Tony Alford Named RB Coach
Another one of the vacant coaching positions on the Irish staff was filled on Monday when the University announced that Louisville running back coach Tony Alford would be joining the Irish staff in the same capacity.
Here’s what Weis had to say of hiring Alford via the official release announcing the hire.
“I’m very happy to add Tony Alford to our staff,” Weis said. “In talking with several sources at the college and NFL levels for suggestions the first name that came up was Tony’s. He came highly recommended because of his tremendous reputation as both a running backs coach and as a recruiter and is a great addition to our program.
“For the past 22 years, Tony has either played running back or coached running backs and the experience and knowledge gained over that time will definitely benefit our current and future ball carriers.
Advertisement“We look forward to a smooth transition and welcome Tony and his family to the Notre Dame family.”
Alford brings 14 years of experience as a running backs coach at the following schools – Louisville (2007-08), Iowa State (2002-06 and 1997-2000), Washington (2001), Kent State (1996) and Mount Union (1995). Since getting into coaching in 1995, Alford has only been a running backs coach. Every team Alford has coached for has produced very good college running backs with the highlight being Willie Hurst and his 2,000 yard rushing season in 2000 for Washington.
Alford will be replacing Mike Haywood who left for the Miami (Ohio) head coaching position last month, but there was no mention of Alford taking over Haywood’s vacated offensive coordinator title as well.
This looks like a pretty solid hire by Notre Dame. I’ll have some more on this in a bit.
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
Frankie V,
If you get any insight as the the Winter workouts please let us know. We’ll know if the RBs and O-linemen are feeling challenged. The spring game won’t show much, hopefully. I say that because if the offense is running well, they’ll hide the good stuff. If the offense is a mess, we’ll know. I don’t expect this line to learn to blow holes in a defense in three months and only a few weeks of actual football practice.
i dont know much about this guy other than what i read in his bio. i really thought they would go after with someone with alot more experience. of all the openings in the staff this is probably the least relavent in my opinion. hopefully we can get someone with a great reputation and lots of experience for our d line and o coordinator spots.