Brian Polian

Last updated
Brian Polian
MountainWestMD-2016-0727-BrianPolian.png
Polian at 2016 Mountain West Media Day
Current position
Title Athletic Director
Team John Carroll University
Conference OAC
Biographical details
Born (1974-12-22) December 22, 1974 (age 48)
Bronx, New York, U.S.
Alma mater John Carroll University
Playing career
1993–1996 John Carroll
Position(s) Linebacker
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1997 Michigan State (GA)
1998 Buffalo (TE/AOL)
1999–2000 Baylor (GA)
2001–2003Buffalo (RB/ST)
2004 UCF (RB/RC)
2005 Notre Dame (ST/ADB)
2006Notre Dame (ST/LBA)
2007Notre Dame (ST/ILB)
2008–2009Notre Dame (ST)
2010 Stanford (ST/S)
2011Stanford (ST/S/RC)
2012 Texas A&M (ST/TE)
2013–2016 Nevada
2017–2020Notre Dame (ST/RC)
2021Notre Dame (ST/AHC)
2022 LSU (ST/RC)
Head coaching record
Overall23–27
Bowls1–1

Brian Stewart Polian (born December 22, 1974) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the Athletic Director at John Carroll University. He is the former head coach of the Nevada Wolf Pack football team. He is the son of former National Football League (NFL) executive Bill Polian.

Contents

Early life

Born in The Bronx, Polian graduated from Saint Francis High School in Athol Springs, New York, near Buffalo, in 1993. [1] He attended John Carroll University near Cleveland, where he played on the football team as a linebacker from 1993 to 1996. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in history in 1997. [2]

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Polian began his coaching career in 1997 as a graduate assistant at Michigan State. In 1998, he was the tight ends and offensive line assistant at the University at Buffalo. In 1999 and 2000, Polian was a defensive graduate assistant at Baylor under Kevin Steele. Polian graduated from Baylor with a master's degree in 2000. [2]

Polian returned to Buffalo in 2001 as running backs coach and special teams coordinator, serving until 2003 all under coach Jim Hofher. [2] In 2004, he was assistant coach at the same positions at UCF under George O'Leary. From 2005 to 2009, Polian was special teams coordinator at Notre Dame under Charlie Weis. He also served as defensive backs coach in 2005, linebackers coach in 2006, and inside linebackers coach in 2007. [2] Notre Dame made three bowl appearances during Polian's tenure, including a win in the 2008 Hawaii Bowl.

He then was special teams coordinator and safeties coach at Stanford from 2010 to 2011 and was also recruiting coordinator in 2011. [2] Part of Jim Harbaugh's staff in 2010, Polian remained at Stanford under succeeding coach David Shaw. Stanford won the 2011 Orange Bowl after the 2010 season. In 2012, Polian was special teams coordinator and tight ends coach under Kevin Sumlin at Texas A&M, which won the 2013 Cotton Bowl Classic that season. [2]

Nevada

On January 11, 2013, the University of Nevada, Reno hired Polian as football head coach. [2] On November 27, 2016, Nevada parted ways with Polian, effectively resulting in him being fired from Nevada based upon his poor performance.

Notre Dame

On December 16, 2016, Polian was hired to return to Notre Dame once again as special teams coordinator, this time under Brian Kelly. [3]

LSU

On December 7, 2021, Polian was hired by LSU as the special teams coordinator, under Brian Kelly. In Feb 2023, Polian was demoted as Special Teams Coordinator and placed in a lesser, less challenging off field position after LSU special teams received a ranking of 130 out of 131 FBS teams. This after several high-profile miscues in critical games, attributed to Polian who, at times, appeared baffled as a Coordinator.

John Carroll

On May 2. 2023, Polian was announced as the new athletic director for John Carroll University

Head coaching record

YearTeamOverallConferenceStandingBowl/playoffs
Nevada Wolf Pack (Mountain West Conference)(2013–2016)
2013 Nevada 4–83–55th (West)
2014 Nevada 7–64–43rd (West)L New Orleans
2015 Nevada 7–64–4T–2nd (West)W Arizona
2016 Nevada 5–73–5T–3rd (West)
Nevada:23–2714–18
Total:23–27

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Davie (American football)</span> American football player and coach (born 1954)

Robert Edwin Davie Jr. is an American football college coach and former player, formerly the head football coach at New Mexico. He previously served as the head football coach at Notre Dame from 1997 to 2001, compiling a record of 35–25. He also served as an ESPN college football color commentator from 2002 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kent Baer</span> American football player and coach (born 1951)

Kent Lex Baer is an American college football coach. He most recently was the defensive coordinator at the University of Montana, a position he had held since 2018. Baer served as the interim head football coach at the University of Notre Dame for one game in 2004 and at San Jose State University for one game in 2012.

William J. Lewis is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Wyoming (1977–1979), East Carolina University (1989–1991), and the Georgia Institute of Technology (1992–1994), compiling a career college football record of 45–52–2. Lewis was a defensive assistant at many schools and most notably served as an assistant to Vince Dooley at the University of Georgia, helping win a National Championship in 1980.

Charles Evans Bresnahan is an American football coach and former player. He is the Defensive Line and Outside Linebackers coach for the Vegas Vipers. He was the defensive coordinator of the Oakland Raiders on two occasions and the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL) as well as the Florida Tuskers and Sacramento Mountain Lions of the United Football League (UFL). He also served as defensive coordinator in the college ranks at the University of Central Florida, University of South Florida and University of Maine. Bresnahan also served as an assistant coach with the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts of the NFL and the United States Naval Academy (Navy) and the Georgia Institute of Technology in the college ranks. Bresnahan also assisted in the Officiating Department of the NFL for 3 seasons. He is the son of Tom Bresnahan, a long time NFL assistant and Offensive Coordinator who coached 4 Super Bowls under Marv Levy (HOF-2001) with the Buffalo Bills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Chavis (American football)</span> American football player and coach (born 1956)

Johnny Chavis, nicknamed "The Chief", is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (USFL). He previously served as defensive coordinator for the Arkansas Razorbacks football team and former defensive coordinator, linebacker coach, and associate head coach at the Tennessee Volunteers football, LSU Tigers football, and Texas A&M Aggies football programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Holt</span> American football player and coach (born 1962)

Nicholas Holt V is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of Skorpions Varese of the Federazione Italiana di American Football. Previously he was co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Purdue University for three seasons from 2017-19. Before that he was the defensive coordinator at Western Kentucky from 2013-16. Earlier in his career, Holt was defensive coordinator and assistant head coach of the Washington Huskies, defensive coordinator and defensive line coach of the USC Trojans, and head coach of the Idaho Vandals from 2004 to 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian VanGorder</span> American football player and coach (born 1959)

Brian VanGorder is an American football coach and former player. He was the defensive coordinator at Bowling Green State University, a position he assumed in 2019. Prior to that, he was defensive coordinator at the University of Louisville. He served as the head football coach at Wayne State University from 1992 to 1994, and Georgia Southern University in 2006, compiling a career college football record of 19–25. VanGorder was the defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL) from 2008 to 2011, and also worked in the same capacity for the University of Georgia (2001–2004) and Auburn University (2012). VanGorder is married to the former Ruth Jones. His children are Molloy, Morgan, Mack, Montgomery, Malone, and Freddie.

Jeff Genyk is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the special teams coordinator for Northwestern. Genyk served as the head football coach at Eastern Michigan University from 2004 to 2008, compiling a record of 16–42 in five seasons. He was a television analyst for Atlantic Coast Conference football for ESPN during the 2009 season.

Marcus Freeman is an American football coach and former linebacker who is currently the head coach at the University of Notre Dame. He previously served as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Notre Dame in 2021. Freeman has also previously served as an assistant coach at the University of Cincinnati, Purdue University, Kent State University, and Ohio State University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Graham (American football)</span> American football player and coach (born 1979)

Patrick Graham is an American football coach and former player who is the defensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as defensive coordinator for the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins as well as an inside linebackers coach for the Green Bay Packers and an assistant coach for the New England Patriots.

Jeff Quinn is an American football coach. He was formerly an assistant coach at the University of Notre Dame. Quinn served as the head football coach at the University at Buffalo from 2010 to 2014. He was the 24th head coach in University at Buffalo football history. He replaced Turner Gill who left for Kansas following the 2009 season. Quinn served as interim head coach at Central Michigan University in 2006 and at the University of Cincinnati in 2009, following the resignation of Brian Kelly in both instances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Stoutland</span> American football player and coach (born 1962)

Jeff Stoutland is an American football coach who is the run game coordinator and offensive line coach for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He served as the interim head football coach for the University of Miami in 2010.

Robert Albert Diaco is an American football coach and a former linebacker. He is a defensive analyst for the LSU Tigers of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). He played college football at the University of Iowa for coach Hayden Fry from 1992 to 1995. He then served as the head coach of the UConn Huskies (2014–2016).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Aranda</span> American football coach (born 1976)

David Christopher Aranda is an American football coach. he is the head football coach at Baylor University, a position he has held since 2020. He previously served as the defensive coordinator at LSU, Wisconsin, Utah State, Hawaii, Delta State, and Cal Lutheran.

Jerry Rosburg is an American football coach, who most recently served as the interim head coach for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). In 2008, he was hired as assistant head coach/special teams coach for the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL. He was part of the Ravens' coaching staff on the team that won Super Bowl XLVII.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team</span> American college football season

The 2014 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Brian Kelly and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. They compete as an independent.

Michael Fredrick Denbrock is an American football coach. He is the offensive coordinator at Louisiana State University (LSU). Denbrock has previously been a coach at Notre Dame, Illinois State, Grand Valley State, Stanford, Washington, and Indiana State. He also coached in the Arena Football League (AFL) with the Buffalo Destroyers.

The 2016 Nevada Wolf Pack football team represented the University of Nevada, Reno in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wolf Pack were led by fourth–year head coach Brian Polian and played their home games at Mackay Stadium. They were members of the West Division of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 5–7 and 3–5 in Mountain West play to finish in a three–way tie for third place in the West Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team</span> American college football season

The 2017 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Brian Kelly and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. They competed as an independent. They finished the season 10–3, an impressive turnaround from the season before, where the Irish finished with their worst record since 2007. They were invited to the Citrus Bowl where they defeated LSU. The Irish would finish the season with four wins over teams that finished in the top 25 rankings, including winning three of those by over 20 points or more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team</span> American college football season

The 2022 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Fighting Irish played their home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana, and competed as an independent. The program was led by first-year head coach Marcus Freeman.

References

  1. Schlabach, Mark (June 11, 2014). "Nevada has a new face at head coach". ESPN. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Brian Polian". Nevada Wolf Pack. Archived from the original on September 6, 2014. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  3. Nevada Sports Net