 Matt Q. (DMQ)
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http://www.und.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/012512aab.html
On his connection with former Notre Dame offensive line coach Joe Moore:
“I was coaching at the University of Cincinnati in 1990 and a good friend of mine, Ron Turner–who I had gotten to know–had coached with Joe Moore at Pittsburgh. I was talking about taking visits to go research football and learn about offensive line play. Ron said, `The best guy I know is at Notre Dame, that’s Joe Moore and you’ve got to go up and see him.’ So I came up here and met with Coach Moore and had a chance to visit with him. I was obviously taken right away by his knowledge of offensive line play, but probably most importantly his ability to relate to players and to get the best out of his players. I got to watch him coach, watch practice, and sit with him. Over the years we maintained contact. When he retired he would come out and spend a week with us at Illinois, because, again, Ron Turner was the head coach, Joe had a relationship with Ron, and obviously he knew that I was really interested in what he was teaching. So he came out and spent time talking football, talking through coaching, philosophy, life, the whole thing. He had a tremendous impact on me. Joe was one of those people who you either gravitated to him or not–and there was no in between. I was one of those who gravitated to him, and he taught me a lot about offensive line play. Most of the things I teach have been influenced by what Joe taught. Once that started and we spent that much time together, then I became very close with him as he went back and was coaching high school. He and his wife, Fran, and his family–I was able to be a part of him up until his death.”
An interesting hire. We’ve known about it for a long time, of course. I do still wonder why it took so long to get official.
Some Tennessee fans who I follow on Twitter have informed me that, while his rep with the Vols wasn’t stellar, there were a few mitigating circumstances at play. And, frankly, given the state of UT football post-Kiffin, it’s hard to even attempt to read into any results, positive or negative from there.
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 SDI
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Given the relatively strong play of the line this year, and the number of returning experienced linemen, I would expect Hiestand to get off to a fast start. Time will tell whether he has the chops to teach guys from the ground up. I don’t think this is a homerun hire, but it looks like a solid double.
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 Erik 04
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From Kieth Arnold’s write up:
“Of course, qualifying those statistics is important. As Notre Dame published in their official release, Hiestand’s 2010 offensive line was one of the most inexperienced in football, returning only three total starts to the entire line while forcing three true freshmen into the starting lineup. Still, the Volunteers had a 1,000 yard rusher in Tauren Poole, only the 16th in Tennessee’s history, who tied for the SEC lead with six 100-yard games. Hiestand saw his freshmen turn into sophomores in 2011, but still coached one of only seven offensive lines in D-I football that didn’t play a senior.”
Only a two-year sample, but not bad for taking guys from the ground up.
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 TimsNeighbor
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A thousand yard rusher on an awful team in the SEC? It’s better than not bad. It’s good.
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