Kansas Football: Charlie Weis Hires Rob Ianello

Kansas head football coach Charlie Weis announced the addition of Rob Ianello to the Jayhawk football staff. Ianello, who will coach the KU wide receivers and also serve as the recruiting coordinator, joins the Kansas program after serving the previous two seasons as the head coach at Akron.

The hiring of Ianello was a bit of a poorly kept secret and something that was expected since the early staff announcements in mid December. The hire pretty much confirms the departure of David Beaty as was expected and also adds an interesting wrinkle as Ianello takes over the recruiting coordinator title that had been previously held by Reggie Mitchell.

Mitchell will of course remain on staff as already indicated early on by Weis and Athletic Director Sheahon Zenger, but the addition of Ianello gives the Jayhawks a one-two punch in recruiting as Ianello has been known as someone with a knack for landing top talent.

Prior to his stint at Akron, Ianello was a member of the coaching staff at Notre Dame from 2005-09, coaching all five seasons under Weis. He coached the Irish in the 2008 Hawai'i Bowl, 2007 Sugar Bowl and 2006 Fiesta Bowl.

From 2005-08 at Notre Dame, he served as wide receivers coach and coordinated the recruiting efforts of the Irish. In January 2009, he was promoted to assistant head coach for offense. In that role, he led offensive staff meetings when head coach Charlie Weis was not present, and later served as the team's interim head coach.

Notre Dame's 2009 offense ranked sixth nationally in passing offense (323.50 ypg) and ninth in total offense (451.75 ypg). Ianello mentored Irish wide receiver Golden Tate, who was the 2009 Biletnikoff Award winner and a consensus All-American. Additionally he coached Jeff Samardzija, who was a Biletnikoff Award finalist in 2005 and 2006 and earned All-America honors in 2006.

As the recruiting coordinator for the Irish, he directed three consecutive top-10 recruiting classes from 2006-08, something only three other schools (USC, Florida and Georgia) could claim. Additionlly, Ianello is the only coach named one of the 25-best recruiters nationally from 2005-09 by Rivals.com. In the book "The Second Season" by recruiting analyst Tom Lemming, Ianello is named one of the top-10 recruiters of the last 30 years.

Ianello had two coaching stints at Wisconsin (1990-93, 2003-04), and was part of a staff that helped lead the Badgers to the 1994 Rose Bowl, the 2003 Music City Bowl and the 2005 Outback Bowl.

From 1994-2002, Ianello was on staff at Arizona, serving as recruiting coordinator from 1994-96, and wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator from 1997-2002. The Wildcats played in two bowl games, the 1997 Insight.com Bowl and the 1998 Holiday Bowl. The 1998 Arizona team finished 12-1, which stands as the best record in school history.-+

Ianello served on the board of trustees of the American Football Coaches Association in from 2003 to 2009. The board formulates policy and provides direction for the AFCA. He also has served as the chair of the AFCA's assistant coaches committee and the general chairman of the AFCA's all-division assistant coaches committee. He currently serves on the AFCA ethics committee.

Born Nov. 4, 1965, Ianello is a native of Port Chester, N.Y., and is a 1987 graduate of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., owning a bachelor's degree in English.

Ianello and his wife, the former Denise Dove, have one son, Zachary (5), and two daughters, Ashley (4) and Courtney (3). Denise played collegiate basketball at Northern Illinois and is a former assistant women's basketball coach at Arizona and Wisconsin. She has also worked as a scout in the WNBA.