Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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50 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW to freshman Jalen Hurts in the opener, ulti- mately transferring to Arizona State — and Notre Dame all of a sudden needed a quar- terback. It appeared the Irish might pass on taking a signal-caller in the class until Wimbush's name emerged. Though verbally committed to Penn State, Wimbush made a surprise visit to South Bend in October for Notre Dame's 17-14 win over Stanford. Three days later, Wim- bush called Kelly and committed to the Irish. "We were going to be okay if we didn't take a quarterback," Kelly said on National Signing Day in 2015. "Until I saw Brandon on film in his first couple games, and that changed my mind. He just did so many of the things that a complete quarterback needs to do. "So I was okay not taking a quarterback to be quite honest with you — and then beauty is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to this position. And what I saw from him and what I was able to learn and develop over time with him, there was no way we were going to pass on this young man." The traits that Kelly noticed were iden- tical to what Hansen saw years earlier in Wimbush. "He always had great arm strength," said Hansen, who has led the St. Peter's program for the past 28 years. "When you're this big and you can throw the ball the way he can, you may develop a lot of bad habits. It was kind of deprogramming him and then repro- gramming him. My offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach did a great job with him. "One position as a coach you can spend two or three minutes with and know that he has that something is quarterback. When you spend two or three minutes with Brandon, he has that 'it' factor." Kelly was asked about Wimbush's pro- gression last November, and what stood out most was the leadership and a focus on the details despite not playing. "He knows the janitor's name here," Kelly said of Wimbush, using that as an example of his quarterback's attention to his sur- roundings at all times. The NJ.com Offensive Player of the Year for 2014, Wimbush completed 192 passes — the most in the state — on 265 attempts "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 organization to it." HEAD COACH BRIAN KELLY ON WIMBUSH Wimbush possesses a strong arm and is athletic enough to get outside the pocket and create plays with his feet if needed. PHOTO BY COREY BODDEN