Mike Denbrock recalls hiring process at Notre Dame

Mike Denbrock was comfortable in The Bayou following two seasons as LSU‘s offensive coordinator, establishing himself as one of the best play callers in the nation after the Tigers led all of college football in yards and points per game in 2023. .

“Everything was kind of settling in,” Denbrock said. “I had some other discussions with a couple other opportunities that didn’t seem like the right thing to do because of just liking where I was and enjoying where we were living.”

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.

Between 2002 and 2004 Denbrock coached Notre Dame’s tight ends and offensive tackles, spending three seasons on Tyrone Willingham‘s staff until Willingham was fired following the 2004 season.

After making stops at Washington and Indiana State Denbrock would return to Notre Dame and would serve in a multitude of roles during a seven-year run with the Fighting Irish. Coaching tight ends and wide receivers while also serving as an assistant head coach and offensive coordinator under Brian Kelly before heading to Cincinnati in 2017.

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.

Denbrock was announced as Notre Dame’s new OC about two weeks after former Duke quarterback Riley Leonard committed to the Fighting Irish. With Notre Dame fans hoping that Denbrock can work the same magic he did with reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels with their new dual-threat QB ahead of the 2024 season.