Jeff Quinn Joins Notre Dame Coaching Staff

Before the dust settled on what turned out to be the biggest shakeup of the Notre Dame coaching staff under Brian Kelly, rumors swirled that former University of Buffalo head coach and one time Brian Kelly disciple Jeff Quinn could be the next Notre Dame offensive coordinator.  That obviously didn’t happen, but we did learn on Wednesday that Quinn will be joining Kelly’s staff as an analyst.

“He’ll be working for us an an analyst on the offensive side of the ball,” Kelly said on Wednesday.   We’ll have a myriad of things he’ll be responsible for and different projects on the offensive side of the ball which we’ll detail out.”

Quinn’s history with Kelly and the experience he brings to the staff was the reason that Kelly wanted his former offensive coordinator at Cincinnati joining his retooled staff.  “Jeff is obviously someone that I have a great deal of respect for and we’ve worked together for over 25 years.  As we move forward he’ll have different responsibilities in terms of oversight.  It could be from a game plan perspective certain things looking at detailed items that i put together for him, but just more brain power in the room is what we’re looking for.”

The position is an off the field position, but is not one that should be overlooked.  Adding Quinn to the offensive staff is further evidence that Brian Kelly is serious about getting the Notre Dame offense to finally reach its full potential this year.  It’s also further evidence that Kelly is open to having more feedback on the Irish offense – not just someone to run his offense.

When Kelly brought in Mike Sanford, an up and coming rising offensive mind in college football, it was a clear deviation from the direction he took in previous coordinators.  Previously, at least from the outside, it appeared as though Kelly gave his coordinators the keys to the car but gave them gave them pretty clear directions.  The addition of Sanford gave the perception at least that Kelly was giving someone else the keys and getting out of their way.

Adding another strong offensive mind like Quinn is another indication that Kelly will do whatever he can this off-season in order for the Notre Dame offense – which did score points in bunches but couldn’t hold on to the football – to to truly reach elite status.

When you look at the Notre Dame offensive coaching staff, there are now three coaches with coordinator experience in Sanford, Quinn, and last year’s offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock.  If those three offensive minds can combine with Kelly’s, the result could be a prolific offense.  Of course, there is also the risk that there could now be too many cooks in the kitchen and that many coaches with coordinator or high experience will have a tough time all working together.

Considering Quinn’s many years of experience with Kelly, the too many cooks in the kitchen possibility shouldn’t be an issue.  Quinn had to know full well what he was stepping into and his addition, while a welcomed addition that will only help Notre Dame, is also most likely being done as much for Kelly to help Quinn build his resume back up until he gets another head coaching opportunity.