Notre Dame football OC candidate – Andy Ludwig

Andy Ludwig is currently Utah’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, but could Notre Dame football lure him away as their next OC? Ludwig has had significant success in Utah. While the Utes are a great program, earning success at a more prominent football school could only help Ludwig if he aims to be a head coach someday.

Utah was a top 20 team this past season in overall offense according to their yards per game output. They averaged 249.2 yards through the air, which was good for 50th in the country but were a top 15 team in rushing yards at 11th overall.

Most notably, he helped Utah’s offense to a couple of massive victories over USC, an opponent Notre Dame football lost to this past season. Utah quarterback Cameron Rising improved significantly this year, increasing his passing yards from 2493 to 3034. If you watched his performances against USC, you saw a quarterback that knew what he needed to do to win games.

Ludwig’s running game was outstanding this year, which bodes well for an already strong Irish running backs room. With coach Deland and Hiestand, Ludwig could push the Irish from the top 35 to the top 10 on the ground next year.

It remains to be seen who coach Marcus Freeman will target as his offensive coordinator, but snagging someone like Ludwig would be huge. However, given his history as an offensive coordinator with 10-plus years, Freeman could focus more on defense. There are currently open spots in the NFL, and with his experience, Al Golden isn’t a lock to return next year.

Regardless, coach Freeman needs to find the best guy for the job who can win games and recruit at the college level. If that’s Ludwig or one of the other coaches we’ve mentioned, like Leftwich, then so be it. Have faith in coach Freeman.