Notre Dame’s Brandon Wimbush Spent His Spring Break Training In San Diego
Brandon Wimbush opted to work on his game during spring break last week.
Wimbush and the Irish returned to spring practice Wednesday at the Loftus Sports Center. The 6-1, 226-pounder wasn’t too far away from football during the team’s off week.
Notre Dame’s junior quarterback worked out with Georgia Whitfield Jr., a quarterback coach who runs a training academy called Whitfield Athletix in San Diego.
Whitfield tweeted that the quarterbacks trained for 20 hours over the five days. ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit was also in attendance for at least part of the week.
Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen, Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, TCU quarterback Kenny Hill, Indiana quarterback Richard Lagow, a few prep quarterbacks and former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel trained alongside Wimbush.
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said Wednesday after practice that he has “no problem” with Wimbush working out with Whitfield, among the most prestigious quarterback instructors.
Kelly called Wimbush’s trip to California a “bullpen session,” an opportunity to keep the arm and feet loose. The short burst workouts in a small period of time don’t change a player’s overall game, but simply keep mechanics sharp.
“George really doesn’t work on the specifics to the offense,” Kelly said. “George is really working on the quarterback and throwing the football and moving in the pocket. George is really good at just keeping those quarterbacks active and moving.
“When it comes to the playbook, when it comes to his teammates, when it comes to his coaches here, Brandon understands that when the rubber hits the road, those are the guys that matter the most.”
Wimbush is the clear-cut favorite to be the starting quarterback this fall. He has not spoken to the media yet this spring.
Former Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson worked intensively with Whitfield in 2013 while suspended from the team. The two watched film and worked on all aspects of Golson’s game before he came back to Notre Dame.
For Wimbush, it’s clear what the No. 1 priority is.
“As I said to him, as long as you know at the end of the day when it gets into the playbook and your teammates and your position coach here that there’s not any confusion there, which there isn’t,” Kelly said. “I have no problem with those kind of interactions.”
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