Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2020 Notre Dame Football Preview
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1264448
50 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2020 FOOTBALL PREVIEW football season is played in 2020 — Book should leave Notre Dame as the No. 2 all- time passer in yardage and touchdowns be- hind only Quinn. "He's got a presence about him," Kelly said of Book's winning profile. "He doesn't need to be anybody else. Just be Ian Book, and I think he'll be fine." Entering his fourth year as the Irish quar- terbacks coach and first year as offensive co- ordinator, Tommy Rees expects more of the same commitment and improvement from Book this season. "One thing that is special about Ian," Rees said, "he's not a kid that gets satisfied through the success that he's had." Taking The Lead Book is the first to admit he is not a rah- rah, in-your-face leader, and Rees is just fine with that. Leadership comes naturally, Rees ex- plained. It can't be forced and be sincere at the same time. "Sometimes fifth-year guys can kind of get lost because their class is gone," Rees explained. "But I really think that the locker room respect towards [Book] allows him to lead in ways that very few guys have been able to demonstrate through Notre Dame." In an online video interview this offsea- son, Rees, a starting quarterback for the Irish under Kelly between 2010-13, offered a glowing assessment of Book. "In terms of starting quarterbacks and guys that are really the face of the program," Rees said, "I think [Book] is probably as selfless as a leader, and as selfless as a cap- tain, as we've had at Notre Dame." Sharing similar demeanors and experi- ences, Rees and Book enjoy a relationship that has blossomed because these two Irish signal-callers are only about six years apart in age and have lived and played through common circumstances, both elevated un- expectedly from backup to starter during a season — Rees in 2010, Book in 2018. "One thing that is in Ian's corner is that he gets along with everybody on the team," said Rees, who also used inclusion and approach- ability as leadership tools about 10 years ago. "There's not an ego there." Rees said Book has an insatiable appetite for knowledge and a deep desire to improve, which also boost his "by example" leader- ship traits. "Is Ian the perfect player and the per- fect quarterback? No," Rees said. "But he does almost everything the right way when it comes to his habits in the weight room, his habits academically, his habits nutritionally, how he takes care of his body, how he works on and off the field with football." Rees explained that the areas of improve- ment for Book in 2020 are vastly different from previous seasons. As a high-percentage, low-risk quarter- back in 2018, Book often made the position look easy because most of his throws were easy. Book dinked and dunked his way to a Notre Dame single-season record 68.2 completion percentage. But … "I don't think, we really scared anybody," assessed then-Irish offensive co- ordinator Chip Long. Book's completion percentage and effi- ciency rating slipped some from 2018 to 2019, but that's a trade-off the quarterback and offensive coaches were happy to accept to see him take more chances throwing deep. "The deep ball was the thing last year," Rees said of Book's primary improvement mission for 2019. "And I think the deep ball was actually something that he improved on." During last season, the knock on Book be- came his propensity to abort plays too quickly, a criticism that Rees admitted held merit. "Ian's next step is really just being able to operate and get to the second and third reads in his progression smoothly," Rees said. "It's really about diagnosing things outside of your first read and outside of the obvious." That said, Rees explained there is a fine line when trying to teach patience and pocket poise to a creative player such as Book. "When things aren't perfect or break down, he is able to find a way to squirt through there and either pick it up with his legs or extend the play with a throw off script a little bit," Rees said. "You never want to lose that because that's part of what makes him special, but at the same time, we've got to continue to harp on timing and rhythm." Book, who is 20-3 as a starter and needs 10 wins to become the school's all-time leader, currently owns the best career completion percentage (63.5) and lowest interception percentage (2.16) ever at Notre Dame. PHOTO BY ANDRIS VISOCKIS "That shows some resilience and leadership, and all those guys know that. They want to follow a guy like that just because of his actions from last year. So he's got a ton of credibility and a lot of respect from his peers." HEAD COACH BRIAN KELLY ON BOOK LEADING THE IRISH TO SIX STRAIGHT WINS TO END 2019