College football insider reveals how talks fell apart between Notre Dame, Andy Ludwig

The quest to replace Tommy Rees has been an interesting one at Notre Dame. Although Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig was on campus this week, he’s staying in Salt Lake City — with his $2 million buyout at the focus, according to reports.

However, ESPN reporter Heather Dinich said paying the buyout wasn’t necessarily the issue. Ludwig changed his mind.

“They had two coaches that they were really interested in for their offensive coordinator position: Collin Klein at K-State, the offensive coordinator, and Andy Ludwig, the offensive coordinator at Utah. Brought both of those assistant coaches in for interviews, and they both fizzled,” Dinich said on The Paul Finebaum Show. “There was strong interest on the part of Notre Dame in both of those coaches, the latest was Andy Ludwig and that fell apart this weekend.

“My sources at Notre Dame told me that they were willing to pay the buyout, but by the time it all got figured out, Ludwig got cold feet and apparently, he’s got a great deal at Utah, and that’s where that stood.”

With Klein and Ludwig out of the running, Notre Dame could look internally for its next offensive coordinator. The Fighting Irish hired Wisconsin assistant Gino Guidugli to be the new quarterbacks coach, and tight ends coach Gerad Parker had a strong interview, Dinich said.

Still, the search is still going.

“My sources have told me an internal candidate — their tight ends coach, Gerad Parker — just crushed an interview, a formal interview, on Tuesday,” Dinich said. “He’s put himself in a very strong position, but the interview process is ongoing. At this point, Paul, with the twists and turns this coaching search has taken, I’m not filing anything to our news desk until it’s a done deal.”

Heather Dinich: ‘I do sense a lot of public backlash’ after Notre Dame’s failed pursuit of Andy Ludwig

Notre Dame fans made their thoughts abundantly clear about the Ludwig situation, especially since he was seen at a hockey game alongside Marcus Freeman. Dinich said she’s seen the reaction first-hand in her Twitter mentions, but added the plan could be changing in the wake of offensive line coach Harry Hiestand’s decision to retire.

It only adds to the magnitude of the hire for Freeman ahead of his second season at the helm.

“I do sense a lot of public backlash, and there’s been a lot on my Twitter account in response to some of the things that have been reported and the way the search has gone,” Dinich said. “But at the same time, I know through reporting that Notre Dame has done its due diligence on this process. We’ll see where it winds up and who they ultimately hire. Their offensive line coach also recently announced his retirement, so they’ve got to find a replacement there.

“The whole philosophy in this interview process has shifted because when you look at Klein at K-State, I mean, he’s a young coach and that’s a quarterback focus. But the main focus for Notre Dame is finding somebody who’s going to implement and maintain that pro-style offense. Look, whatever it is — whoever it is, I should say — is going to impact the trajectory of Marcus Freeman’s career. This is a huge hire for him. I get the sense within the program they all realize that. You would think that he’s doing his best to find the right person and continue to build on what happened last year because obviously, there’s momentum in the right direction, but they also know they’ve got a lot of work to do, particularly on offense.”