Notre Dame's Offensive Line: A True Brotherhood

The brotherhood might have left Notre Dame’s offensive line room when Harry Hiestand went to Chicago in 2018, but it’s also been a major point of emphasis this spring with his return to South Bend. 

Hiestand’s offensive line did everything together between 2012-2017. In fact, it was a rare occurrence if you saw one offensive lineman by himself on or off-campus. The message of doing everything together has been well received by Hiestand’s players this spring and it will serve as a building block for the fall. 

"They have to care more about the group than themselves,” Hiestand stated. “They have to be together and see things through one set of eyes. You can't have individuals up there. They have to be all on the same page, work out issues and have themselves dialed in on each snap to have success.

"It's the ultimate team game and then when we boil it down to that group, those five guys have to be doing the exact same thing. If one guy is going off because he thought this, then it's no good. We all have to see it together."

Zeke Correll arrived after Hiestand left, but it didn’t take long for him to see why his position coach stressed togetherness. 

“We do everything together,” explained Correll. “We'll eat together. We'll watch film together. We'll go do extra work. Everything we do is together. We walk on the field and are shoulder to shoulder.

“Everything we do, we're doing it together, which sounds kind of crazy but when it comes to football, when you are on the field, it makes everything you do so much easier. We're definitely rebuilding that culture of togetherness and it's awesome and it's awesome to see."

Notre Dame has also hosted several of its former offensive linemen this spring. Zack Martin, Quenton Nelson, Sam Mustipher, Alex Bars, Tommy Kraemer and Robert Hainsey have made the trip to campus to help coach up Hiestand’s unit and it’s been more than welcome. 

“It’s awesome having those guys back,” stated Andrew Kristofic. “We've had a ton of guys come back through and it's just really awesome to hear their experiences because they played for Coach Hiestand.

“They're all NFL guys now, so just getting another set of eyes watching you. Maybe something's just not clicking and then like they can they explain it some other way. It just really helps because they've been in your shoes, they know what you're going through, so it's a big help."

Fifth-year senior Josh Lugg not only knows the returning players better than most, but he actually played with the majority of them. Yet, the Western PA native doesn’t take it for granted to have current NFL players back on the practice field. 

"It's incredible for them to come back and be around the younger guys and even just be around me,” Lugg explained. “We can keep establishing our offensive line culture that I'm sure you guys have heard us talk about and how important it is and how critical it is to our success. They're just able to help out and also learn from coach Hiestand too when they are back, just brushing up on a few things. Just having them around the program whenever you can have that is really beneficial for everyone."

Notre Dame’s offensive lineman get the benefit and motivation from seeing Hiestand’s former pupils on campus, but don't think the nation's top offensive line coach takes it for granted. 

"It means everything because the guys coming back appreciated their time at Notre Dame and appreciated the things they learned while they were here,” explained Hiestand. “Most importantly, they love Notre Dame and they want to see Notre Dame be successful and, in particular, this offensive line.

"They love coming back and helping. It really means a lot to me and our players."

And perhaps lost in the shuffle is Notre Dame has that example on campus every day as Chris Watt has returned to help Hiestand out. 

“It's tremendous because he's there every day,” said Heistand. “There's other guys who come in and give you a little pep talk and reinforcement for what you're doing.

"Chris is here every day and has an impact on them. He's a tremendous coach. He really understands exactly what we want taught. He understands how the fundamentals we teach are very specific and detailed and there's not any room for doing your own thing there.

"He understands it because he did it himself. He feels good about how it worked for him. His impact is significant."

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