Notre Dame has made an adjustment to its staff in order to replace the departed Chris O'Leary. Head coach Marcus Freeman has promoted Max Bullough into that full-time roll, naming him the team's linebackers coach.
Bullough spent the 2023 season as a graduate assistant coach at Notre Dame, and the former Michigan State star and Houston Texan thrived in that role. Bullough served as the primary linebackers coach, allowing defensive coordinator Al Golden to focus on more than just coaching the backers.
The Michigan native earned All-Big Ten and All-American honors as a star linebacker for the Spartans (2010-13). During his career he racked up 299 tackles, 31 tackles for loss and eight sacks. He then spent four seasons in the NFL.
Bullough was a graduate assistant coach at Cincinnati in 2019, which was his first chance to work with Freeman. He then spent the next three seasons (2020-22) as a graduate assistant coach at Alabama under Nick Saban.
Bullough played a big role in the success of veteran linebackers JD Bertrand, Marist Liufau and Jack Kiser. The position was inconsistent in 2022, but under the tutelage of Bullough and Golden the group became a strength of the Irish defense, which was among the nation's best in 2023.
The young assistant coach has also earned an early reputation as a strong recruiter at the position. The combination of his on-field success last season and recruiting prowess made it clear that Freeman had to figure out a way to keep Bullough on staff long term, and this opening allowed him to do just that.
With Bullough coaching linebackers, Mike Mickens is also being put in charge of the entire secondary. Mickens is now titled as the team's defensive backs coach and the pass game coordinator for the Irish defense.
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