Hey everyone, reached out to Tyler James earlier this evening. He's the publisher of our Notre Dame site, InsideNDSports.com, and he provided some great insight on Nick Lezynski and his coaching and recruiting roles on the Fighting Irish staff:
Lezynski had been at back at Notre Dame since 2018 and worked his way up from GA to senior defensive analyst. He made a bigger impact in recruiting than you'd expect for a number of reasons. When Clark Lea left for Vanderbilt, Lezynski played a role in making sure Prince Kollie, the top LB commit, remained comfortable with his commitment and signed during the early signing period.
Lezynski helped Notre Dame continue to recruit LB Joshua Burnham in the transition from Lea to defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman. Burnham eventually committed and signed with ND.
Lezynski became Notre Dame's interim special teams coordinator and linebackers coach ahead of the Fiesta Bowl. ST coordinator Brian Polian left for LSU, so Lezynski was asked to step up there. Lezynski helped with the linebackers because Freeman was the linebackers coach before becoming head coach.
Then Lezynski was out on the road recruiting in January because ND still hasn't hired a defensive coordinator/linebackers coach yet. So he was essentially still serving as the interim linebackers coach until now. If you search his Twitter handle, you can see some of the spots he's been including Indiana, Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Virginia.
Even during Notre Dame's prospect day in January, Lezynski was sitting down with Preston Zinter to review film with him. Zinter just committed to ND today.
Some quotes about Lezynski:
Marcus Freeman in December on him as interim ST coordinator: “He's done a great job. I know he met with coach Polian before coach Polian left. Again, like I told Nick, it's about simplicity. It's about let's get lined up and make sure everybody knows what we're doing and let's play fast.
"And he's done a great job in terms of just diving in and making sure he can teach it the way they've been taught.”
Marcus Freeman in December on his work with the linebackers: “He’s taken a big leadership role in the linebacker room. He has been with me all year. He's been in every linebacker meeting, so he knows exactly the progression that we have in our linebacker room. He's been doing a great job in our individual periods.”
LB Drew White before the Fiesta Bowl: “Coach Lezynski has been a shadows guy that we’ve talked about the last couple of years in this program. He’s had a major influence and spent countless hours – one-on-one meetings, group meetings, hotel meetings – constantly as the hardest worker in The Gug. He’s done it for years and now he gets an expanded role in this bowl prep to meet with the linebackers and coach us up. He’s really running the meetings. It’s been great. He’s doing special teams as well. I’m excited for him. I’m excited for the opportunity. I can’t wait to see what comes.”
LB Joshua Burnham, who is an early enrollee: “He’s been here every step of the way. I remember when I was first offered, we were on the phone talking. Our relationship growing, it feels like each day it’s just gotten better. We’ll be on FaceTime calls. We’ll see his family. He’ll see mine."
Lezynski had been at back at Notre Dame since 2018 and worked his way up from GA to senior defensive analyst. He made a bigger impact in recruiting than you'd expect for a number of reasons. When Clark Lea left for Vanderbilt, Lezynski played a role in making sure Prince Kollie, the top LB commit, remained comfortable with his commitment and signed during the early signing period.
Lezynski helped Notre Dame continue to recruit LB Joshua Burnham in the transition from Lea to defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman. Burnham eventually committed and signed with ND.
Lezynski became Notre Dame's interim special teams coordinator and linebackers coach ahead of the Fiesta Bowl. ST coordinator Brian Polian left for LSU, so Lezynski was asked to step up there. Lezynski helped with the linebackers because Freeman was the linebackers coach before becoming head coach.
Then Lezynski was out on the road recruiting in January because ND still hasn't hired a defensive coordinator/linebackers coach yet. So he was essentially still serving as the interim linebackers coach until now. If you search his Twitter handle, you can see some of the spots he's been including Indiana, Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Virginia.
Even during Notre Dame's prospect day in January, Lezynski was sitting down with Preston Zinter to review film with him. Zinter just committed to ND today.
Some quotes about Lezynski:
Marcus Freeman in December on him as interim ST coordinator: “He's done a great job. I know he met with coach Polian before coach Polian left. Again, like I told Nick, it's about simplicity. It's about let's get lined up and make sure everybody knows what we're doing and let's play fast.
"And he's done a great job in terms of just diving in and making sure he can teach it the way they've been taught.”
Marcus Freeman in December on his work with the linebackers: “He’s taken a big leadership role in the linebacker room. He has been with me all year. He's been in every linebacker meeting, so he knows exactly the progression that we have in our linebacker room. He's been doing a great job in our individual periods.”
LB Drew White before the Fiesta Bowl: “Coach Lezynski has been a shadows guy that we’ve talked about the last couple of years in this program. He’s had a major influence and spent countless hours – one-on-one meetings, group meetings, hotel meetings – constantly as the hardest worker in The Gug. He’s done it for years and now he gets an expanded role in this bowl prep to meet with the linebackers and coach us up. He’s really running the meetings. It’s been great. He’s doing special teams as well. I’m excited for him. I’m excited for the opportunity. I can’t wait to see what comes.”
LB Joshua Burnham, who is an early enrollee: “He’s been here every step of the way. I remember when I was first offered, we were on the phone talking. Our relationship growing, it feels like each day it’s just gotten better. We’ll be on FaceTime calls. We’ll see his family. He’ll see mine."
