Christmas came late for Notre Dame while casually solidifying one of the best coaching staffs in all of college football
Notre Dame football now has arguably its best coaching staff under Marcus Freeman.
When head coach Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame football made the decision to move Al Washington from defensive line to linebackers coach this week, many Fighting Irish fans were left a bit confused.
While Washington has experience coaching linebackers at Ohio State, losing your defensive line coach right as the transfer portal opened seemed a bit counterproductive, especially when you needed to add several defensive linemen to the team.
Well, fans didn’t have to wait too long to find out who the new Notre Dame defensive line coach was going to be. On the same day, it was announced that the current Indianapolis Colts defensive line coach, Charlie Partridge, was accepting the job. Having a long and impressive resume on the college football level, Patridge is set to make his return. The early return is quite positive for the hiring of Patridge.
That will officially end Patridge’s run with the Colts, which lasted two seasons. That was a short tenure on the professional level. Coaching since the 1996 season, Patridge has coached almost exclusively at the college level, including stops with Drake, Iowa State, Eastern Illinois, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Florida Atlantic, and now the Fighting Irish.
What went wrong for Patridge and the Colts?
Going from college to the NFL is a natural progression for most, but doing the reverse isn’t as typical. A to Z Sports Colts writer Destin Adams gave some insight into why this decision came from Patridge.
“The Colts hired Charlie Partridge two years ago as their new defensive line coach,” Adams said. “Multiple NFL teams attempted to recruit him from the college level for quite some time before he joined the Colts. The defensive line hasn’t progressed as the Colts had hoped under Partridge, and he wasn’t hired by the current Colts defensive coordinator, Lou Anarumo; instead, he was a holdover from Gus Bradley’s staff.
“So, I wouldn’t be shocked if this was a mutual parting of ways, as the Colts look for a defensive line coach and Partridge gets to return to the college level, where he had been a part of developing many defensive linemen over the years as a head coach and in other staff positions. I think this is an excellent hire for Notre Dame and a great move for Partridge, who is a better fit for College than the NFL.”
Patridge not working out on the NFL level could be a blessing for Notre Dame. On paper, Freeman and the Irish just landed one of the best defensive line coaches that we have seen in college football in recent memory.
Charlie Patridge – the developer
Patridge has built a long career on developing great defensive linemen. Due to the scope of recruiting upside at some of his stops, Patridge has actually never signed a four-star recruit on the defensive line. Instead, his impact has come from finding raw but talented football players and getting the most out of them. That includes the high school route and transfer players.
His biggest success story is tutoring J.J. Watt with the Badgers. Watt went from a Central Michigan tight end to an All-American defender, and eventually an all-time great in the NFL with the Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals. Trey Hendrickson, another outstanding NFL player, was a star pupil of Partridge when he was the head coach at Florida Atlantic.
During Patridge’s time with the Pitt Panthers, he had a long list of defensive linemen who went on to play in the NFL. That list includes Calijah Kancey, Jabaal Sheard, Patrick Jones II, and Rashad Weaver. Spending the last couple of years with the likes of DeForest Buckner, Laiatu Latu, and Kwity Paye isn’t another bad boost to the resume, as well.
Charlie Patridge – the recruiter
After seeing all those names, it is pretty wild to think that none were four-star players. Funny enough, Patridge’s top-ranked defensive line recruit in the 2021 class was Elliot Donald, the nephew of Panther great Aaron Donald. Otherwise, his career has been built on turning raw talents into tremendous football players.
Even funnier than Donald being Partidge’s top-rated defensive line recruit is that two of his biggest success stories on the trail have come at the running back position. Former Arkansas star Alex Collins was the top-rated player he has ever signed, a top-50 overall player in the 2013 recruiting class. Patridge was also the main recruiter for this little-known Wisconsin running back named James White. Perhaps you have heard of him.
Power move by Notre Dame
Despite not having a ton of massive wins on the recruiting trail, Partridge is regarded as an excellent recruiter, considering the support he has had available. That should only be amplified by the Notre Dame logo now on his shirt. Couple that with his reputation as a developer, and this is a tremendous hire by Freeman. The Irish need to get better up front, and they certainly have the coach in place to accomplish just that.
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