Former Notre Dame OL Hunter Bivin takes new role in athletic department

On3 imageby:Patrick Engel01/04/23

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Former Notre Dame offensive lineman Hunter Bivin is climbing the ladder in his alma mater’s athletic department. His latest move is taking him off the football team’s support staff.

Bivin is the school’s new assistant athletic director for alumni engagement, he announced on social media Wednesday. He had served as the director of player development since July 2019.

“It’s about helping those guys understand and embrace all that goes on with being a Notre Dame football student-athlete and balancing all the crazy things that come their way,” Bivin said of his now-former role in April 2021. “The career aspirations, everything from the social end, the academic support system in the building, leadership accountability, all those things, and helping coach those guys through those really unique life situations they came across.”

Bivin replaced Ron Powlus as the director of player development after serving as an intern under him during the 2018 offseason. He came back to Notre Dame during the 2018 season after a short stint at Chicago-based consulting firm Tegus and was Powlus’ assistant until taking over. (Powlus is now the senior associate athletics director for football).

The 2022 season was Bivin’s fifth working with the football team, which matched the length of his Irish career. He was an offensive lineman for Notre Dame from 2013-17 and arrived from Owensboro, Ky. as a top-150 recruit. He started one game in five seasons, though, during a career that included three heart surgeries. The first was an emergency procedure during his freshman year.

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That career arc wasn’t what Bivin envisioned, but he found his experiences helped him be effective in his player development role.

“Having mentors that can stand beside you and walk that journey with you is pretty vital,” Bivin said. “I had some really unique mentors and the older guys on the team that coached me through these life lessons. That’s what I get to do every day. I’m not a coach. I’m not a professor. I’m sort of a mentor for these guys.

“I’ve seen quite a bit of those points of adversity during my time at Notre Dame, so that experience helps me coach those guys through those really tough times.”

Save for the several-month stint at Tegus, Bivin has been at Notre Dame in some capacity since his freshman season in 2013. He has a master’s in management and a bachelor’s in political science from Notre Dame.

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