Andy Ludwig isn’t going anywhere.
The University of Utah offensive coordinator, who completed the fourth season of his second tenure as the Utes’ offensive coordinator in 2022, will remain in Salt Lake City after interviewing for the same position at Notre Dame, multiple sources confirmed to The Salt Lake Tribune on Monday evening. Ludwig arrived in South Bend on Friday evening for what amounted to a weekend recruiting pitch from Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman.
Notre Dame’s coordinator spot became open when 30-year-old Tommy Rees, a former standout quarterback for the Fighting Irish from 2010-13, was hired as the OC at Alabama on Feb. 3. Rees was reportedly making roughly $2 million per year in South Bend. Ludwig is currently making $1.3 million annually at Utah on a rolling three-year contract. His buyout at Utah is roughly $2.8 million. These types of flirtations with other jobs often end in pay raises, but it is unclear if he will now get that from Utah.
An Ogden native who played at Snow College and was later a graduate assistant (1992) at Utah, Ludwig turned Utah’s offense into a force the last two seasons with quarterback Cam Rising at the helm.
Last season, the Utes averaged 466.9 yards of total offense (No. 5 Pac-12, No. 17 nationally) and 38.6 points per game (No. 5 Pac-12, No. 11 nationally) on their way to a second straight Rose Bowl appearance. In 2021, Utah averaged 36.1 points per game and 431.1 yards of total offense.
In the last four seasons, which included the COVID-impacted five-game 2020 campaign, Utah is 34-13 overall and 26-6 against the Pac-12 with Ludwig in charge of the offense.
Ludwig’s return keeps Utah on schedule for what could be another monster season in 2023 on the heels of back-to-back Pac-12 championships, mostly thanks to having a veteran quarterback in Cam Rising and other key pieces who have played under Ludwig for multiple seasons. Rising will miss spring practice due to a torn ACL suffered Jan. 2 at the Rose Bowl. He is expected to be ready for the opener, but his availability for the start of fall camp is unknown.
The Tribune will update this story.
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/gfr3TZN
Post a Comment