Notre Dame football rival takes another hit on title winning staff

Notre Dame football might not square off against Michigan that much anymore, but that doesn't mean there isn't a little bit of a perverse pleasure watching the Wolverines start to slip. And after the news on Saturday, it would seem as though there is a better than average chance that the Wolverines are indeed going to slip.

Saturday was a big day for the long-time Notre Dame football rival as it announced that Sherrone Moore had officially taken over as the head coach. That move came just a few days after Jim Harbaugh announced he was leaving Ann Arbor for a chance to return to the NFL.

Just hours before the Wolverines held their press conference officially introducing head coach Moore to the world, a report surfaced that he was would have to find himself a new defensive coordinator.

Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, who spent the last few years overseeing one of the best defenses in the Big Ten for the last three years, is going to coordinator the Los Angeles Chargers' defense.

According to Sam Webb of 247Sports, Minter basically broke the news himself when he told "several" Michigan players he is going to take a job with the Chargers as their DC.

The move was far from unexpected. When rumors of Harbaugh making the jump back to the NFL first started, it was expected Minter would follow him.

Notre Dame football rival has some pieces to pick up

Minter's exit leaves Sherrone Moore in a less than enviable position for his first year on the job. This isn't a program that is going through a rebuild where the fans are going to be patient through growing pains.

Moore takes over a National Championship program. And now he's going to have to figure out who will call plays for offense - he has said he likely won't - and also someone to call plays for the defense.

It will certainly be interesting to see how the historical Notre Dame football rival does things in the next few years.