Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MAY 2020 23 "We wanted to try to develop some of the skills that maybe he hasn't done before, but for the most part, it was more the mental training to re- ally understand different coverages, fronts and protections." This might seem like a bit of overkill for Book, who a week earlier had par- ticipated in Notre Dame's first (and lone) spring practice of 2020. But due to NCAA regulations, college coaches actually have less time than one might think to break down film and point out minute details with their players. "College coaches have only so much time to work with their play- ers," Rosenfels said. "It's actually very limited and a lot of that time is spent on the physical aspect of the game — in the weight room and, ob- viously, out on the practice field, but in the NFL you don't have class. "It's all football all the time. The game is just so much more advanced and detailed than the college game." This involved breaking down Book's film from the past season and watching several current NFL quar- terbacks, especially players who are comparable in height to the 6-0 Fight- ing Irish signal-caller, such as Drew Brees and Russell Wilson. Similar to those quarterbacks, Book is lauded for his accuracy while also possessing the speed and agility to escape a collapsing pocket and turn a potentially distressful situation into a significant gain. However valuable this skill is, at times throughout the 2020 season Book's mobility was also a detriment. According to Pro Football Focus, Book was sacked 14 times in 2019 and 11 of them were considered his fault for leaving the pocket before he should, or for running himself into the outstretched arms of a defensive lineman or linebacker positioned in the offensive backfield. "We talked about moving around in the pocket, staying in rhythm and also staying in throwing mode rather than running," Rosenfels said. "He's such a good athlete and he's very quick, a former lacrosse player. There is an instinct for him to run a little bit more than he probably needs to." Another focus of their time to- gether was breaking down pre-snap reads and anticipation. At the highest level of college foot- ball and in the NFL, passing win- dows are extremely small due to how athletic and knowledgeable oppos- ing defenders are. It's at the point where quarterbacks practically need to be able to see into the future. "One of my goals was to help him anticipate more so he knew what was coming before it actually happened," Rosenfels said. This type of development could help Book take his game to another level. After a highly successful 2018 cam- paign as a first-year starter, Book had some rather poor performances in 2019, including a clunker against Michigan in Ann Arbor where he threw for 73 yards while completing 32 percent of his passes. Overall, his completion rate dropped by eight percentage points in his second year as a starter. One school of thought for his dip in accuracy is that opposing defen- sive coordinators had game film on him from 2018, which allowed them to better exploit Book's flaws. Now, he has a chance to, once again, get a leg up on opposing defenses with elite pre-snap reads. That's not to say Book's play in 2019 was disappointing. While starting all 13 contests (four more than 2018), Book threw for an additional 15 touch- downs with one less interception. SPRING PRACTICE CANCELED In addition to helping Book pre- pare for his final year of eligibility at Notre Dame, Rosenfels was with the Fighting Irish quarterback when he learned that spring ball and in- person classes were suspended due to the spread of COVID-19. "We'd be watching the film and then we'd take a break, and Coach [Brian]Kelly called one time," Rosen- fels said. "They were discussing that spring ball looked like it was going to get canceled. Then the offensive coor- dinator [Tommy Rees] called as well. "Everyone was just trying to figure out what was going on. It was a very, very fluid situation." Book was supposed to fly to South Bend from Omaha, but he changed his flight and is now back with his family in Northern California. Spring ball was eventually can- celed, which meant that the first prac- tice held March 5 marked the only time the entire team will get together until the summer camp, if then. While this hurts, especially when compared to 2020 opponent Clemson and other southern schools that begin spring ball in February, Rosenfels be- lieves Notre Dame should still be in a good position with a third-year start- ing quarterback in Book and six start- ers returning on the offensive line. "That's a big help compared to other teams who might have a redshirt fresh- man who's going to be their starter, who now just missed out on a couple of weeks of practice," Rosenfels said. He also believes the time off can aid some of the more experienced players, who are used to going through a full year of college foot- ball practices and workouts without much of a break from the grind. "I was a multi-sport athlete in high school, and I actually always thought it was good to not do the same thing over and over and over again, and maybe change it up," Rosenfels said. "Do something else and just take a little bit of a break. The world is not going to end if you don't get your workout in this week. "Try to do things individually to stay in shape, or you can always play catch or whatever, but just try to stay away from group activities." With that said, after spending a cou- ple days with Book, Rosenfels is con- fident the Fighting Irish signal-caller will find a way to prepare for the 2020 season and be ready when he's able to return to Notre Dame. This is the same player who passed on a tropical spring break for a trip to Nebraska. "Hats off to a young kid who seems to me really has his priorities straight," Rosenfels said. "When I was in college, a lot of guys were go- ing to Cancun or Daytona Beach for spring break and doing things that were actually just going to hurt them. "Then here's a kid who decided to come to Omaha to get better for his senior year." ✦ "We watched a lot of film and we did some throwing, including some under center stuff that they don't do a lot of at Notre Dame. We wanted to try to develop some of the skills that maybe he hasn't done before, but for the most part, it was more the mental training to really understand different coverages, fronts and protections." ROSENFELS ON WHAT HE WORKED ON WITH BOOK