Marcus Freeman explains why Mike Denbrock was his top target as Notre Dame's OC

Mike Denbrock was at the top of the list for Marcus Freeman when he set out in his search for the next Notre Dame offensive coordinator. Thankfully, he didn’t need to look at any other options as Denbrock agreed to leave his current job at LSU to return to South Bend.

Denbrock previously worked on the Fighting Irish staff from 2010-16 in a variety of roles, including offensive coordinator. He also worked with Freeman at Cincinnati as the offensive coordinator from 2017-20.

That familiarity with both Freeman and the Notre Dame program was a big reason why Denbrock was the perfect fit, Freeman explained to On3‘s Andy Staples.

“As soon as Gerad Parker decided to take the Troy head coaching job, he was No. 1 on my list,” Freeman said. “I was able to kind of look through the top offensive coordinators in college and NFL that I believed would fit here at Notre Dame. Mike Denbrock was at the top. Then our familiarity of knowing each other from working with each other at Cincinnati was tremendous.”

Denbrock helped LSU to rank as the No. 1 scoring offense in the country this past season behind Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels. That provides excitement as he prepares to take over a Fighting Irish offense that added Duke transfer QB Riley Leonard this offseason.

Leonard showed off his dual-threat ability with the Blue Devils this past season to rush for 352 yards and four touchdowns. Notre Dame saw his talent firsthand when he threw for 134 yards and a touchdown while adding 88 yards rushing in a 21-14 loss this past season.

Leonard helped Duke get off to a 5-1 start but ultimately played in only seven games as he battled injury throughout the year. Now that he’s back healthy, Freeman is eager to see how Denbrock builds the offense around him.

“I knew if I could get coach Denbrock to come here and to really lead our offense that we would have a lot of success on that side of the ball,” he said. “I’m pleased with everything he’s done and implemented here.”

The Fighting Irish ranked as the No. 7 scoring offense and No. 29 total offense this past season and will aim to maintain those numbers in 2024. With Denbrock leading the charge and promising transfers coming in such as Leonard and receiver Kris Mitchell, Freeman believes they can.

Mike Denbrock will get the first opportunity to show Notre Dame fans what he’s cooking up on offense at the spring game on April 20.