Notre Dame football: Harry Hiestand discusses offensive line
At most places the hiring of an offensive line coach would be considered news but the excitement of it wouldn’t come close to the hiring of other position coaches. But then again most places aren’t Notre Dame, specifically when it comes to offensive line lineage and few position coaches are as good at their craft as Harry Hiestand is at his.
So after four years of Jeff Quinn as offensive line coach, Notre Dame welcomes back Hiestand who helped develop the likes of Zack Martin, Quenton Nelson, Ronnie Stanley, and Mike McGlinchey among others, is back and expectations are high for a unit that had plenty of issues a season ago.
So how does Hiestand see his offensive line this year? Here is what the Notre Dame offensive line coach had to say.
On Jarrett Patterson
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“I had zero concerns (moving him to guard),” Hiestand said. “Naturally for him I wouldn’t expect him not to (have concerns). He’s a very good athlete, very good football player. He’s smart, he’s tough, and he’s strong and now he’s not snapping the ball”
On Zeke Correll moving to center
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“Exactly what you would think,” Hiestand explained. “He blocks people. He’s competitive, he’s strong, he’s tough. He’s there every day. He’s a warrior, he’s a warrior. He’s built for the center position. He has very good leverage, he’s strong as heck. He got the job done.”
On Blake Fisher
(AP Photo/Gary McCullough)
“Every player out there has good things or bad things happen to him, it’s all how you react to it and what you learn as you go through it,” Hiestand said. “That’s what camp is for, we try to put them in as many situations where they get challenged and have to make adjustments, have to make a block, a communication, a call. Then they’re going to fail some, and when they fail, how do they handle it? What do they learn from it?”
On sixth-year Josh Lugg
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“Every day he comes not only to contribute to what we’re doing as a team, but really has a care and a passion for helping people around him. Not just linemen, everybody. When he walks in the building, he wants to see you have success. He wants to see you have success. He wants to see everybody on that team have success. Caring more about others than yourself is a bigger challenge today than it used to be. He’s a great example of that.”
Joe Alt's climb continues
Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
“This is really important to Joe, so Joe is going to get better because Joe decides to get better,” Hiestand noted. “The more times you do something, the more reps you have — he’s on a steady improvement.”
Freshman Billy Schrauth
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“No, his head is spinning,”…“We’re still putting plays in and he’s trying to figure out the snap count. But he’ll eventually get there. It’s repetition. When you keep hearing something for the first —every day we go ‘okay, here’s this play’ — and now it’s a brand new play for him, and that’s all he’s thinking about. ‘How do I get this?’”
Others contending for playing time
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“I’d say I haven’t been disappointed by any of them,” Hiestand explained. “I like what [autotag]Tosh Baker[/autotag] is doing, he’s progressing from the spring. [autotag]Rocco Spindler[/autotag] playing more aggressive. [autotag]Pat Coogan[/autotag] at center, he’s like Billy, he hadn’t taken any snaps in the spring so he’s on the right path. And then [autotag]Andrew Kristofic[/autotag], I like where he is. There’s really nobody stepping out above anybody but there also hasn’t been any disappointments as far as ‘Geez, he’s not playing close to what he’s capable of.’”
On Joey Tanona
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“It’s just unfortunate,” said Hiestand. “It’s – what can you say. You just wish him luck. He’s a wonderful young man and a great family. Go on and try to achieve what you’re capable of achieving and be the best at whatever you end up doing. He’s a helluva kid. It’s sad.”
Related: The Joey Tanona news just sucks
