As the football team gets ready to start spring practice with new head coach Lance Leipold, the program’s former head coach will also be helping to prepare his new team.
Former football head coach Jeff Quinn took a job as an offensive analyst for Notre Dame last week. The position is a non-coaching role, but Quinn was reportedly at the Fighting Irish’s practice last Wednesday. Mike Sanford was hired as Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator in February.
The Spectrum requested an interview with Quinn but was declined by Notre Dame Athletics until at least later in the spring football season.
The job reunites Quinn with Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly, under whom Quinn worked as an assistant for 21 years at Cincinnati, Central Michigan and Grand Valley State. Quinn told The Spectrum Kelly offered him a job at Notre Dame before he decided to take over the Buffalo head coaching position in 2009.
Quinn’s hire lessens what UB owes him, as he was guaranteed a base salary of $250,000 plus additional compensation in 2015, according to his contract. Now, UB will only owe Quinn the difference between the $250,000 it owes him and his salary at Notre Dame, which is unknown. He could have received up to $525,000 from UB through 2017 if he remained unemployed and was actively looking for a job.
Athletic Director Danny White extended Quinn’s contract at the end of the 2012 season when Quinn’s record was just 9-26. Quinn was the eighth head coach White has fired since taking over as Buffalo’s athletic director in May 2012.
Quinn went 20-36 in four-plus seasons in Buffalo and was fired at the end of a practice on Oct. 13, 2014 – less than 48 hours after the Bulls fell to 3-4 on the season with a 37-27 loss to Eastern Michigan. Buffalo’s best season under Quinn came in 2013 when the team went 8-5 and received just its second-ever bowl invitation. The Bulls fell in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl to San Diego State 49-24.
Leipold, former Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater head coach, was hired in late November. Buffalo announced its 21-member recruiting class last month. Leipold said the Bulls were able to keep the majority of their prior commitments, but would not say how many of those 21 commits were originally Quinn’s recruits and how many were his own. Leipold retained two of Quinn’s assistant coaches: running backs coach Matt Simon and strength and head strength and conditioning coach Greg Pyszczynski.
The Bulls are set to begin spring practice on Wednesday.
Tom Dinki is the senior news editor and can be reached at tom.dinki@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
Photo: Paul Hokanson / UB Athletics
