Notre Dame reportedly adds special teams analyst Marty Biagi
IRISH STEW
Notre Dame has added Marty Biagi to its coaching staff as a special teams analyst, according to a report by FootballScoop.com.
Last season, Biagi served as the cornerbacks coach at South Dakota. Prior to that, he was the special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach at Southern University from 2012 to 2014. Biagi was named a finalist for Special Teams Coordinator of the Year by FootballScoop.com in 2014, after his Jaguars scored eight special teams touchdowns in the 2014 season alone.
Biagi, who was a punter at Marshall University from 2004 to 2007, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Arkansas from 2008 to 2010. He was the co-defensive coordinator at the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 2011.
Though Notre Dame has yet to confirm Biagi's hire, the coach published a tweet that simply read, "Go Irish!!!" late on Sunday night. He also updated his Twitter bio to read "Special Teams Analyst @ University of Notre Dame" and his location to South Bend.
Notre Dame struggled to cover kicks at times last season, allowing an average of 22.1 yards per kick return (80th nationally), including three returns of at least 40 yards, two returns of at least 50 yards and one return of at least 60 yards. The Irish also surrendered 8.8 yards per punt return (76th).
Biagi won't be searching for new starting kickers anytime soon, however. In his first season as the starting punter, sophomore Tyler Newsome averaged 44.5 yards per punt in 2015, with a long of 62 yards, 21 punts of at least 50 yards and 21 more punts that landed inside the opponent 20-yard-line. Freshman placekicker Justin Yoon knocked through 15 of 17 field goals (88.2 percent), including a 52-yarder.
Freshman C.J. Sanders provided a bright spot in the return game, returning both a punt and a kick for touchdowns in his debut season in South Bend. Notre Dame also returned a blocked punt for a score.
Go Irish!!! pic.twitter.com/kZ09jWiCxJ
— Coach Marty Biagi (@CoachBiagi) February 29, 2016
