Notre Dame officially hires Gino Guidugli as quarterbacks coach
Notre Dame’s strategy for replacing departed offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tommy Rees was hiring one person for each of those roles. Both are now official.
The Irish formally announced the hire of Gino Guidugli as quarterbacks coach Wednesday, finalizing a move that was first reported Feb. 15. They gave tight ends coach Gerad Parker offensive coordinator and play-calling duties that same day, and he was officially elevated Feb. 17.
Guidugli was briefly at Wisconsin as the passing game coordinator and tight ends coach, a job he accepted in December. He spent the last six years at Cincinnati, though, and overlapped with Marcus Freeman in four of them.
“I have seen firsthand his talent in developing quarterbacks and teaching them how to consistently perform at an elite level in college and go on to have success in the NFL,” Freeman said in a statement. “He also brings a lot of experience in helping guide an offense to execute at a high level.”
The 39-year-old Guidugli was the Bearcats’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2022, his first season fully in charge of an offense. Cincinnati went 9-3 in the regular season, finishing 60th nationally in yards per play and 59th in points per game. Guidugli was the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2020-21, the quarterbacks coach from 2018-19 and the running backs coach in 2017.
Before Cincinnati, Guidugli spent 2010-16 at Central Michigan, first as a graduate assistant (2010-12) and then as the running backs coach (2013-16).
Guidugli adds an experienced quarterback teacher to Notre Dame’s staff, a void it had to fill when Rees left Feb. 3 to be the Alabama offensive coordinator. He was 2022 third-round pick Desmond Ridder’s position coach in all four of Ridder’s years as Cincinnati’s starter.
Like Rees, Guidugli played the position himself. He was a four-year starter at Cincinnati from 2001-04 and ended his career as the school’s all-time leader in passing yards (11,453), completions (880), attempts (1,556) and touchdown passes (78). Ridder later broke his touchdowns record. Guidugli played in the Arena Football League and the Canadian Football League before starting his coaching career.
Notre Dame filled its assistant coach roster for 2023 when Freeman on Monday chose Virginia Tech offensive line coach Joe Rudolph to fill the same job for the Irish. Tee expected hire of Rudolph has not been formally announced, though. Rudolph replaces Harry Hiestand, who announced Feb. 12 he was retiring after one season of his second stint with the team.
