Jay Hayes had seen too much turnover with defensive coordinators at Notre Dame. Nearly each year, a new face made his way to lead the Fighting Irish defense.
Hayes had a season-and-a-half to work under Brian VanGorder, the former Georgia defensive coordinator who held the role at Notre Dame from 2014-16. He was replaced by interim Greg Hudson, who was then booted in favor of Mike Elko.
When Elko was set to leave South Bend to join Jimbo Fisher’s staff at Texas A&M, it also became time for Hayes’ departure. He began looking at schools and was once committed to Oklahoma, but he had one objective with a lone season of eligibility remaining.