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Notre Dame announces hiring of Harry Hiestand as offensive line coach

On3 imageby:Patrick Engel•01/24/22•

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Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Harry Hiestand is signed, sealed and delivered as Notre Dame’s offensive line coach.

Notre Dame announced Hiestand’s hiring Monday, officially bringing him on board for his second stint in the job after his early January agreement to take it. Re-hiring Hiestand had been Notre Dame’s likely outcome at offensive line coach since late December.

Hiestand replaces Jeff Quinn, who held the job the last four seasons and was not retained amid the Brian Kelly to Marcus Freeman head-coaching transition. Quinn had succeeded Hiestand following the latter’s 2017 departure to be the Chicago Bears’ offensive line coach after six seasons at Notre Dame.

“Harry built the standard of excellence for the Notre Dame offensive line and we are excited to have him back in our program,” Freeman said in a statement. “Our focus is on player development and pushing our players to reach their full potential and that is where Harry excels.”

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Hiestand, 63, has been out of coaching since parting ways with the Bears at the end of the 2019 season. He was also the Bears’ offensive line coach from 2005-09. He spent 2010-11 at Tennessee before Notre Dame hired him for the first time.

Hiestand coached offensive lines in college or the NFL every season from 1988-2019. His other stops were Illinois (1997-2004), Missouri (1994-96), Cincinnati (1989-1993) and Toledo (1988-89). He was also the Bearcats’ offensive coordinator.

Notre Dame has produced nine offensive line NFL Draft picks since 2014, and Hiestand recruited and/or coached all of them in his first tour with the Irish. He was a key figure in restoring the Irish’s offensive line to prominence after a steady decline in the 2000s. He’s back in part because the team’s 2021 offensive line was below average by its standards and a liability for the first month of the year.

Hiestand inherits a unit that returns all but two 2021 members, including graduate student center and three-year starter Jarrett Patterson. Notre Dame has signed 10 offensive linemen the last two years, and seven of them were four-star recruits.

As it stands, the only departures from the 2021 offensive line are starting right guard Cain Madden (out of eligibility) and backup tackle Quinn Carroll (transfer). Patterson bypassed the draft to return for a graduate season. Josh Lugg, whose 20 career starts are spread across three total positions, came back for a sixth year. Hiestand recruited him and coached him as a freshman in 2017. He started 12 games at right tackle last year.

The line returns four starters, but that’s not counting sophomore-to-be Blake Fisher, who was the opening day left tackle but suffered a meniscus injury that game. He did not return until the Fiesta Bowl, when he started in place of an injured Lugg. All told, eight players who started at least one game in 2021 are set to return for 2022.

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