While most of the headlines on the coaching front went to Notre Dame’s former sideline boss Charlie Weis Thursday, a coordinator on the staff that replaced Weis in South Bend officially landed his first head-coaching gig as well.
Yesterday at a press conference held in Gillette Stadium -- Weis’ old New England Patriots stomping grounds, coincidentally enough -- and following up on previous reports, Charley Molnar was introduced as the next head football coach at UMass. Molnar will replace Kevin Morris, who was fired last month after three seasons with the Minutemen.
Molnar, in addition to replacing Morris, will be charged with shepherding in a new era for UMass football; next season, the Minuteman will make the official move from Div. 1-AA to 1-A and will call the MAC their conference home.
“This is an opportunity I worked for my whole career and there is no limit to my excitement on this day,” Molnar said in a statement. “When [athletic director] John McCutcheon called to offer me the position, I knew this dream was becoming a reality and I said when can I start. I have a vision for this program into the future and we are going to do nothing but great things at the University of Massachusetts.”
“I am extremely pleased that Charley has decided to join the University of Massachusetts as our next head football coach,” said McCutcheon. “His background, energy, commitment to student-athletes and desire to be part of a growing program clearly separated him from an outstanding pool of candidates. I know that once the UMass community has a chance to meet him they will realize how fortunate we are to have Charley as our head football coach.”
In addition to spending the last two seasons with Brian Kelly as the Irish’s offensive coordinator, Molnar was also on Kelly’s staffs at Central Michigan (2006) and Cincinnati (2007-09).