A flight tracker wasn’t necessary to surmise that Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig made it Notre Dame’s campus to interview for same title for the Irish football program. Though one could find a documented Flexjet flight from Salt Lake City to South Bend on Friday afternoon if interested.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman made that unnecessary when he brought Ludwig and ND tight ends coach Gerad Parker with him to Friday night’s Notre Dame hockey game against Ohio State. The trio was shown on the video board at the game and on the Peacock live stream.
The Irish icers won 2-1 over the No. 7 Buckeyes. Maybe Freeman can win over Ludwig before the weekend ends, too.
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Ludwig’s arrival on campus became the latest stage in Notre Dame’s search to replace Tommy Rees, who left his alma mater last week to become Alabama’s offensive coordinator.
Notre Dame brought Kansas State offensive coordinator Collin Klein, 33, onto campus Wednesday and Thursday to interview for the job. By Friday morning, multiple reports indicated Klein would be staying at his alma mater Kansas State. The Kansas City Star reported “Klein seriously considered leaving and accepting a substantial raise” from Notre Dame but made his decision to stay after returning home.
Notre Dame's attention shifted to Ludwig, who has been Utah’s offensive coordinator the past four seasons, on Friday. A long coaching career for Ludwig, 58, started in 1987 at Portland State and has included stops at 11 schools. He’s spent the last 26 seasons as an offensive coordinator at Cal Poly (1997), Fresno State (1998-01), Oregon (2002-04), Utah (2005-08), California (2009-10), San Diego State (2011-12), Wisconsin (2013-14), Vanderbilt (2015-18) and Utah again (2019-22).
Ludwig guided a Utah unit that finished the 2022 season ranked No. 11 in rushing offense (217.6 yards per game), No. 11 in scoring offense (38.6 points per game), No. 17 in total offense (466.9 yards per game) and No. 29 in passing efficiency (148.74).
Utah beat USC twice last season on its way to a Pac-12 Championship including a 43-42 victory in October and a 47-24 victory in the conference championship game.
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