The Notre Dame football team has been dealing with people coming for its staff members from all directions. Al Golden and Chad Bowden are gone. The Chicago Bears couldn’t reel in Marcus Freeman but they also might be coming after one of his assistants.
Joe Rudolph came up in rumors this week that the Bears might be interested in him being an offensive line coach in the NFL. However, just a few hours later, a new report might indicate that the Irish dodged a bullet and won’t have to be on the lookout for a new offensive line coach just as it found its new defensive coordinator.
Rudolph, who joined the Notre Dame football team in 2023, isn’t the only candidate for the Bears. Ben Johnson is also looking at Ohio State offensive line coach Justin Frye. And while the NFL squad looking at another candidate doesn’t necessarily mean that ND is off the hook, it’s clear it’s not close to a sure bet that Rudolph is gone.
Notre Dame football might have dodged a Bears bullet
Frye has a long resume. After stops as a graduate assistant at Indiana and then Florida, he's coached the offensive line at Temple, Boston College and UCLA.
Leading up to the 2019 season at UCLA, he was elevated to offensive coordinator in addition to his offensive coordinator duties before ultimately leaving to join the Ohio State staff in 2022.
There is also a third candidate for the same job that Rudolph is supposedly aiming for. Tulane offensive line coach Dan Roushar, who has previous stops with the Saints and at Michigan State, is also expected to interview for the job.
All of this means that the Notre Dame football team doesn’t need to worry about a poition coach that is thought to be quite good, but has had an injury riddled unit and has had a hard time proving it so far.