Marcus Freeman Ireland Virginia state Alabama Football Boxing athletics Marcus Freeman Ireland Virginia state Alabama

Where Notre Dame Was & Is: Offensive line, returning bookend tackles and a three-year starter at center

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When Brent Pry arrived at Virginia Tech last offseason, the new Hokies head coach understood he had a deep hole to climb out of if he wanted to return Blacksburg to ACC contention.

Pry set out to hire coaches who would stick around and help with that climb, including offensive line coach Joe Rudolph. One season later, Rudolph is now preparing for Notre Dame’s spring practices beginning March 22.

That departure is not a reflection of Rudolph dismissing his original intentions, but rather of how alluring the Irish offensive line coaching job was after Harry Hiestand retired following Tommy Rees’s departure for Alabama.

Notre Dame is an appealing coaching gig in a vacuum, the Irish offensive line position duties just as much so. But the 2023 possibilities attracted a few of the better line coaches in the country, given two future first-round draft picks should start at the tackle spots and Zeke Correll will start at center for a third season.

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