A Rite Of Spring: Notre Dame Quarterback Competition
If spring is near, it must mean there is an impending quarterback debate at Notre Dame under head coach Brian Kelly. It’s been almost like clockwork the past eight years.
Dayne Crist or Tommy Rees (2011)?
Rees or Everett Golson … or Andrew Hendrix, or Gunner Kiel (2012)?
Golson or Malik Zaire (2014-15)?
Zaire or DeShone Kizer (2016)?
And now in 2018, Brandon Wimbush or Ian Book?
Wimbush is the incumbent after starting 12 games last season. He produced 30 touchdowns as a passer (16) and runner (14) in his debut year as a starter, and rushed for the second most yards ever (803) by a Notre Dame quarterback in one campaign — but also finished 86th among 110 quarterbacks nationally in passing efficiency.
His decline in November was precipitous in road losses at Miami and Stanford, and even more acute in the Citrus Bowl when he was yanked just before halftime while the Irish remained scoreless.
In his place, the sophomore Book dramatically rallied the Irish to a 21-17 victory over LSU Jan. 1, completing 14 of 19 passes for 164 yards with two scores while adding 36 rushing yards with some nimble footwork.
This Tuesday morning, and perhaps most of the spring, Wimbush will be the first to take snaps with the top offense, but Kelly stopped short of anointing him as the definitive starter.
“You’ve got to put somebody out there first, and by virtue of a lot of the really good things that Brandon did last year, he’ll go out with the first group,” Kelly said. “But we all know Ian was integral in our last win against LSU, and he deserves an opportunity to compete as well. … Brandon knows that he’s got to work on his skill set.”
From a personality standpoint, Kelly said Wimbush remained the same engaging, upbeat leader this winter despite the bowl benching.
“What I think has changed a little bit are his priorities,” Kelly offered. “I think football has become very, very important to him in terms of his progress. He’s in there after weight training, working on his mechanics, throwing, up watching film.
“I’ve seen a guy that clearly understands that there’s more to it than just Saturdays. It’s been great to see that he’s taken his development to the next level.”
The Irish head coach admitted he cannot at this point quantify how the reps in practices will be divided between the two. It is not so much about 50-50 in practice situations, but he did maintain that to be fair to Book, he would need his share of block time with the first unit.
“I don’t think we’re being totally honest if we say that there’s competition and you get the second-team reps the whole spring,” Kelly said. “Ian’s got to have an opportunity to have weapons around him and have that opportunity as well.
“It’s something that we’ll see from day to day … it’s not going to be traded off every day. They’ve got to gain some continuity and consistency with their unit as well.”
Last year, following Kizer’s departure to the NFL, it was well established that Wimbush, who redshirted as a sophomore in 2016 while Kizer and Zaire competed, was the anointed starter.
The year prior, the battle between Kizer and Zaire carried well into August training camp. A week before the opener at Texas, Kelly said both would see action in the game.
When it soon became apparent that Kizer was more effective while Zaire’s production waned and body language dissipated, some damage had already been done en route to a 4-8 season. Naming a clear starter at the end of spring would be ideal for Kelly and his staff, but the concentration for now is seeing continued improvement from both.
“You always hope that one guy just says I’m head and shoulders [above],” Kelly said. “I think we’re in pretty good position if we have clear separation.
“I think it’s more important that we do a really good job of developing both of the quarterbacks. And if they both have made great strides, I think that’s what I want to get out of it.”
What is not acceptable is pigeonholing Wimbush as “the runner” and Book as “the passer.”
“What I want to know is that our quarterbacks are equally adept at running it and throwing it, and that wasn’t the case (in 2017),” Kelly stated. “We have to be equally adept, and that’s really going to be the goal of the spring, more so than if one guy separates [himself].”
In the 2014 Music City Bowl, a 31-28 victory versus LSU, Kelly used Zaire as the runner and Golson as the passer. That was a one-game surprise the Tigers weren’t quite prepared for, but it’s different for a 13-game season when opponents have more of a catalog on how to defend an offense.
“I don’t wish that we have that scenario occur,” Kelly said of using two quarterbacks regularly in a game. “It’s not an easy deal. We’d like to have one guy, but we’ll deal with it as we go along.”
Just like he has much of his career at Notre Dame.
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