I am by no means a fan of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football program, and I never have been, but when the head coach of the team you’ve worked for since you began college leaves to go coach there, it’s tough to not pay attention to the happenings in South Bend.
Brian Kelly's departure for Notre Dame made many Cincinnati fans angry (Cincinnati Enquirer photo)
Earlier today ESPN.com Big East (and Notre Dame) blogger Brian Bennett posted a Q and A with Notre Dame offensive coordinator Charlie Molnar. Molnar talked about the struggles the Irish have had installing a new offensive system.
Ex-head coach Charlie Weis favored a pro style attack whereas new head man Brian Kelly loves to air the ball out. Molnar coached wide receivers at Cincinnati, so the offensive attack is nothing new, but his position is.
“We didn’t keep anything,” Molnar told Bennett. “We didn’t even ask what the previous staff did. We’re putting in our system. And of course with coach Kelly, we’re always looking to evolve the offense based on our personnel and based on things that occurred to us the previous season, and we’re always adjusting.”
This idea is contrary to the one Kelly and his staff instituted when they came to Cincinnati before the inaugural International Bowl in 2007. Kelly put some of his plays in, but tried to retain some of the previous regime’s schemes. He won the trust of players. But, Molnar says don’t expect the same this season.
“The 2010 Notre Dame offense will not look like the 2009 Cincinnati offense. There will be some evolving going on here,” he said.
But evolution doesn’t mean Molnar won’t compare some of his current players to guys he coached in Cincinnati. “Michael Floyd is a special player and very, very similar to Armon Binns, who we had at Cincinnati,” he said. “Both are big, physical players who can go up over a DB to get the football.”
Binns (wearing 80) was a consistent producer for the Bearcats last season. Notre Dame's Michael Floyd could see the same success as Binns under Molnar's tutelage (Cincinnati Enquirer photo)
At Cincinnati, Molnar was just one piece of a puzzle that led the Bearcats to two consecutive Big East titles and BCS Bowl berths. Now, he feels he has a better job.
“I really feel like I’ve got the best assistant’s job in the country,” he said.
The pressure will be on Molnar and Kelly to put together an offensive system that works, something that has eluded Notre Dame the past few years. After all, that’ just one reason Molnar has the best job in the country.
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