Molnar to UMass

A source tells Irish Illustrated that Charley Molnar expects to be named the next head coach at the University of Massachusetts, following a six-year run with Brian Kelly that dates back to Central Michigan.

Molnar has 11 years coaching appearance in the Mid-American Conference, a valuable commodity as the Minutemen join the league next season. The Boston Globe reported that Molnar interviewed with UMass last weekend in Pittsburgh.

Molnar was a candidate at Temple last year, a job that eventually went to Steve Addazio. In addition to UMass this off-season, Molnar was also believed to be a candidate at Tulane.

In addition to coordinating Kelly's offense in South Bend, Molnar also worked as his quarterbacks coach, receivers coach and passing game coordinator during the past half-dozen seasons. Kelly brought Molnar with him on his past two coaching moves to Cincinnati and Notre Dame.

While the reasons behind Notre Dame's offensive improvements this season are complex, the Irish did establish a consistent run game this season under Molnar while cutting down on their sacks allowed and ramping up their scoring offense.

Molnar's resume in South Bend also includes managing Notre Dame's tenuous quarterback situation between Dayne Crist and Tommy Rees, with Andrew Hendrix sporadically entering the picture this season. Despite starting Rees during the final four games of his freshman year, the Irish ended that season unbeaten.

While no potential replacements for Molnar are known at this time, Kelly may look to run game coordinator Ed Warinner. The Irish offensive line coach has offensive coordinator experience at the BCS level, running Kansas' spread offense for three seasons, which included a BCS bowl.

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