While 43 years of combined coaching has only given one of these guys time to learn how to (kind of) smile in a mugshot, there are a few things to get excited about with these guys (and especially Chuck Martin).First, all three coaches have worked under coach Kelly (Dembrock and Marting at Grand Valley and Elston at Cinnci), so no matter what us crazy bloggers may say about them, Kelly at least knows what each should bring to the table first hand.
The press release focused on each coach's ability to recruit as well as their ability to player develop. Elston headed Cincinnati's Florida recruiting while Dembrock specialized in recruiting the West Coast while at Stanford and Washington. While neither the Bearcats or Huskies experienced much recent success on the recruiting front, Elston will have the opportunity to work with (and learn from) Alford, who is doing a great job in Florida. As for Dembrock, it has been reported that he will be visiting blue chip offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson in Minnesota today, so he will have a golden opportunity to impress the fans. Martin has been involved with recruiting almost exclusively out of the Chicago area for the last few decades, so he should be a good fit there.
Speaking of Martin, I'm pretty pumped to have him on board. After joining one of Kelly's first staffs as a defensive backs coach at Grand Valley, Martin went on to become the head coach and win 74 out of 81 games including two national championships. You have to love bringing a coach with that type of winning mindset onto the team, and if he can repeat his success from Grand Valley State at ND, I wouldn't hate it.
Best of luck to the new coaches - welcome to Notre Dame!
