Notre Dame football: 3 candidates to replace Clark Lea
Notre Dame football: 3 candidates to replace Clark Lea
Mike Elston, Assistant HC and DL coach, Notre Dame
Perhaps the safest and most deserving option is Mike Elston. This would be an internal promotion, as Elston is currently the assistant head coach and defensive line coach for Notre Dame, and he has been on Brian Kelly’s staff since he got to Central Michigan in 2004. Elston knows the Notre Dame culture and players.
He knows how to work with Kelly and is unlikely to make any major changes to the Irish defensive scheme. This consistency would hopefully ride and build upon current momentum in the program.
Under Elston, the Notre Dame defensive line has been dominant. This is an Irish defense that shut down and punished Clemson’s, Travis Etienne. They harassed Sam Howell and North Carolina and turned Phil Jurkovec’s revenge game a dud.
Still, the most important thing that Elston would bring to Notre Dame as a defensive coordinator is his relationship with Brian Kelly. The two have been together for 16 seasons, and Elston was even Kelly’s defensive coordinator in 2005.
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For the most part, Elston has worked with linebackers and defensive linemen for Kelly. Just look at the dynamic between Kelly and Chip Long. Long revived the Notre Dame offense, but they had philosophical differences that broke their relationship up. We know that won’t happen with Elston and that no matter what the two work well together.