April 8, 2003

Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame head football coach Tyrone Willingham announced today the hiring of Jimmy Gonzales as the Director of Personnel Development for the Irish football program. Gonzales, who will work with recruiting and player development among other things, will begin his duties immediately in South Bend.

Gonzales comes to Notre Dame after serving as the director of football operations and recruiting coordinator at Army since 1999. In that role, Gonzales handled the administrative operations of the football program, aided in recruiting weekends and team travel and assisted in community service projects and community events.

A lifelong football administrator and coach during his career, Gonzales was the assistant athletic director for football operations under head coach John Mackovic at the University of Texas from 1996-98 before leaving for Army. While at Texas, the Longhorns finished first in the Big 12 South, defeated Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship game and advanced to the Fiesta Bowl during the 1996 season. Gonzales also served as the administrative assistant for recruiting at Oklahoma (1992-93) during his career.

Prior to assuming administrative duties at Texas, Gonzales served as a coach for close to 15 years. He was the defensive backfield and ends coach at Duke from 1994-95, and coached defensive backs at Northwestern (1990-92). He served in a similar capacity at Wisconsin where he was the defensive backs coach and co-director of summer camps at 1986-89. He also was the defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at Tulsa from 1985-86, the defensive coordinator at Texas Lutheran in 1985 and was a graduate assistant at both TCU (1983-84) and Southwest Texas State (1982). At Southwest Texas, that team posted a perfect 14-0 record and captured the NCAA Division II national championship.

He started his career by coaching in the Judson Independent School District at the middle school level in San Antonio, Texas.

A native of Schertz, Texas, and an ’81 graduate of Texas Lutheran College in Seguin, Texas, with a bachelor’s degree in political science. Gonzales also has a master’s degree in education from TCU, which he received in 1991.

Born April 26, 1958, he and his wife Mary have two daughters: Danica, 12 and Lea, 10. He and his family will reside in Granger, Ind.