Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2016 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 39 depth you now have there, including sopho- more Brandon Wimbush as a third option if needed? Kelly: "I don't know if there is a willing- ness, but it's probably less of a concern. When we met as an offense previously, we had a cap on the hits we wanted to leave our quarterback open to in the run game. We said, 'We can't have him exposed more than this X number.' I think we're probably not going to have that conversation this year. We're going to say, 'Let's just play our game and whatever it ends up …' "Now, we're certainly not going to put him in harm's way, but we're going to run our of- fense. That's one benefit of having the quar- terbacks that we have." BGI: Not much can fracture a football team like a QB debate, whether it's on the outside or inside your locker room. How do you as a coach try to nip that in the bud, or even hold yourself back from a quick hook if either Kizer or Zaire is struggling? Kelly: "I don't know if there's an easy answer to it. Quarterbacks are gener- ally going to be respected by their actions, and both of those kids are respected. I think what ends up happening is you have quarterback controversies within the team when you have personality conflicts — a bunch of guys like this guy, but they don't like that guy. Or where one guy might think this guy should play versus that guy … that's not going to be a carryover here. "I'm not concerned about that because I know how both of these guys are respected in the locker room. Either one can lead the team and there won't be a fracture of the team be- cause they both have the respect of their team- mates through their actions and the leadership they have displayed." BGI: From the outside it looks like Kizer is a relatively easy call. In his first season of college football, he had the sixth-best passer rating (when including bowls) in Notre Dame history and the third-most rushing yards by a QB. There is some impression that you are just keeping the competition open publicly to placate Zaire. Kelly: "That's a wrong assessment. I owe Malik the opportunity to compete for the start- ing job. He got hurt in the second game of the year and then the offense developed under DeShone. I told Malik that he'd have the op- portunity to be the starter when he came back from the injury. "He wasn't 100 percent in the spring — about 80 percent — and he had to learn the offense, because it changed and evolved under DeShone while he was hurt. I used the spring to have Malik catch up with him, and he did. Now, go compete. "The preseason is where they have to de- cide who the starting quarterback is. I just wanted to be fair to both of them, and now they will decide who will be the starting quar- terback. I won't." BGI: Could you envision incorporating a rotating system like you had with Zaire and Everett Golson in the 2014 Music City Bowl during the win over LSU, or are they similar enough in skill sets where it is not necessary? Kelly: "It doesn't make sense to me as I sit here with you right now [June 9] to do that, because they're really the same quarterback. They're different in that for Malik to win the job, he's going to have to be the guy that hits the 'off-schedule' plays and make dynamic plays. DeShone is going to do what he does: he's going to hit his progressions, he's going to run through the offense, he's going to be meticulous. … That's the difference between the two. "Malik's going to have to do what he does, DeShone is going to have to continue to grow in his area, I'm going to have to decide on one of them and somebody is going to be pissed off. That's how I'm getting myself ready for it, more than anything else." BGI: Have you found anything you've had to change in your recruiting approach at Notre Dame, especially at quarterback? This easily seems like the best situation you've had at QB. Kelly: "Not overall on offense, but the quarterback a little bit. We were so far behind at the quarterback position [when I arrived] that we were just trying to get one as quickly as we could that could fit our offense. "Once we did that, we reached a little, and once we were able to make the transition we stuck to what we were looking for at quarter- back. Once we got through the first year, we stayed pretty true to what we were looking for offensively." BGI: Last preseason, you made it clear the offensive line was going to have to carry the operation. Is the onus still going to be on them, or do you put more on the quarterbacks and running backs because you lost three of the five starters up front? Kelly: "The quarterback will have a lot more influence in what we do. He's going to have to get us into some good plays, he's go- ing to make sure the protections are checked to the right side. The center did a lot of our checks last year. That had not been the case in years past. We'll put more emphasis with the quarterback in making sure that he corrects some things for us. The quarterback is still a central guide to what we're doing. "The offensive line will have to be more of a collective unit, where last year we had several guys who had already started multiple years. Mike McGlinchey is a great leader, Quenton [Nelson] and Sam [Mustipher] are well respected. The right side is going to be young, but you have three guys up front that have great respect from the group with a real solid sense of what we're doing." BGI: Given a choice, everyone would pre- fer that Will Fuller had come back for his senior year, but is there a benefit to forcing the quarterbacks and overall offense to take on more of a balanced role? That happened in 2012 without Michael Floyd. Kelly: "That tends to happen, and not just as players — as coaches we tend to do a better job of making sure that every- body is involved. When that happens, the back side receiver knows that he's going to get a shot and it's not going to Will Fuller every time, and it can make everyone more engaged. "My experience has showed me that when you lose that great player, it rises all ships. I think that's going to happen again — and we're going to need it to happen." BGI: Back in 2011 you had about eight crucial red-zone turnovers in losses to South Florida, Michigan, USC and Florida State. We thought it might have been a fluke year, but the 14 red-zone turnovers you've had the past two years lead the nation over that time. Is there a silver bullet solution? Has it almost become psychological? Kelly: "The quarterback was different in each instance. It really falls heavily on the preparation of the quarterback. It's a coach and a player preparation, plus execution, which make it three-fold. I feel like we've had great opportunities to be successful down there, but circumstances — this past year we had a young, first-time quarterback. You're throwing balls down there with a blindfold on, and so you have to trust what you're coached, the receivers must be executing at a high level of what they are run- ning, and effectively you all have to be on the same page down there. We just haven't done a good enough job as coaches and players and as a unit to execute. "That's been job one for us this offseason to make sure we get better in that area." ✦ "The preseason is where they have to decide who the starting quarterback is. I just wanted to be fair to both of them, and now they will decide who will be the starting quarterback. I won't." KELLY ON MALIK ZAIRE AND DESHONE KIZER