While the University has yet to make an official announcement, several sources have indicated that former Notre Dame and San Francisco 49ers great Bryant Young will very likely be joining the Notre Dame coaching staff as a defensive graduate assistant. Another former Irish great could be joining him on the opposite side of the line as well – Tim Grunhard will be interviewing with Charlie Weis Wednesday for an offensive graudate assistant role as well.
Young, an All American with the Irish and sure fire Hall of Famer with the 49ers, retired from the NFL after the 2007 season and served as an honorary coach for last year’s Blue-Gold game. Right now it seems as though Young is much more likely to join the staff than Grunhard who is reportedly leaning towards staying with Bishop Miege where he serves as the head coach.
“It’s a great opportunity to go to Notre Dame and coach, but as of right now, with four kids in school, it’s really just too much to pack up and move,” said Grunhard, a starting offensive lineman on the Irish’s 1988 national championship team.
“As of right now, we should have a pretty (darn) good team next year,” Grunhard said. “Unless it’s an unbelievable deal, I’m going to stay at Miege.”
If Grunhard wasn’t at least considering the move, however, he wouldn’t be making the trip so let’s hope Weis can convince him to join the staff.
Both hires would be major home runs for the staff at positions where you very rarely have “home run hires.” Both Young and Grunhard were Irish legends who went on to have very successful NFL careers and in Young’s case, a Hall of Fame career. From a recruiting standpoint these two would give the Irish staff a very nice additions for on campus visits (graduate assistants are not able to make in home visits).
We’ll have more when/if either hire becomes official.
Grunhard would be a awesome fit at ND but he is well respected at miege and the community as well. as a former player for grunny at Miege he is an awesome coach and he knows how to get into players heads and make them work harder than they think they can
BY is the real deal. Anyone getting this man is getting the Best of the Best.
Kudos to BY
Mk10:27
Is this the same Grunhard that spent time in jail for a perjury plea deal?
i know star players rarely turn out to be good coaches, but i love the idea of bryant young coming onto the staff. hes smart, a hard worker, leader, and a winner. hopefully his work ethic will rub off on the players. i wish him all the best.
I like both these guys. It looks good to have a guy(s) who graduated from ND, Win a Championship at ND, Go to the NFL (HOF), and then come back and coach at the school you owe it to. It would be a great hire for both sides of the ball also.
Hopefully Grunhard because the offer is already there and his to turn down. But if not him then ( yes you guessed it ) Aaron Taylor. That’s just my wish. The nice thing about Grunhard is that he knows what it took to get to the National Championship
Kudos on Irish Legends, the formative influences of Bryant and Grunhard would be tremendous.