Newsstand: Former Notre Dame football assistant takes AD job
Brian Polian is ready for a change. The former Notre Dame assistant coach who served two stints in South Bend accepted the athletics director position at his alma mater, John Carroll, a Division III institution in University Heights, Ohio.
Polian was the Fighting Irish’s special teams coordinator from 2005-09. He held the same position at Stanford from 2010-11. He was Texas A&M’s special teams coordinator and tight ends coach in 2012 before taking on the head coaching gig at Nevada from 2013-16. He went 23-27 in four years at Nevada with a 1-1 bowl record.
In 2017, former Irish head coach Brian Kelly made Polian his special teams coordinator. It’s a position he held until the end of the 2021 campaign when Kelly left for LSU. Polian followed him there. LSU went 10-4 with a win over Alabama, an appearance in the SEC Championship Game and a 63-7 victory over Purdue in the Citrus Bowl.
Polian was a polarizing figure for Irish fans for years. But Kelly always trusted him, and now an entire university is trusting him to take charge of its athletics programs. Polian is an alum of John Carroll (1997). The Irish now have their third special teams coordinator in as many years; Brian Mason succeeded Polian, but he’s now with the Indianapolis Colts. Marty Biagi is in charge of the Irish’s 2023 special teams.
Notre Dame tweets of the day
Joe Alt is up next.
Another day, another recruiting commitment for the Fighting Irish.
That Irish education is no joke.
Quote of the day
“Micah Gilbert has a combination of size, length and athleticism. He’s measured close to 6-foot-2, over 200 pounds. He has plus length at the position. His arms are well over 33 inches, which puts him in that elite tier for length at receiver.”
— On3 director of scouting and rankings Charles Power on the Irish’s latest commit
Headlines of the day
Notre Dame showing interest in transfer portal wide receiver
What we learned about the Notre Dame running backs in spring practice
2024 five-star DL Justin Scott reflects on his recruitment about one year after Notre Dame offer
Notre Dame LB target Bodie Kahoun on recent visit, where recruitment stands
Biggest post-spring concerns for the Notre Dame football offense
Lucky Charms: Notes, thoughts on five-star Notre Dame DL target Justin Scott
