Report: Notre Dame lands on new director of scouting from West Virginia
The exodus of Tommy Rees from his alma mater to Alabama this offseason brought with it a vacancy in Notre Dame’s director of scouting role. That was previously held by Rees’ father, Bill Rees.
Four and a half months after Rees went to Tuscaloosa, Notre Dame has selected West Virginia’s Matt Jansen has its new director of scouting. John Brice of FootballScoop was the first to report the news Tuesday morning. Jansen held the title of director of personnel and scouting in Morgantown.
Jansen had been on staff at West Virginia since 2019, meaning he overlapped with current Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker there in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Jansen had a rapid ascent at WVU, beginning as a player personnel and recruiting assistant before being promoted to assistant director of scouting and ultimately the top dog in that area.
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Jansen knows what he’s looking for when it comes to talent. He was the Houston Texans’ college scouting coordinator from 2015-18. He served as a cross checker for schools in 11 states in addition to day-to-day operational duties for the college scouting department. He visited more than 30 schools per year when taking into account actual games and pro days.
Jansen isn’t just limited to scouting. He’s advanced as a pure football mind, which will greatly benefit a second-year head coach in Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman. With the Texans, Jansen assisted pro personnel staff with preseason scouting, practice squad evaluations, opponent advances, free agency and yearlong team evaluations according to his bio on the West Virginia football website.
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Jansen’s most recent stint with the Texans was his second. He first got into the professional ranks as a scouting intern in Houston from 2011-13. That landed him a player personnel assistant position with the Baltimore Ravens from 2013-15 before he went back to the Lone Star State. Texas has always been kind to Jansen; he graduated from Texas Tech in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise and sport sciences. He was a student assistant football coach from 2006-11.
Given Jansen’s timeline at Texas Tech, he would have served under the late Mike Leach. Leach, who unexpectedly passed away this past December at the age of 61, was the head coach at Texas Tech from 2000-09. He led the Red Raiders to just their third 11-win season in program history in 2008. That season included an upset of No. 1 Texas, which is perhaps the biggest victory Texas Tech has ever had.
Jansen has been around the block as an assistant in college and pro ball in the last two decades. He’s an excellent addition to the Notre Dame staff.
