Notre Dame football strength coach Matt Balis resigns from position
Notre Dame football strength and conditioning coach Matt Balis has resigned from his position after six seasons, the university announced Tuesday afternoon. Notre Dame’s press release said Balis stepped down from his post, effective immediately, for personal reasons.
“I want to thank Coach Balis for all of the work he put into elevating our program,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said in a statement. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for who he is as a coach and a man.
“While there is never a perfect time to lose a valuable teammate, we are thankful that Coach Balis was able to see us through our summer program and have our players physically prepared to head into the upcoming season.”
Freeman said Fred Hale will serve as the team’s strength and conditioning coach in the interim. Hale graduated with a bachelor’s of science in exercise science from Mercyhurst University in 2011, his master’s in the same discipline from the same school in 2012 and has been a trusted assistant to Balis for a few years now. He worked at Eastern Michigan for seven years before arriving at Notre Dame.
Notre Dame begins fall camp Wednesday. Balis was always a staple at Irish practices, vociferously leading the players through a series of warmups and stretches before the bulk of the sessions began. Hale tended to be right there with him.
Now, he will be the lead voice.
“We have an innovative sports performance team who collaborated with Coach Balis and me in designing our program and Fred will continue to implement that plan,” Freeman said.
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Balis was more than just a strength coach for Notre Dame. When the Irish made the transition from Brian Kelly to Freeman in December 2021, it was Balis who first introduced Freeman to Irish players as the program’s head coach. Back in 2017, he was a key reason Notre Dame went 10-3 in response to a dismal 4-8 season in 2016. In the six seasons Balis was on staff, the Irish turned in a 63-14 (.818) record.
Eight days ago, Notre Dame released a social media hype video narrated by Balis.
Balis joined offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand and special teams coordinator Brian Mason as major Notre Dame assistants to not return for the 2023 season. Rees went to Alabama, Hiestand retired and Mason took a job in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts.
Balis previously said Notre Dame was a destination job. He started his coaching career at Houston in 2001 after graduating from Northern Illinois in 1996. He also coached at Utah (2003-04), Florida (2005-06), Virginia (2007-08), Mississippi State (2009-13) and UConn (2014-16) before getting to South Bend. His first gig as the primary strength coach was at UVA.
Notre Dame begins the 2023 campaign in Week 0 vs. Navy at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 26. Freeman went 9-4 in his first season as head coach, rebounding from an 0-2 start by rattling off nine wins in the Irish’s final 11 games. Notre Dame beat South Carolina, 45-38, in the Gator Bowl. Last year was the only one in which the Irish did not win at least 10 games in the half dozen years Balis was on staff.
