DENVER — Former Broncos strength and conditioning coordinator Loren Landow is about to take a similar position with Notre Dame, a source confirmed to 9NEWS.
Known as one of the nation’s leading sports performance trainers because of his past private work with Olympians, track and field athletes and mixed martial arts fighters, Landow was the Broncos’ head strength and conditioning coordinator for five years, from 2018 until February when new head coach Sean Payton wanted the sports performance coaches Beau Lowery and Dan Dalrymple he had worked with previously in New Orleans.
During the past year, Landow worked at his private practice near the Broncos’ headquarters, while also serving as a visiting coach for a couple weeks during offseason practices with the San Francisco 49ers and Jacksonville Jaguars, plus a few colleges like Stanford. Notre Dame’s strength and conditioning position has been open since Matt Baylis surprisingly resigned on the eve of Notre Dame’s training camp this year.
It was former Notre Dame and Broncos quarterback Brady Quinn who served as a liaison between Landow and Fighting Irish head coach football coach Marcus Freeman.
“Loren and I have kept in touch since I was in Denver,’’ Quinn said Monday in an interview with 9NEWS. “When the job came open, we talked and he was interested. So I immediately called Marcus Freeman and put him on their radar. And once they were able to get him in there (for an interview), as you know, once Loren talks with you there is no one better for this sort of move, and this sort of hire.’’
Quinn and Landow first became close during the 2011 NFL lockout in which Landow, with the help of veteran safety Brian Dawkins and Quinn, held voluntary workouts for Broncos players.
“Since then I tried to implement a lot of his warmups and different things he did from a movement standpoint,’’ Quinn said. “He trained Alicia (Sacromone, a United States gymnast and Quinn’s wife) after she tore her Achillies in the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo. He helped her through her rehab to get stronger and to prepare for the 2012 Olympics Trials where she was able to come back six months after her torn Achilles.
I saw first-hand how he worked with us during the (2011) lockout and then working with him outside while he was working with the Broncos I thought he was one of the best minds I’ve ever worked with in regards to sports performance.’’
While Landow was expected to become a strong candidate for NFL strength coach openings when jobs become open in three weeks, Notre Dame is a special opportunity.
“Right below a head coach I would rank OC (offensive coordinator), DC (defensive coordinator) and your strength coach,’’ Quinn said. “Because in terms of development, he’s going to be around the players more than any of the coaches. Just because of the offseason and the NCAA rules. He’s probably the most instrumental for young men in terms of developing them into the players they will be. It’s such a critical hire.’’
“I think Loren’s got the capabilities to oversee every single sport there. Which is huge. I think that’s one of the attractions to him, his work with so many different athletes and so many different realms. I do think they look at him as much more than football but obviously football is what drives everything at Notre Dame.’’
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