Former Kansas University offensive coordinator Ed Warinner, who was not retained following the arrival of new KU football coach Turner Gill, is expected to join the staff of Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly in the coming days, a source close to the situation told the Journal-World on Friday.
Warinner, who helped transform the Jayhawks’ offense into one of the nation’s best during his three seasons as coordinator, will likely assume the role of offensive line coach with the Irish.
Under Warinner’s direction, Kansas enjoyed its top three passing and top three total offense seasons in school history, including a 2007 season in which the Jayhawks ranked in the top 20 nationally in scoring offense (second), total offense (eighth) and passing offense (17th).
Following a 2009 campaign in which Kansas finished seventh in the NCAA in passing offense and 25th in total offense, meanwhile, Warinner was named a finalist for the American Football Coaches Association’s National Assistant Coach of the Year award and interviewed for the head coaching vacancy at Akron, though the job eventually went to former Notre Dame assistant Rob Ianello.
Warinner will be stepping into a familiar position in South Bend, having served as offensive line coach at Army, Air Force, Illinois and during his first stint at Kansas, from 2003-’04.
His last experience in that role came at Illinois in ’06, when the Illini finished the season ranked 10th nationally in rushing yards per game. Current NFL standouts Pierre Thomas and Rashard Mendenhall combined for 1,395 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns that season.
Notre Dame will represent the seventh stop in Warinner’s 26-year coaching career.