Brian Kelly: Kizer, Zaire Have Embraced Two-QB Plan
On the day after DeShone Kizer and Malik Zaire found out they would both play against Texas, the two Notre Dame quarterbacks could not hide their emotions.
Speaking at media day on Aug. 17, Kizer and Zaire spoke about their desire to be the full-time starter while still supporting coach Brian Kelly’s plan to play both of them in the opener against Texas.
“There’s supposed to be one quarterback on the field at one time,” Kizer said last week. “I committed here and decided to play college football so I can be that one guy.”
“You get cards dealt to you that aren’t always in your favor,” Zaire said.
A week later, Kelly said the quarterbacks have embraced the unconventional plan.
“You can just tell there’s that sense of, ‘I’m playing, I better get after this now,’” Kelly said Wednesday.
Though the seventh-year coach said he has not made a decision on who will start the game, the two quarterbacks will definitely both see action against the Longhorns.
Torii Hunter Jr., Notre Dame’s leading returning receiver, said Wednesday he’s had conversations with both Kizer and Zaire and made sure the quarterbacks have accepted their roles.
“They’ve both just gone out there and they played,” Hunter said. “They play extremely hard and they’ve gone out there and worked as hard as they could.
“It’s out of their control and they should just go out there and play as hard as they can and keep working hard to get better every day. If you are upset about it then you might let that kind of mess up your game plan, you might lose your spot.”
Kelly has said several times that Notre Dame is best when both quarterbacks play, a plan that allows the Irish to use two of their five best offensive players.
But like Kizer and Zaire expressed at media day, there was disappointment from the two quarterbacks that they weren’t the outright starter. Kelly said those feelings have been traded in for a team-first approach.
“Since that decision they’ve really embraced knowing that both of them will play and they both have to be ready,” Kelly said. “What I’ve seen more than anything else is a sharpness in their practice and in particular in their preparation, in that they know they’re both going to play.”
Communication in practice is better, Kelly said. They are both louder and sharper, finishing camp and starting the school year on a high note.
“They’re just a little more assertive because they know they’re both going to play,” Kelly said.
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