2015 Notre Dame Football Preview

2015 Notre Dame Football Preview

Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview

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42 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2015 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY LOU SOMOGYI O n June 17, head coach Brian Kelly talked exclusively with Blue & Gold Illustrated about the 2015 offense. Blue & Gold Illustrated: After the In- dianapolis 500 this year, you tweeted, "If you think this is fast, wait 'til you see our offense." Did that mean this is the fastest offense you ever had, or that you will play more up-tempo? Brian Kelly: "We worked hard in the spring to establish the right pace and tempo. When you're talking about tempo, it's about the utilization of it at different times. When people say 'tempo' they think of Oregon, and going at that speed the whole time. We don't want to play that way. "We want to be able to play fast and effi- cient at certain times. I think we'll have that for the first time this year when we deem that we want to. We have perimeter speed, and now we have slot speed that we haven't had before. "The final piece was the running back position. We've always had good backs, but I think the addition of [C.J.] Prosise adds a speed element that we didn't have. We can now complement the whole offense." Blue & Gold Illustrated: Does Malik Zaire's inexperience at quarterback increase the chances that you push the tempo, or decrease it? Kelly: "He can handle the tempo quite well, because when you're running the ball — which we'll run it a little more with him — you can play faster. If you're throwing the ball a lot more, there's a lot more that goes into protection and protection checks … you can't play quite as fast. If you're running the ball at a higher rate, there's less checking, especially when you're running zone option. "Go ahead and blitz it. There are reads off of the blitz, and you really don't have to go up to the line of scrimmage and have paraly- sis by analysis. You can go play, and that's the beauty of having a quarterback that can run it. You can play faster with him." Blue & Gold Illustrated: Do you con- struct your offense to try to get the ball to a variety of players, or do you look more at the weaknesses of a defense and disregard the number of touches by a player? Kelly: "Last year we lost TJ Jones and DaVaris Daniels, so we were making sure we were getting the ball to a number of guys. And then Will Fuller emerged, so we changed our focus a little and began featuring him in plays which highlighted his skill sets. "The answer is both. If you have a particu- lar skill that we feel you can utilize, we're going to utilize it. Fuller is much better run- ning go routes than he is precise with in- and-out cuts, and all of our tape breakdowns show that. "Self-scouting has become so much more detailed. The analytics are so much more detailed now that if you have any tenden- cies at all, you're going to be exposed. So you have to do a great job of mixing things up and moving the ball around, or you're going to get coverages that take things away." Blue & Gold Illustrated: You are 15-1 at Notre Dame when you have a true freshman like Tommy Rees in 2010 or a redshirt fresh- man like Everett Golson in 2012 or Malik Zaire versus LSU as the starting quarterback. Is there something to be said for simplifying things on offense, or was it a case where the defense could carry the team? Kelly: "When I have a freshman quarter- back, I'm going to have a tendency to go to probably just the things that they know and OFFENSE Q&A Playing To iTs sTrengThs A healthy Malik Zaire is pivotal to Notre Dame's veteran offense Head coach Brian Kelly said the team depth and Zaire should allow the Fighting Irish to be more physical in their approach. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND

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