Notre Dame offensive line coach Harry Hiestand announces retirement after one year in second Irish stint

Whomever Marcus Freeman hires as Notre Dame’s next offensive coordinator now has his first task ahead of him: Hire an offensive line coach after Harry Hiestand announced his retirement on Sunday evening. Hiestand returned to the Irish coaching staff just a year ago.

“I have made the decision to retire,” Hiestand said in a statement. “It is important to me to spend time with my family, as I have two kids competing in college athletics, one for his last season, and I have decided it is time for me to be a part of that.”

Hiestand working under Tommy Rees for a year made sense; the two became close when Hiestand coached the line in front of Rees as the Notre Dame quarterback in his final two years as a player. Hiestand coached the Irish offensive line from 2012 to 2017 before heading to the Chicago Bears for a couple seasons.

Working alongside Rees this past year, in a time of some uncertainty, provided Notre Dame a bit of stability offensively in Freeman’s debut season as a head coach.

“I want to personally thank coach Hiestand for coming out of retirement for my first year as a head coach and raising the standard, not only for our offensive line, but for our entire team,” Freeman said. “We are so grateful for all the work he has put in during his two stints here at Notre Dame. Coach Hiestand has experienced success at the highest levels of coaching, and I am forever grateful for the wisdom he has shared with myself and our entire coaching staff.”

With Rees now the offensive coordinator at Alabama, Hiestand’s closest tie to Notre Dame was gone, making this retirement’s timing a better fit. Now, Freeman’s hire at offensive coordinator will have a month, at most, to fill out his own staff.

Hiestand developed a