Notre Dame offensive line coach Harry Hiestand is retiring, he announced Sunday.
Hiestand has been in coaching for more than 40 years, starting in 1981 as a student assistant at East Stroudsburg University. He returned to Notre Dame in 2022 after spending 2020-21 out of coaching.
“I have made the decision to retire,” Hiestand said. “It is important to me to spend time with my family, as I have two kids competing in college athletics, one for his last season, and I have decided it is time for me to be a part of that. I am thankful for the opportunity Father Jenkins, Jack Swarbrick and especially Coach Freeman gave me to return for a seventh season coaching the offensive line at Notre Dame.
“Coach Freeman sets the example for Notre Dame Football every day, and he brings out the best in all of us. The players, especially the offensive line, are the best part of this great job and I thank them for their hard work.”
Hiestand was regarded as one of the best O-line coaches in all of football. He developed six offensive linemen selected in the first three rounds of the NFL draft in six seasons at Notre Dame, including four first rounders.
Notre Dame won the Joe Moore Award, given to the nation's best offensive line, in 2007.
Hiestand's first full-time offensive line job came at Cincinnati in 1989. He went on to coach offensive lines for Missouri, Illinois and Tennessee, while also spending seven seasons in two separate stints with the Chicago Bears.
The move comes as Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is in the process of hiring a new offensive coordinator. Tommy Rees accepted the same position at Alabama.
In addition to finding a new coordinator, Freeman will have to fill a Ronnie Stanley, Quenton Nelson, Zack Martin and Mike McGlinchey sized hole in the Fighting Irish staff room.
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