A day after Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman expressed a desire and expectation that his entire coaching staff remain intact, the school has parted ways with second-year wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey, a source has confirmed to Inside ND Sports.
John Brice of Football Scoop was first with the news on Tuesday afternoon.
“Yes, if it's up to me, as I just told the coaching staff in our staff meeting, I have a strong belief in the coaches that we have in this football program and would love all of them to be back,” Freeman said during a Monday Zoom call with the Notre Dame football media.
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“There's, obviously, places that we have to improve on all three phases. And the coaches understand that and definitely are up for the challenge. But the thing I've learned in this short time as head coach is that consistency is so important.
“I look at where we were last year defensively at the end of the season to where we are now. Yes, the personnel continues to improve, but the consistency in what we're doing, the consistency in our coaching staff, I think, truly impacts the performance. And that's why we've been able to improve so much on the defensive side of the ball.
“And as I look at our offensive side of the ball, this is the first year for this group to be together, and I've seen a lot of bright spots in places that we have to improve. And the biggest thing I told [offensive coordinator Gerad Parker and his staff is that we have to improve our performance, especially those big games versus good defenses, because those are the type of teams that we have to find a way to beat if we want to be a championship program.
“But I believe that we have the coaches that will help continuously move this performance forward and enhance what we do, so that we do find a way to win those big games.”
So what happened? Freeman issued the following statement Tuesday evening:
“First of all, I want to thank Chansi for all of the work he put into our program,” said Freeman. “ I wish Chansi and his family all the best. Over the past few days, we had continued discussions on the overall performance of our wide receiver group and my expectations for the development of that position. I decided it was in the program’s best interest to part ways.”
As the Irish prepare for their upcoming bowl game, offensive coordinator Gerad Parker will coach the Notre Dame wide receivers in the interim until a permanent replacement is in place.
To clarify a bit, according to a source, Freeman had not finished his evaluations when the Zoom took place on Monday at 12:30 p.m. EST and that there wasn't an event that followed the meeting with the media that precipitated a change in course of Stuckey's ultimate fate.
The source added that while no additional staff changes are expected in the coming days and weeks, that doesn't mean there won't be re-evaluations after Notre Dame's bowl game.
Stuckey, a 40-year-old Clemson grad, joined the Notre Dame staff after Freeman was elevated in December of 2021 to replace 12-year head coach Brian Kelly. He was light on coaching experience, but projected as a potentially dynamic recruiter. And he proved to be just that, signing four-star prospects Jaden Greathouse, Rico Flores Jr. and Braylon James in the 2023 class along with three-star recruit KK Smith.
Notre Dame has three four-star wide receivers poised to sign National Letters of Intent in three weeks — Cam Williams, Micah Gilbert and Logan Saldate.
"No [does not affect recruitment], not at all," Williams told Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney. "It sucks, but I’m at ND for bigger [reasons] than the staff."
Saldate tweeted he was "Locked in" in Twitter/X.
On the field this season, the Irish wide receiver group has been inconsistent but had grad transfer Kaleb Smith retire in the spring and dealt with protracted injuries to two of its more experienced receivers, in juniors Jayden Thomas and Deion Colzie.
Senior Chris Tyree, a converted running back, announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal on Monday.
Flores, Greathouse and lacrosse recruit and former football walk-on Jordan Faison all reached double-digits catches as freshmen in the same season. That’s the same number that accomplished that feat during the 12-year Kelly Era.
Only all-time leading Irish receiver Michael Floyd (48) Duval Kamara (32) and former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown (28) had more catches as freshman wide receivers than did Flores this season (27).
The Irish finished the regular season 9-3 and await their bowl destination and opponent to be revealed on Sunday.
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