‘Unique situation’ resulted in praised hire of Denbrock
EL PASO, Texas — The process of luring Mike Denbrock away from LSU and back to Notre Dame football as its offensive coordinator began with direct communication.
“Call Mike Denbrock,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said Thursday at a Sun Bowl news conference. “‘Hey, man. I want to get you here.’ Obviously, we had further dialogue after that. That’s how it worked.” Freeman offered little more in terms of timeline, but it was a rapid-fire process that saw Denbrock go from a reported extension agreement with LSU on Dec. 6 to Notre Dame’s replacement for Gerad Parker, hired Dec. 18 as Troy’s head coach.
LSU’s Board of Supervisors met Dec. 8 without discussing Denbrock’s contract extension, opening the door for Freeman to swoop in and hire his former colleague from 2017-20 at the University of Cincinnati.
Freeman said he did not discuss the opening with Denbrock in February after a winding search for Tommy Rees’ replacement included South Bend interviews with Collin Klein of Kansas State and Andy Ludwig of Utah.
This time, with Parker having coached tight ends, the fit was more apparent to Freeman as he sought to keep the rest of his offensive staff intact. Newly hired wide receivers coach Mike Brown and holdover quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator Gino Guidugli also worked with Denbrock during his five-year run at Cincinnati (2017-21).
“It’s important just to get leadership for our offense,” Freeman said. “Anytime you lose leadership, there’s uncertainty about the vision for the future. I think it was so important to get that position filled with the No. 1 guy that I wanted the minute it came open.
“It’s a unique situation where your offensive coordinator was the tight ends coach. That’s why as I looked for a No. 1, an offensive coordinator that was a tight ends coach, Mike Denbrock came to the top. And it doesn’t hurt that it was the No. 1 offense in the country either.”
With Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels and Notre Dame transfer Logan Diggs at running back, LSU led the nation at 46.4 points per game. Notre Dame ranks eighth with a 39.1 scoring average.
“(Denbrock) was my top choice,” Freeman said, “and to get him here is tremendous.”
Denbrock, 59, flew to El Paso Wednesday for quick meetings with the Irish coaching staff and briefly addressed the players before heading back to Baton Rouge on Thursday morning. Loren Landow, recently hired as director of football performance, also spoke to the team.