ORLANDO, FL - DECEMBER 28: Re-al Mitchell #6 of the Iowa State Cyclones gets tackled by Notre Dame Fighting Irish defenders in the second half of the Camping World Bowl at Camping World Stadium on December 28, 2019 in Orlando, Florida. Notre Dame defeated Iowa State 33-9. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

The man at the head of the Notre Dame defense will return to South Bend in 2020, but it wasn’t always a sure thing.

Rumors swirled that Boston College would be looking to hire a defensive coordinator as their new head coach. They looked to the midwest, and rumors swirled that Notre Dame defensive coordinator Clark Lea was towards the top of the list. In the end, they went for Jeff Hafley, now the former Ohio State defensive coordinator.

Recently, LSU hired Bo Pelini to be their defensive coordinator. This left the Youngstown State head coaching job open, but effectively filled all the major coaching vacancies. It certainly sealed up the chances Lea leaves Notre Dame. Now, there aren’t any jobs available that would be seen on the same level.

If you feel that LSU would be a lateral move that Lea wouldn’t take because it doesn’t qualify as a promotion, just look at LSU’s success in the 21st century, and then take a look at how well they pay coordinators. If Lea was offered the LSU, job he would have taken it.

Still, Lea will be at Notre Dame for another season. Brian Kelly’s staff didn’t need to turnover both coordinator positions. Clark Lea, who has gotten so much out of Notre Dame’s defense over the past two seasons, will once again be around to keep the Irish defense playing at an elite level.

Last season Notre Dame’s defense was 12th in the country, only allowing 17.9 points per game. That’s better than Auburn, Baylor, Michigan, and LSU.

What Lea did last season was no small task, especially considering the turnover he faced. Julian Love, Drue Tranquill, and Jerry Tillery among others moved on from the program. Notre Dame didn’t lose a beat, and that’s to the credit of Lea. He kept them focused and ready.

He’ll do the same this upcoming season when Notre Dame needs to replace players like Alohi Gilman, Julian Okwara, Khalid Kareem and Troy Pride.

Notre Dame is likely preparing for Lea to leave soon in the future, but they’re lucky to have kept him for the time being. He put together a better gameplan against Clemson than Nick Saban and Alabama were able to just a week later. His defense’s have as many games allowing 3 points or fewer as they do allowing 30 points or more.

He won’t be easy to replace, but at some point Notre Dame will need to find a way to replace Clark Lea. As it stands, they’re lucky that they didn’t have to replace him this off-season.