, has taken to fencing, which likely wouldn’t have happened if not for Notre Dame’s successful program.

With Elston’s hire, presumptive defensive line coach hire, Ryan Osborn — who was rumored to be departing for UConn after the regular season — will remain in his analyst role.

Elston called plays as interim defensive coordinator for Notre Dame in the bowl game.

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Tagovailola-Amosa accepts Shrine Bowl invitation

How much will you miss watching MTA?

Myron Tagovailola-Amosa (MTA) will be officially be playing his final game for Notre Dame in Saturday’s Fiesta Bowl as the defensive end has accepted an invitation to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl.  Notre Dame’s official Twitter account made the announcement on Wednesday.

MTA is a fifth-year senior but has a year of eligibility remaining due to the COVID year the NCAA put into place for all players in 2020.

MTA finished this regular season with 20 tackles, a pair of sacks, and a fumble return for a touchdown that will go down as one of the greatest senior day memories in recent Notre Dame memory.

Related:

Photos from Notre Dame’s Tuesday Fiesta Bowl practice

What to know about Oklahoma State

Shuffling on offensive line for Notre Dame ahead of Fiesta Bowl

Ryan Day’s offer to Marcus Freeman

What possible names could Brent Venables fill the defensive line coaching position with at Oklahoma?

Here’s a look at five names of coaches the Oklahoma Sooners should reach out to for their next defensive line coach.

We took time to compose a list of names Sooners head coach Brent Venables could reach out to regarding Oklahoma’s current vacancy for a cornerbacks’ coach.

Now, it’s time we address the other opening on Oklahoma’s staff: defensive line or defensive tackles coach. Miguel Chavis will be handle defensive ends.

The role previously belonged to Calvin Thibodeaux, a former player who returned to his alma mater to coach for the Sooners. Thibodeaux was responsible for being the lead recruiter on Ronnie Perkins, Perrion Winfrey, Reggie Grimes, Isaiah Thomas and Josh Ellison among others.

After not being retained by Venables, for whom he played while at Oklahoma, he has taken the same position at SMU.

Thibodeaux was a valuable asset for the Sooners. He recruited well and for his efforts, was named one of the Rivals’ top-25 recruiters of 2018 and ’19. His players loved him. He had landed the commitment of a top-10 ranked player, Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy, who decommitted and signed with Texas A&M.

Who replaces Thibodeaux for Oklahoma? Let’s take a look.

Notre Dame officially names Marcus Freeman head coach

The #Freemanera has officially begun.

The first domino to fall in Notre Dame’s head coaching search went down Wednesday night as offensive coordinator Tommy Rees did his best impression of “The Wolf of Wall Street” and declared he was coming back.

Seemingly no time later reports that Marcus Freeman would be the next Notre Dame head coach came out.  On Friday morning Notre Dame made it official as they announced Freeman as the 30th head football coach in program history.

Freeman spent one year as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator while previously spending time at Cincinnati, Purdue, and Kent State.  The former Ohio State linebacker also served as a graduate assistant for the Buckeyes under Jim Tressel.

Freeman is a rising star in the coaching ranks and is a star recruiter.  The biggest concern upon is his lack of head coaching experience and that’s something that makes me uneasy as well, but him taking this job now, especially with the strong assistant coaches who have opted to return to Notre Dame instead of follow Brian Kelly to LSU.

Freeman’s introductory press conference will come at 2 p.m. ET on Monday.

Stay tuned to Fighting Irish Wire for everything related to the Freeman hire!

Related Links:

Twitter reaction to Notre Dame’s hiring of Marcus Freeman

5 reasons Marcus Freeman is the right man for the Notre Dame job

Photos: New Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman through the years

Reasons why Marcus Freeman is the right choice for Notre Dame

Freeman has a lot going for him

It has yet to become official but it seems like on Friday the Irish will announce defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman as the successor to Brian Kelly. In my estimation, this is a home run hire, dating back to when Kelly sniped Freeman from Cincinnati. There has been major chances to the program and the future looks insanely bright. Here are reasons why I believe Freeman is absolutely the correct choice for the Irish.

Notre Dame Football Coaching Staff Tracker

What Notre Dame coaches are coming and going in wake of Freeman hire?

When Brian Kelly left Notre Dame for LSU the fear among Fighting Irish faithful was that he’d be taking a good amount of assistant coaches with him.  By doing so that would sting Notre Dame both in the present and in the future as not only coaches would theoretically leave and then current players and recruits would perhaps follow the coaches they have close relationships with as well.

That may have been the fear but so far it’s certainly not the case as to what has happened as one by one more Notre Dame assistants have been reported to be staying on the coaching staff as we await the University to confirm the reports of Marcus Freeman being the next head football coach.

If Kelly thought he’d be able to bring a good amount of the staff with him, so far it’s gone for him about as well as it did for Jerry MaGuire when he left to start his own agency.

Here are what we know so far in regards to Notre Dame’s staff and who is returning and who we do not yet know:

Longtime Kelly assistant Mike Elston staying with Notre Dame

The defensive line coach is staying, too.

Brian Kelly reportedly tried to lure both Marcus Freeman and Tommy Rees with him to LSU, but to no avail. The two decided South Bend was where they wanted to be, and Freeman even was named Kelly’s replacement. Now, it appears defensive line coach Mike Elston, whose days with Kelly go back to Cincinnati, doesn’t want to pull up stake either:

Elston, who also serves as the Irish’s run game and recruiting coordinator, is the latest in a series of assistant coaches who have chosen not to follow their old boss to Baton Rouge. Based on everything that has transpired quicker than anyone could have anticipated, everyone who coached below Kelly feels more at home than Kelly apparently did. It’s going to make Kelly’s effort in rounding out his LSU staff all the more interesting.

The remaining coaches at Notre Dame seem like a family, and it’s only fitting that they want to keep that family together for as long as possible.

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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 enters mix for top ‘22 California defensive tackle

The Irish were late to the party, but have already made a very positive impression

It might have seemed like California defensive tackle Hero Kanu knew a Notre Dame offer was on it’s way. Why? Well, when Kanu dropped his top-10 schools on Friday morning, oddly there were only 9 schools included in that group.

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The Irish weren’t included but made their presence known in his recruitment by offering Kanu a scholarship yesterday. Early this morning, the highly thought of interior defensive lineman and an addition to his 9 schools, the addition of Notre Dame.

Behind the offer was defensive line coach Mike Elston along with head coach Brian Kelly, who both were on the call when Kanu was officially offered by the Irish. They joined the likes of Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Georgia and others in the race for Kanu’s signature.

Even thought the Irish entered late into the mix for Kanu, his actions show that there is definitely a chance for him to end up in South Bend.

If Kelly and Elston are able to convince Kanu to schedule an official visit, there is potential the Irish could steal him from his other top schools. Hopefully that is the case, as Kanu would be a difference maker on Notre Dame’s defensive line.

Notre Dame makes offer to defensive end recruit Kennedy McDowell

Another defensive end recruit is offered by Notre Dame.

Earlier this week, Notre Dame made an offer to strong-side defensive end recruit Nigel Smith. Now, the Irish have decided it’s time to continue shoring up that position for the future. Mike Elston had a conversation with Kennedy McDowell of Memorial in Frisco, Texas, and it led to an offer. From the sound of this tweet, it appears McDowell is serious about both the athletic and academic side of his collegiate career:

Only seven programs have made offers to McDowell, so it’s obviously early in the recruiting process for him. At this point, the other schools competing for his services are Vanderbilt, Arizona State, Kansas, FIU, Colorado and SMU.

In addition to playing football, McDowell recently was a state qualifier in the 110-meter hurdles. It’s safe to say that whoever lands him is going to be getting quite an athlete. Opposing offenses are going to have to keep a close eye on him because this is a kid meant to compete at the next level and make big plays to boot.