Coaching Shuffle: Lewis Out, Tenuta In

Notre Dame made some noise this offseason, and it didn't have anything to do with recruiting. Bill Lewis, the long time assistant head coach and defensive backs coach retired and Jon Tenuta, the former Georgia Tech defensive coordinator, was hired in his place. The difference of jobs between Tenuta and Lewis will be Tenuta will most likely take over at linebackers and Corwin Brown will coach the defensive backs, the job he held for the Jets, along with being the defensive coordinator.

All I can say is great job, White, Brown, & Weis. This guy is going to be a linebackers coach when he could be a head coach or defensive coordinator at big time programs. When you can get coaches like that as assistants and position coaches, it's always a good move. However, I would like to put him at defensive backs instead of linebackers. At Ohio State, he developed multiple stars who are now starters in the NFL. It's not like Brown did a bad job with the linebackers last year either. Kerry Neal and Brian Smith were fantastic. Joe Brockington was pretty good and he is now being projected to be drafted. Maurice Crum had some great games (UCLA comes to mind). With all of the youth at linebacker, I would rather have them keep a coach they are familiar with and give the defensive backs, who are mostly going to be seniors and juniors, the new coach.

When players are developing, the least amount of changes can be the best. We've seen what has happened with Alex Smith, QB for the San Francisco 49ers, when he loses his offensive coordinator every year. You don't want the young players having to spend more time on adjusting and less time on fine-tuning their skills.

If Corwin Brown moves to defensive backs coach, I won't be complaining either. He was the defensive backs coach for the New York Jets, and he played as a safety in the 3-4. If he moves, he will be prepared.

To sum it up, I'm not worried. Tenuta has been a great coordinator and assistant head coach throughout his entire career, and he does not have many blemishes on his record. When a coach could have been the head coach at a BCS Conference school (Michigan State) and a defensive coordinator for many schools, it's very good when you can get him as a defensive coach. If Notre Dame can continue to get these great position coaches, the players will continue to blossom. The decisions Charlie has made with his staff have been phenominal. Let's see if they produce on the field.