When Notre Dame announced Brian Kelly‘s reshuffled coaching staff, one name many expected to be part of the release wasn’t. Former Buffalo head coach Jeff Quinn—an offensive coordinator and line coach for Kelly for decades—had been long rumored for a staff position, but wasn’t part of Kelly’s reshuffled team of assistants.
But after the hiring of Mike Sanford and Autry Denson for the open jobs on the offensive side of the ball, the natural fit (and likely contractual necessities for the recently fired head coach) made Quinn’s position with Notre Dame better suited for an off-field staff role.
As the Irish went to work during their first spring practice, Quinn was there. But he was working as an offensive analyst, a growing piece of Kelly’s football staff, and a reflection of Notre Dame’s efforts to keep up with the growing infrastructure of college football’s elite.
After practice, Kelly detailed Quinn’s role with the Irish this year.
“Jeff’s on the offensive side of the ball. He’ll be working as an analyst for us,” Kelly explained. “He’ll have a myriad of different things that he’ll be responsible for. Different projects on the offensive side of the ball, which we’ll detail out.”
After letting two experienced assistants go to top programs—Kerry Cooks to Oklahoma, Tony Alford to Ohio State—many wondered if this was a sign that Notre Dame wasn’t willing to compete for top-end coaching talent.
But the addition of guys like Quinn to the staff, joined in an off-field role by veteran Bob Elliott, make it clear that Kelly and athletic director Jack Swarbrick are likely just choosing to utilize their resources better instead of paying position coaches more and more money.
That meant fitting Quinn onto a staff that didn’t really have a spot, with Harry Hiestand embedded as the offensive line coach, Mike Denbrock “promoted” to associate head coach and Sanford joining as the new offensive coordinator and quarterback coach.
“Jeff obviously is somebody I have a great deal of respect for and we’ve worked together for over 25 years,” Kelly continued. As we move forward, he’ll have different responsibilities in terms of offensive oversight. It could be from a game plan perspective...Just more brain power in the room is what we’re looking for. A lot of experience, so it’s great to have him on staff with us.”
Kelly also announced that the Irish have a new special teams analyst, with Pryce Tracy moving into the role after spending last year in a recruiting and personnel role. Tracy spent a year with the Alabama program in 2011 and two years as a coach at South Bend’s Clay High School before joining Notre Dame’s program in 2013.
Kelly announced Notre Dame will be bringing in a defensive analyst as well, though one hasn’t been hired yet.
