The presumption that when Notre Dame’s QB1, Sam Hartman, is presented with an opportunity to run instead of pass this season that he’ll be coached to do it with caution and intelligence.
The same philosophy was expected in 2015, that last time the Irish entered a season with only three scholarship QBs. And DeShone Kizer proceeded to amass 134 rushes that season (for 674 yards and 10 TDs), second most attempts on the team and just 22 fewer than running back Audric Estimé logged as Notre Dame’s leader in rushing yards last season, for comparison’s sake.
And that Kizer usage came even when the Irish were down to two healthy quarterbacks by game 2 of that 10-3 season, with original starter Malik Zaire going down for the season with a broken leg against Virginia.
Current Irish QBs coach Gino Guidugli has no use for that more aggressive blueprint.
“I think that we’ve got to be smart with Sam running football,” he said Saturday after Notre Dame’s ninth training camp practice of the preseason. “Like, he had one the other day at Mishawaka [High school in an off-site practice], and, boom, he pushed out. I want to see him slide. I want to see him get down. I want him to protect himself.
“There's always going to be situations where he's got to go get it for us. And, to me, that's just part of playing the position, understanding the situation. He's just got to be really tuned into the situation and understand that he's got to protect himself first.
“If the game’s on the line, he's got to go help us win the game. But outside of that, we need you playing the next play, so don't be a hero.”
The Irish open the 2023 season in three weeks, Aug. 26, against Navy in Dublin, Ireland, the nation’s No. 2 rushing defense last season.
Hartman has 417 career carries for 856 net yards, including sack yardage, and 17 TDs. The fewest number of carries he’s had in a non-redshirt season was 63 for previous school, Wake Forest, in its abbreviated 2020 season. Every other season, he’s been over 100 carries, with a high of 117 for Wake in 2021.
Hartman’s backups, sophomore Steve Angeli and freshman Kenny Minchey, have zero collegiate rushing attempts and zero passing attempts between them. Hence, the hesitancy with Hartman cutting it loose running the ball.
Not that he doesn’t have a burst.
“He does a good job of just kind of understanding coverage,” Guidugli said. “Like dropping back, he’s seeing the pass concept. He recognizes it as man [coverage]. If a crease opens up, being able to take off in man. He’s a thrower, but he's got a little bit more to him when he gets out and goes than people think.”
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Assessing Plan B at QB
Early enrolled freshman Kenny Minchey was surging so convincingly toward the end of the 15 spring practices that the prevailing notion going into summer from those observing/speculating in the media was that he might just overtake sophomore Steve Angeli over the summer.
Guidugli still wants Minchey to think that way, even though Angeli’s strong summer has carried over into training camp, and he’s still the clear No. 2.
“Steve, obviously, has a lot more familiarity with the offense, with the speed of the game,” Guidugli said. “But I would like to see those two compete. I mean, Kenny needs to push Steve. Steve needs to stay ahead of Kenny, and to me that's growth.
“Iron sharpens iron at the end of the day. So, if we have three good ones and they can all push each other and make each other better, then Notre Dame will be better.”
As the No. 2 QB in 2022 in all but the three games in which Tyler Buchner was healthy and thus No. 3, Angeli logged just seven game snaps. And none of those involved anything but handling off or being a decoy.
So what’s the comfort level now if he has to come in and play high-leverage snaps in a game?
“There’s a first time for everything, you know what I mean?” Guidugli said. “We've got talented backs and we've got a talented offensive line, but you can't just go in there and run the ball 70 times in the game. So, he’s got to be prepared to go in there and operate our offense, no different than Sam Hartman.
“Would our offense change? I’m sure it would change a little bit. We're going to do what Steve is best at doing, and tailor it to him, but he's got to be prepared to go in there and operate our offense. …”
“The message to both of them [Angeli and Michney] was Sam Hartman is one play away from being out against Ohio State. And here you come walking into the game. If you don't walk every day into the Gug and prepare yourself for that situation, when that situation arises, you're not going to be ready.
“Whether that’s his helmet popping off or he gets dinged and has to come out, you're going into those games and the other 10 guys in the huddle are looking at you, expecting you to get the job done.”
Getting a jump on 2024
Both Angeli and Minchey showed enough progress and promise in the spring that it dissuaded head coach Marcus Freeman and his coaching staff from dipping into the transfer portal for a more experienced backup for 2023 once junior Tyler Buchner in late April opted to transfer to Alabama.
The Irish coaches also have to make the same calculation for the 2024 season, with Hartman exhausting his eligibility and high school senior CJ Carr set to join Angeli and Minchey in January.
That evaluation. Guidugli said, has already begun.
“That’s what training camp is about, proving that you belong at Notre Dame and potentially you could be the starting quarterback at Notre Dame,” he said. “And you hope that throughout the season there's going to be an opportunity for us to get those guys into the game, but there’s no guarantee of that. So, these are the most valuable reps, because they're the reps that are happening right now.
“And you hope three or four games into the season, you're able to put those guys in there and let them play and not just be in a situation where you hand the ball off, hand the ball off, hand the ball off, run the clock out. But you’re actually out there letting those guys play, letting them navigate, so you do get a true sense of, ‘Hey, what are we doing moving forward?’”
Giving at the office
Guidugli said he didn’t have to cajole Minchey and Angeli to learn as much as they could from being around Hartman. It happened rather organically — and regularly.
“They just camp out in my office, all of them, together,” he said of Hartman and his two understudies. “They eat all their meals in there. We watch film in there. It's a good group, and they help each other and they really like football. And they like preparing, so [I] couldn't be happier with them.
“My perspective is, to me, you just can't be in there just hammering ball 24/7. There's got to be a relationship built. There's got to be trust built. We're together so much. Those kids are like sons to me in a way.
“Obviously, they all have fathers and parents, but that's kind how I see them. They're talking about their day. They're talking about what's going on at home. They’re talking about what's going on in the world — just good conversation.”
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