Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/841614
And as Rich Hansen, Wimbush's former head coach at St. Peter's (N.J.) Prep puts it, "I'd be shocked if he didn't have absolute tremendous success." Wimbush, who redshirted during the 2016 season, represents Notre Dame's hopes at re‑ turning to the College Football Playoff discus‑ sion. Because of the stature of his position, Wimbush already appears on early Heisman Trophy odds — 60‑1 by the Westgate sports‑ book in Las Vegas. The junior is eager to have full control of an offense after a couple years as an understudy. "Coming off the year where I was thrusted into the No. 2 spot and then having to redshirt, it was difficult but I saw the benefits of it," said Wimbush, the backup to Kizer in 2015 after Zaire was injured in game two. "I saw the later effect of it. Obviously I have this op‑ portunity to go out there and be the guy. "It was hard. It was very difficult. It took a lot of self‑talk and self‑confidence to be able to go out there weekly for 15 weeks and grind your butt off and work with the guys and get yelled at. It was all worth it. "I felt so comfortable and I knew that my time would come and I just had to be patient. I had a bunch of people to lean on. … I feel like I'm more mature, so I understand and I know where I'm at. I know what university I'm at and I understand the benefits that come with it. "Sometimes you've got to go through some struggles to be where you want to be at the end of the day." In a world where many star quarterbacks elect to transfer rather than wait their turn, Wimbush stuck at Notre Dame. The 20‑year‑ old has said his dream is to someday be a "big‑time CEO," and believes his education at Notre Dame best puts him on that path. Other schools reached out to Wimbush, a highly touted four‑star prospect, while he sat the bench in South Bend. "I had options," Wimbush said in a March 27 story in Sports Illustrated. "I defi‑ nitely had options to head out." While Wimbush's lack of game reps isn't a positive, this has not been an issue under head coach Brian Kelly, who was 4‑0 with fresh‑ man Tommy Rees in 2010 and 11‑1 with red‑ shirt frosh Everett Golson in 2012. The most recent example was Kizer learning on the fly in 2015, helping the Irish to a 10‑2 regular season and an appearance in the Fiesta Bowl. Even without a meaningful game rep at the college level — Wimbush played in two games and attempted five passes as Kizer's backup in 2015 — the Teaneck, N.J., native captains the offense like a seasoned veteran. "What I've been most impressed with him is he listens very well," Kelly said of Wimbush. "He's a guy that will listen, make the appropri‑ ate adjustments, come back and go to work on what you instructed him. "His presence … he runs that offense like he's been running it for years. There's no panic. There's a calmness. There's an organi‑ zation to it." Wimbush sits atop the quarterback depth chart, ahead of sophomore backup Ian Book, third‑stringer Montgomery VanGorder and in‑ coming freshman Avery Davis. The Irish have a verbal commit from Rivals100 quarterback Phil Jurkovec in the class of 2018. Without a serious challenger for the start‑ ing job in 2017 — though Book progressed well during the spring and Blue‑Gold Game — Wimbush has taken it upon himself to find inner motivation. Wimbush was asked during the spring what he took away most from Kizer during their years together in the quarterback room. "I always envied the way DeShone went about his business every day inside the meet‑ ing room and when he got onto the field and the way he applied what we'd gone over in the meeting room," Wimbush said. "That's what made him successful." Notre Dame's quarterbacks spent the spring adjusting to new offensive coordinator Chip Long's scheme, which has similarities to the team's 2016 offense, with much more run‑pass option plays inserted and a dialed‑up tempo. "He's a willing learner. He's very coach‑ able," said Long, who spent the 2016 sea‑ son as Memphis' offensive coordinator and replaces Mike Sanford at Notre Dame. "He does a great job of applying what we go over in the meeting room, cleaning up his mistakes from the first day and using his athleticism to help him out. He's done a good job with his leadership, trying to take control. All the quarterbacks have, in my opinion. "He can't get enough reps, he can't get enough guys flashing in front of his face. That's why we're out there working." Before he was the next big thing at Notre Dame, Wimbush was a blue‑chip quarterback for the Marauders, leading his team to a New Jersey Non‑Public Group 4 state title as a senior. But he wasn't even Notre Dame's first choice at quarterback in the class of 2015. That distinction went to California product Blake Barnett, who wound up decommitting from the Irish the summer before his senior season. Barnett landed at Alabama — he left the program last September after losing the job BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 49