Another one of the vacant coaching positions on the Irish staff was filled on Monday when the University announced that Louisville running back coach Tony Alford would be joining the Irish staff in the same capacity.
Here’s what Weis had to say of hiring Alford via the official release announcing the hire.
“I’m very happy to add Tony Alford to our staff,” Weis said. “In talking with several sources at the college and NFL levels for suggestions the first name that came up was Tony’s. He came highly recommended because of his tremendous reputation as both a running backs coach and as a recruiter and is a great addition to our program.
“For the past 22 years, Tony has either played running back or coached running backs and the experience and knowledge gained over that time will definitely benefit our current and future ball carriers.
“We look forward to a smooth transition and welcome Tony and his family to the Notre Dame family.”
Alford brings 14 years of experience as a running backs coach at the following schools – Louisville (2007-08), Iowa State (2002-06 and 1997-2000), Washington (2001), Kent State (1996) and Mount Union (1995). Since getting into coaching in 1995, Alford has only been a running backs coach. Every team Alford has coached for has produced very good college running backs with the highlight being Willie Hurst and his 2,000 yard rushing season in 2000 for Washington.
Alford will be replacing Mike Haywood who left for the Miami (Ohio) head coaching position last month, but there was no mention of Alford taking over Haywood’s vacated offensive coordinator title as well.
This looks like a pretty solid hire by Notre Dame. I’ll have some more on this in a bit.
Frankie V,
If you get any insight as the the Winter workouts please let us know. We’ll know if the RBs and O-linemen are feeling challenged. The spring game won’t show much, hopefully. I say that because if the offense is running well, they’ll hide the good stuff. If the offense is a mess, we’ll know. I don’t expect this line to learn to blow holes in a defense in three months and only a few weeks of actual football practice.
i dont know much about this guy other than what i read in his bio. i really thought they would go after with someone with alot more experience. of all the openings in the staff this is probably the least relavent in my opinion. hopefully we can get someone with a great reputation and lots of experience for our d line and o coordinator spots.