Irish head south for Sun Bowl as Beavers await

Dec. 26—EL PASO, Texas — In the midst of staff changes and portal plundering, Notre Dame is set to cap the 2023 football season this Friday in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.

The Irish are without offensive coordinator Gerad Parker (announced as Troy’s new head coach) and wide receiver coach Chansi Stuckey who is replaced by Mike Brown, a former Cincinnati staffer with Freeman. The Beavers will be led by passing-game coordinator Kefense Hynson after former head coach Jonathan Smith left for the same position at Michigan State.

“Mike’s a guy that I worked with closely at Cincinnati,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said last Monday. “Seeing him truly develop that room in Cincinnati, I know people look at the draft picks that came out of that room, but to me it’s, from top to bottom, seeing him develop young people.”

“It’s the recruiter and evaluator he is, really just the guys I’ve seen him bring into that program and develop. And the energy he brings. He brings some of that energy to this coaching staff, to that wide receiver’s room.”

As for that wide receiver room, well, there isn’t many left at the party. Freshman Rico Flores Jr., Tobias Merriweather and Chris Tyree have all hit the portal. That leaves Jayden Thomas, Jaden Greathouse and former walk-on Jordan Faison as the primary options to throw too.

“They’ve been great,” freshman quarterback Steve Angeli said. “KK [Smith] is back from injury, JG [Jayden Greathouse] has stepped up, JT [Jayden Thomas] is coming back, Deion [Colzie] has been great… all the guys that are there to make plays are doing a great job and we’ve had a great connection throughout bowl prep.”

For Angeli, the freshman starter at quarterback Friday, that gives him the opportunity to shine with the shadow of incoming Duke transfer Riley Leonard behind him.

“Nothing really changes,” Angeli…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nd-football-irish-head-south-031700369.html

Author : Goshen News, Ind.

Publish date : 2023-12-27 03:17:00

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