Virginia Tech's late winter staff turnover has continued as OL coach Joe Rudolph is leaving the Hokies for Notre Dame as first reported by ND 247 Sports reporter Tom Loy.
BREAKING: Sources have informed #IrishIllustrated and #247Sports that barring a last second change, #NotreDame is expected to name Virginia Tech’s Joe Rudolph as its next Offensive Line coach.
— Tom Loy (@TomLoy247) February 27, 2023
“This is an elite hire” per a source.
Story: https://t.co/Y3Pz7U5IZ5@247Sports pic.twitter.com/GMiVNpuMn6
— Joe Rudolph (@CoachJoeRudolph) February 27, 2023
Rudolph leaves after only one season in Blacksburg where he was tasked with beginning the rebuild of what was a now young Virginia Tech offensive line. He had good recruiting success landing a high percentage of his top targets including one of VT's 2 four-star 2023 signees, OL Layth Ghannam.
Rudolph was a huge hire as part of Brent Pry's first staff with Tech flexing their expanded financial muscle and Pry showing his connections in landing him given his reputation.
There's no denying the reality that losing one of the most respected offensive line coaches is a big loss for Pry and the Hokies. Rudolph commands respect from just about any high school coach in America with his reputation and that will be extremely hard, if not impossible, for Virginia Tech to replace. While Tech's OL did struggle last season, they did show some signs of improvement at the end of the season especially with a rushing attack that was actually decent against two bowl teams late in the season in Duke and Liberty in terms of efficiency stats like yards per carry.
Rudolph is now the second offensive assistant to leave for a new job within the past week after QBs coach Brad Glenn became the OC ag Cincinnti. Like the Glenn news, the timing is less than ideal with spring practice on the horizon and the recruiting dead period set to end this week.
We will have more as this story develops.
