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Courtesy
Notre Dame Football
Notre Dame has made official its hire of Virginia Tech offensive line
coach Joe Rudolph for the same role in South Bend. Rudolph also has
experience as an offensive coordinator at Wisconsin and Pittsburgh under former
Badgers head coach Paul Chyrst. The Tuesday morning announcement comes after
Rudolph’s hire was first reported on Feb. 27.
“We are excited to add offensive line coach Joe Rudolph to our staff,”
Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said in a statement. “He has a proven
track record of developing elite college football players, many of whom have
gone on to also experience great success in the NFL. We look forward to
Joe having a similar impact in our program.”
Rudolph replaces Harry Hiestand at
Notre Dame after Hiestand retired following Tommy Rees’s departure for
Alabama. He has a lengthy history of being prominently involved in run-first
offenses, as Chryst’s offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at both of
his head-coaching stops.
As Irish head coach Marcus Freeman and
newly-promoted offensive coordinator Gerad Parker looked for their
offensive line coach, they emphasized remaining a run-first offense.
“The thing we know we are built on, we want to
be o-line driven,” Parker said when in his introductory press conference on
Feb. 20. “We want to be built from inside-out. With what we have returning up
front and with our running backs and tight ends, to be able to control a box,
that’s where it always has to start.”
With three proven running backs in rising
juniors Audric Estimé and Logan Diggs, and rising senior Chris Tyree,
along with two possible preseason All-Americans at tackle in rising
juniors Joe Alt (left tackle) and Blake Fisher (right
tackle), Rudolph should have a clear foundation to establish such a run game up
front. Add in three-year starter Zeke Correll at center, and
Rudolph’s offensive line is left with only two questions: Who will start at
left guard and right guard?
There is talent at the interior position, just little proven
with Josh Lugg and Jarrett Patterson matriculating. Expect
fifth-year Andrew Kristofic, rising junior Rocco Spindler and rising
sophomore Billy Schrauth to get the first cracks at earning a
starting spot this spring, with practices beginning March 22.
While coaching the Badgers, Rudolph played a part in developing six
offensive linemen into NFL draft picks, notably 2017 first-round
tackle Ryan Ramczyk and 2020 fourth-round center Tyler Biadasz,
a 2022 Pro Bowler.
At both Pittsburgh and Wisconsin, Rudolph’s offenses developed into
run-first offenses, quite distinct improvements over the years when looking at
his first two seasons at each. Disregard Rudolph’s first two (out of
three) years with the Panthers and his first two (out of seven) years with the
Badgers and six of the remaining seven offenses (the exception being the 2020
Wisconsin rendition) finished in the top 25 in the country in at least two of
the three primary rushing stats: rushing yards per game, rushing attempts per
game and yards per carry.
Notre Dame may not have the same long-standing
ethos of run-first offenses as Wisconsin does — just like a band needing a
fiddle if it wants to play in Texas, an offense needs a bellcow of a running
back if it wants to play in Camp Randall — but Freeman has preached the running
game since the moment he was hired as the Irish head coach. Adding an offensive
line coach with a decade of coordinating run-first offenses on his résumé underscores
that.
PITTSBURGH OFFENSES UNDER RUDOLPH
2012 — No. 94 in rushing yards per game, No. 64 in rushing attempts per
game, No. 104 in yards per carry
2013 — No. 103, No. 104, No. 101
2014 — No. 16, No. 12, No. 18
WISCONSIN OFFENSES UNDER RUDOLPH
2015 — No. 95 in rushing yards per game, No. 59 in rushing attempts per
game, No. 104 in yards per carry
2016 — No. 39, No. 11, No. 71
2017 — No. 23, No. 17, No. 30
2018 — No. 6, No. 17, No. 4
2019 — No. 15, No. 18, No. 12
2020 — No. 62, No. 30, No. 83
2021 — No. 22, No. 17, No. 35
