Alford on Joining the Notre Dame Staff
Here’s what Notre Dame’s new running backs coach Tony Alford had to say about joining the Irish staff.
“Notre Dame is the epitome of college football,” Alford said. “To join a place with the tradition and history of Notre Dame is very exciting and I’m grateful to Coach Weis for extending me this tremendous opportunity.
“I have several people in my life that I greatly respect and use as sounding boards for important life decisions such as changing jobs. When this position opened, I counseled with those individuals and they were as enthusiastic about this opportunity as I am. I am very flattered that Coach Weis considered me for this post and my family and I are thrilled to join the Notre Dame family.”
Pretty much just some coachspeak for now, but I’ll be very interested to hear his first press conference to see what he says about the talent he now has to work with.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
Jason:
I’m not sure I agree with you that Tony was hired for his reputation as a recruiter more than anything. He did a pretty good job coaching running backs at Iowa State and, just as importantly, he coached the kickoff return unit with great success. He had 1,000 yard rushers seven straight years and his return team was nationally ranked.
His reputation as a recruiter is, in my opinion, still suspect. Iowa State and Louisville aren’t exactly WOW schools that entice recruits to come. In fact Tony has not recruited anyone over 3 stars for Louisville.
I’m thinking his ability to coach running backs and return men is the primary reason for his hire. He has pretty much been a running backs coach his whole career which tells me this is what he knows. If he turns out to be a good recruiter, then that will be an added benefit.
apparentlty he was hired because of his reputation as a recruiter more than anything else. i wish himthe best of luck because the better he and verducci are, then the better the team will be. hopefully we can get some more updates on how the team is doing in recruiting as we near signing day.