The Notre Dame OC search is still in the early portions of the process, but things are expected to ramp up throughout the week for Marcus Freeman and the Irish.

Former OC Tommy Rees has departed the program and will lead Alabama’s offense under Nick Saban in 2023. Now, Freeman is left searching for a new OC heading into his second year on the job at Notre Dame.

According to John Brice with Football Scoop, Freeman has conducted the preliminary vetting process on a number of college coordinators and a couple from the NFL ranks. That group out of the college ranks includes Utah’s Andy Ludwig, Washington’s Ryan Grubb, Toledo’s Jason Candle, Colorado’s Sean Lewis and another “high-level” Power 5 coordinator. Former Tampa Bay Buccaneer OC Byron Leftwich and Philadelphia Eagles QBs coach Brian Johnson are the reported targets out of the NFL ranks.

From that group, Washington’s Ryan Grubb was also a target at Alabama before electing to remain with the Huskies. It’s unclear if Grubb would seriously consider a move to Notre Dame after turning down the Crimson Tide.

Toledo’s Jason Candle is also reportedly a target for Mario Cristobal at Miami after parting ways with Josh Gattis, and Brice reports Candle is mulling a verbal offer from the Hurricanes. We’ll see if interest from Notre Dame sways any of that.