Brian Polian is expected to be moving on from Notre Dame.
According to BlueandGold.com sources, the Fighting Irish’s special teams coach informed players Monday night that he will not be back in South Bend for a fifth consecutive season. He is expected to take a position at LSU, per The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman.
Polian arrived for his second stint as an assistant coach at Notre Dame in 2017. He was previously the head coach at Nevada from 2013-16. Polian was previously on Notre Dame’s staff in a variety of roles from 2005-09.
Interestingly, one week before former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly left for Notre Dame he mentioned Polian as the Irish assistant coach he was most thankful for.
“The one that probably makes my life the easiest, I’m going to go with Brian Polian,” Kelly said. “He makes my life the easiest because special teams is so hard. It’s a hard job. That’s a lot of work. A lot of the little things on a day-to-day basis that go along with that, you have to take that whole group — O-linemen, D-linemen, DBs, linebackers — that’s a lot of work.”
New Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman was formally introduced Monday afternoon.
Freeman went on a recruiting trip with offensive coordinator Tommy Rees immediately after Monday’s press conference. Notre Dame’s other assistants — defensive line coach Mike Elston, running backs coach Lance Taylor, safeties coach Chris O’Leary, cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens and tight ends coach John McNulty have been confirmed to be staying on staff with Freeman at the helm. Strength and conditioning coach Matt Balis is among those staying too.
BlueandGold.com cannot confirm if offensive line coach Jeff Quinn and wide receivers coach Del Alexander will remain on Freeman’s staff.
Sources have indicated that defensive analyst Nick Lezynski may run the Notre Dame special teams in the interim period.
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