Notre Dame is one of the blue-blood college football programs. They've got no shortage of great players who have gone on to do great things at the next level in the NFL. However, not every good player's future is in playing. Sometimes a player's future is in coaching.
That has been the case with former defensive captain Greer Martini. Martini was with the Fighting Irish from 2014-17, and the linebacker was an important enough member of their defense to be named one of their captains.
He had a brief and uneventful professional career that saw no real playing time or any registered stats in the NFL and a stint in the defunct AAF, and then quickly made the transition into coaching. Coaching appears to be where Martini will find his success in his post-Notre Dame career.
Notre Dame linebacker promoted to defensive coordinator for Western Michigan
Martini served as a graduate assistant at LSU under his former head coach, Brian Kelly, and then went on to spend a couple of years as the linebackers coach of the Charlotte 49ers. In 2025, he left Charlotte to become the linebackers coach of Western Michigan.
The Broncos had a fantastic 2025 season that saw them finish 10-4 overall with a MAC title and a bowl game victory. They lost their defensive coordinator, Chris O'Leary, to the LA Chargers, as he becomes Jim Harbaugh's new defensive coordinator.
Instead of reaching outside their current staff, Western Michigan head coach Lance Taylor has decided to promote his linebackers coach to the defensive coordinator position. The former Notre Dame captain will be calling the defensive plays for the Broncos in 2026 as they look to defend their conference crown.
Sources: Western Michigan is promoting linebackers coach Greer Martini to defensive coordinator. He's a former Notre Dame captain and made the AFCA 35-under-35 list. He'll call the defense in 2026 for the defending MAC champions after the departure of Chris O'Leary to the NFL. pic.twitter.com/8xURC08X4x
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 6, 2026
There has been a lot of negative news regarding Notre Dame and coaches recently, with the few big names they've lost to NFL teams over the last couple of weeks. It's nice for Irish fans to see some coaching news regarding Notre Dame and be able to smile.