Mike Denbrock admits he was close to contract extension at LSU

New Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock made a big move this offseason, leaving LSU to join the Fighting Irish staff. The move, it turns out, wasn’t necessarily always in the offing.

Speaking to reporters ahead of Notre Dame spring practice, Denbrock shared that he and LSU had agreed on terms for a new contract that was waiting for approval. Then Notre Dame swooped in.

“It was pretty close,” Denbrock said. “We had agreed on terms of a new three-year contract. It was waiting for board approval and those types of things. The timing just happened to work out in our favor.” 

Denbrock was the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach for the first two years of Brian Kelly’s tenure in Baton Rouge. The two have coached together frequently since working together as graduate assistants on the Grand Valley State staff in the late 1980s.

Prior to LSU, Denbrock’s most recent experience with Kelly was when the latter was head coach at Notre Dame. Denbrock served in a number of offensive assistant roles, including as offensive coordinator in 2014. He moved on to be the offensive coordinator and coach a number of positions at Cincinnati from 2017-2021, including the Bearcats trip to the CFP.

And after two years reunited with Kelly, Denbrock thinks the two were at a firm understanding of the opportunity and why Denbrock took it, even if Kelly would’ve preferred a different outcome.

“We’re friends and have always been friends,” Denbrock said. “We have a relationship that spans over 30 some years. That won’t change. I don’t know that he was real happy with my decision, but I think he understood it. He knows the reasons why. But I have a lot of respect for Brian. I consider him a friend and always will.” 

Denbrock shared some insights into the hiring process

Denbrock likely thought he was returning to Baton Rouge to start the offseason. That was until he had some key conversations with Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and his wife. Then the possibility of returning to South Bend to coach the Fighting Irish once again started to become a possibility.

“When it did happen, the phone rang and we just kind of were talking back and forth a little bit. [Freeman] mentioned the possibility, and he said why don’t you talk to [your wife] about it. So I went home and we talked about it a little bit. I didn’t know really how serious it was at that point,” Denbrock admitted.

Following a reunion with Kelly, Denbrock will now be making another reunion with Notre Dame, deciding to return to the program for a third time as the Fighting Irish’s offensive coordinator.

“And then over the course of a week or so it became more serious. And then it got really serious. I talked to Jack Swarbrick and some other people and it ended up being what we felt like was the right decision to make for our family,” Denbrock said.