Ron Powlus Position: Quarterbacks Coach Alma Mater: Notre Dame '97

In his first season as quarterbacks coach, Ron Powlus had a challenging job in getting a quarterback ready to replace Brady Quinn. Powlus had both Jimmy Clausen and Evan Sharpley prepared and the improvements both made during the season is reason why many Irish fans are excited about the future.

Clausen played in the season opener and started the next week at Penn State, becoming the earliest any Notre Dame freshman quarterback had made his first start under center. Powlus had Clausen ready to go and despite playing in front of over 100,000 fans, Clausen was not rattled as he completed 17 of 32 passes for 144 yards. The growth Clausen made during the season was readily apparent in the final three contests of the '07 slate as he completed 57 of 104 passes (.548) for 636 yards with six touchdowns and one interception. During the course of the season, Clausen etched his name into the Notre Dame record books for most starts by a freshman quarterback and ranked on the following freshman quarterback singleseason lists passing yards (1,254), completions (138), attempts (245) and completion percentage (.563).

Powlus also did a great job of having Sharpley prepared and ready to enter the game at a moments notice. A great illustration of that came against Purdue in '07 as Sharpley replaced an injured Clausen and completed 16 of 26 passes for 208 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Sharpley started against USC and Navy and wound up completing 55 percent of his passes on the season (77 of 140) for 736 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions.

After working for two years as the director of personnel development for the Notre Dame football team, Ron Powlus was named quarterbacks coach on January 19, 2007. One of the more decorated quarterbacks in school history, Powlus has been able to impart the knowledge he gained as a four-year starter at Notre Dame and his three-year stint in professional football to a talented, young crop of Irish signal-callers.

Powlus played an integral role in helping the 2006 and 2007 freshmen classes rank in the top-10 in the nation. Formerly Notre Dame's career leader in football passing yardage, pass attempts, completions and touchdown passes, Powlus rejoined the University in his previous position in March of 2005. He worked closely with recruiting coordinator Rob Ianello as he helped direct the administrative aspects of Irish recruiting.

A four-year starter at quarterback for the Irish from 1994-97, Powlus joined the Irish football staff after spending three years in the business world, working in the healthcare and home mortgage industries. Immediately before returning to Notre Dame, Powlus worked as a wholesale account executive for First Horizon Home Loans in Pittsburgh. He previously spent a year each as a loan consultant for Seattlebased Washington Mutual Home Loans/American Home Mortgage, and as a healthcare representative for Pfizer Inc.

A native of Berwick, Pa., Powlus was a two-time Irish captain who set 20 school records at Notre Dame. He started all 44 regular-season games (plus two bowl games) in which he played for the Irish and finished with 558 career completions on 969 attempts for 7,602 yards and 52 touchdowns. He set the Irish single-game mark for touchdown passes in a game with four (three times) and at one point completed 14 straight passes. He set singleseason marks in 1997 as a senior with his 182 completions and 298 attempts. Powlus rebounded from a broken collarbone suffered in the preseason of what would have been his freshman season in 1993 and then broke a bone in his upper left arm late in the 1995 season.

Powlus originally signed as a free agent in 1998 with the NFL Tennessee Oilers and then was on the Detroit Lions' preseason roster in '99 and the Philadelphia Eagles' roster in 2000. He played with the NFL Europe Amsterdam Admirals in the spring of 2000. A high school standout at Berwick High School, Powlus was the Parade prep player of the year in '92 and the USA Today offensive prep player of the year.

Born July 16, 1974, Powlus received his Notre Dame degree from the Mendoza College of Business Administration in 1997 with a major in Marketing. He also took graduate coursework during his final season with the Irish. Powlus and his wife, the former Sara Ivanina, are parents of two sons, Ronnie and Tommy. They were married prior to his final season at Notre Dame in 1997.