Mike Denbrock, who helped Jayden Daniels win a Heisman Trophy and engineered one of college football's most dynamic offenses, is returning to Notre Dame.
Multiple sources confirmed to FootballScoop Friday that Denbrock would become the Fighting Irish's next offensive coordinator.
Gerad Parker was hired away from Notre Dame earlier this week to take over at Troy for Jon Sumrall, who was hired by Tulane.
Denbrock is set to become the third different offensive coordinator in as many seasons for Marcus Freeman.
The two previously worked together at Cincinnati under Luke Fickell.
Denbrock has ties with much of Notre Dame's staff, in addition to having served as the Irish play-caller under Brian Kelly before Denbrock exited after the 2016 season.
He previously worked with current Notre Dame offensive assistants Gino Guidugli and Mike Brown at Cincinnati as well as current Irish defensive backs coach Mike Mickens, also with the Bearcats.
So, how did Denbrock exit LSU after it was widely reported earlier this month he had been pursued by Texas A&M and then received a contract extension?
Sources with direct knowledge told FootballScoop that Denbrock had not yet signed his new deal with the Tigers.
It expoentially reduced his buyout for Notre Dame, which sources said will reward Denbrock with an extensive multi-year deal. Had Denbrock already inked his new deal, sources said, it would have triggered a buyout of approximately $1.4 million.
Instead, with just one year left on his standing pact, Denbrock's buyout, sources shared, would be approximately $375,000.
In fact, sources said Denbrock -- who had just agreed to but not signed -- a new three-year deal from LSU that would have paid.a guaranteed salary of $1.8 million per year -- not including bonuses -- will receive a record-setting four-year pact from Notre Dame.
Entering this season, Notre Dame previously had not given any assistant coach a deal longer than three years and only in recent years had the Irish even extended a three-year pact to a coordinator. Those first were handed out to then-offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and current defensive coordinator Al Golden.
Multiple sources have informed FootballScoop that Denbrock's pact with the Fighting Irish has been structured to pay the veteran offensive play-caller more than $2 million per year; the total value of the deal, several sources with intimate knowledge of the proceedings told FootballScoop, was guaranteed at approximately $9 million, pending completion of the deal's full term.
Those guaranteed dollars also do not include various bonus elements for Denbrock, items that range from standard bowl inducements to extra incentives based upon College Football Playoff and/or New Year's Six appearances.