Reports: Notre Dame safeties coach Chris O'Leary leaving Irish for Los Angeles Chargers
The Jim Harbaugh move from Michigan to the Los Angeles Chargers looks like it has officially affected Notre Dame. Fighting Irish safeties coach Chris O’Leary will be Harbaugh’s safeties coach in LA, according to multiple reports. Matt Zenitz of 247Sports first reported the news Sunday morning.
It’s the second year in a row in which there has been Notre Dame coaching news on Super Bowl Sunday. Last year, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand retired on the day of the big game.
O’Leary has been a Notre Dame staffer since 2018 when he arrived as a defensive analyst. He held that position for two years. He was a graduate assistant helping with the Irish’s rovers in 2020. He was the safeties coach for the last three seasons, overseeing the development of impressively talented players like Kyle Hamilton and Xavier Watts.
O’Leary has a history with new Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. Minter was Indiana State’s defensive coordinator for two of the years O’Leary was a wide receiver there. Minter was the defensive coordinator at Georgia State when O’Leary was beginning his coaching career as a defensive graduate assistant there in 2015 and 2016.
O’Leary and Notre Dame cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens made a nice pair on the sidelines and on the recruiting trail for the Irish over the years. They teamed up to lead the nation’s No. 1 defense in terms of passing efficiency in 2023. Now Notre Dame is in the market for Mickens’ new running mate.
Notre Dame is not a stranger to looking for an assistant coach this late in the offseason cycle. Former Irish offensive coordinator Tommy Rees left for the same job at Alabama last February. Notre Dame vetted and brought external candidates in for interviews but ultimately promoted Gerad Parker internally. Parker is now the head coach at Troy, and he was replaced by LSU offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock.
Parker and O’Leary are the only two on-field assistants who left Notre Dame this offseason. As it stands, the Irish are returning offensive line coach Joe Rudolph, running backs coach Deland McCullough, quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Al Golden, defensive line coach Al Washington and Mickens. Notre Dame survived a scare with Washington. He was reportedly a finalist for the Boston College job, which went to Bill O’Brien.
Notre Dame took the interim tag off strength and conditioning coach Fred Hale and hired Loren Landow for the lead position on that front. Hale was the man in charge since last summer when longtime director of performance Matt Balis stepped down the day before fall camp started.
O’Leary’s departure shows it’s never too late to lose a staffer with spring practices rapidly approaching. But for the time being, head coach Marcus Freeman has kept the ship mostly intact entering his third season. He should be able to fill O’Leary’s position in the next month before the team hits the practice field.
