Jan. 7, 2010

On coming to Notre Dame:
“Growing up in New Jersey, Notre Dame was always the team my family followed. During my 26 years of coaching, coming to Notre Dame was an obvious goal of mine. To me, I have the best job in the country, being an assistant football coach at Notre Dame. That’s the bottom line. I have the best job in the country. I truly feel that way right now. There is not a school or professional team in the country that could call me up and get me to go there. This is where I want to be.”

On the factors that went into his decision to come to Notre Dame:
“Coach Kelly just had to ask. That was the only factor. I said to him, ‘How fast can I get there?’ That was really it. No other thoughts entered my mind. This was my dream job.”

On what he has learned from Brian Kelly over the last four years:
“Never be afraid to take risks. Everything we do both on the field and off the field that others may perceive as risky or out of the box is always very calculated. The other thing I admire about Coach Kelly is once he makes a decision he never looks back. He goes full speed ahead after he makes the call. He’ll listen to the information from the people that he trusts, make a decision and stick with it. I think that’s a great trait.”

On how his familiarity with Brian Kelly’s offensive system will help the Irish:
“I think it should be a seamless transition as I have detailed knowledge of everything this system has and will have. I certainly have a great comfort level with Coach Kelly’s offense and look forward to helping to implement it with our team.”

On what fans can expect from Notre Dame’s offense:
“We’ll run a spread offense that operates at a high tempo. Our players will play hard and they will be fundamentally sound. We’ll be a team that will push the ball down the field through the vertical passing game but also understand the importance of having an effective rushing attack.”

On his history of coaching quarterbacks:
“I’m a very fundamental coach when it comes to footwork and throwing mechanics. I’d like to think that quarterbacks under my guidance have improved dramatically over time. When we first get the quarterbacks, we’ll try to just teach them the system and have them play within it. As they mature and get a better grasp of what we do, then we will allow spontaneity.”

On his coaching personality and what the offensive players can expect from him:
“I think they are going to see that I’m very consistent in my approach to football and how I work every day. I bring a lot of energy to the field each day. I’m a very demanding coach. I have a picture in our mind of the right way to do things and I am constantly stressing those things. For us to be a timed-pass offense, we have to be very detailed in our approach so everyone is in the right place at the right time.”

On his recruiting history:
“Over the last 26 years I have consistently recruited New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but also in the last 15 years I also have spent a lot of time in the state of Ohio, particularly in the northeast part of the state.”

On his immediate plans:
“For the remainder of today I’ll be immersed in studying our committed football players and also other players that we are recruiting that have not committed to Notre Dame. We’ll also be making my travel plans for what prospects I plan to visit in the very near future. By dinner tonight, I expect to be on a plane heading somewhere to see some guys we need to attract to Notre Dame.”