Brian Kelly didn’t want to talk about any coaching changes on Wednesday. But he’ll have plenty of things to talk about next time he addresses the media.
Multiple reports have finalized Todd Lyght‘s return to South Bend, where he’ll join Kelly’s coaching staff as Kerry Cooks’ replacement. The South Bend Tribune’s Eric Hansen caught up with Lou Holtz to get his take on the move. Holtz was understandably excited.
Tim Prister at Irish Illustrated reached out to some of Lyght’s college teammates at Notre Dame. All said great things as well.
On Friday, more coaching rumors continued to swirl. Defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder‘s name reemerged in Oakland, where Jack Del Rio was deciding upon a defensive coordinator for his new staff. VanGorder worked with Del Rio in Carolina, one of his first professional jobs, and a report out of Oakland had him one of two candidates.
A source inside the program denied that VanGorder was going anywhere. Similar reports surfaced with the Chicago Tribune as well. Hours later, word broke that Ken Norton would be taking the job, leaving VanGorder to coordinate his second season in South Bend.
While VanGorder is staying, quarterback coach Matt LaFleur is going. He’ll be heading back to the NFL to join Kyle Shanahan’s offensive staff under Dan Quinn. LaFleur worked with Shanahan in both Houston and Washington and will be joined by his brother in Atlanta.
Irish 247 caught up with Brandon Wimbush’s mother, as LaFleur was instrumental in recruiting the quarterback to South Bend. In a story that seems to be taking place all over the country right now as coaches move from program to program with Signing Day complete, Heather Wimbush took a philosophical approach.
How Kelly replaces LaFleur will be interesting. It’s fairly obvious to say that Kelly didn’t expect to hire LaFleur as a quarterback coach -- a decision he put plenty of time into -- with the expectations of losing him just a season later to the NFL.
Kelly also assigned LaFleur a premium state for recruiting, getting lukewarm results from the young assistant. In his first stint covering California, LaFleur and the Irish landed just Equanimeous St. Brown, missing on a handful of other targets.
Expect Mike Denbrock, hopefully much healthier after a bout with cancer, to return to the West Coast. Or expect the hiring opportunity to be a chance to find a recruiter with ties to either California or Texas, where Kerry Cooks led the efforts.
For now, that’s all that seems to be out there that’s official. But it’s rumor season and there are still job vacancies to be filled -- like Ohio State’s running backs spot and the head coaching position at Central Michigan, where former Chippewas assistant Mike Elston could surface as a candidate.