Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2021 73 A superb athlete, Wimbush on occa- sion had an issue with "the yips" on shorter throws before working with former Arizona State starting quarter- back Taylor Kelly, an instructor with 3DQB, a biomechanics and perfor- mance company that has had a cli- ent base that has included Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Andrew Luck — and yes, now Buchner as well. The extra training with Wimbush never quite worked out when Ian Book — whose 30 wins as a starter with a .857 winning percentage are the most ever by a Notre Dame QB — supplanted him in the 2018 starting lineup. Wimbush also lost the starting job at UCF as a 2019 graduate transfer. Meanwhile, Jurkovec arrived with a somewhat unconventional, elongated throwing motion that led to some struggles, most conspicu- ously in the 2019 Blue-Gold Game in which he was downcast afterwards with a performance that greatly shook his confidence. "It's been tweaked a lot, so I'm just going to have to keep working on that," Jurkovec said at the time of his mechanics. "In high school my form changed multiple times. I have a lot to work on … I'm always going to have to work on my mechanics." 'LET THEM BE WHO THEY ARE' For both Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly and Rees — who started 31 games at quarterback for Notre Dame from 2010-13 under Kelly — paralysis by analysis is the last thing they want for Buchner, just like Wimbush or Jurk- ovec. "We don't touch it; we stay away from it," Kelly insisted in August 2019 of overanalyzing QB mechanics. "I've always philosophically stayed away from motions. You're entering into an area where they've had so many reps at it. "To get into changing motions, I've never had much success with it. Let them be who they are." Rees said a fine line always has to be drawn between fundamentals and effectiveness. Rees worked as an of- fensive assistant with the San Diego Chargers in 2016 when eight-time Pro Bowl quarterback Philip Rivers did not have the classic three-quarters release, but Rees noted how "no one is chang- ing his release point." "For me it's pretty much from the base through the core, and then mak- ing sure target line, eyes, body position are all set," Rees said. Rees' cut-off point with mechanics is the shoulder. "You don't want to get into an area, unless it's something really ex- treme, where you're tinkering too much with how a kid's throwing a ball his entire life," Rees said. "He's thrown a football the right way for 18 years to get himself to Notre Dame — and I'm not talk- ing Tyler specifically, I'm talking in generalities. "If we feel like there's some- thing that needs to be altered there, then we probably didn't do our job in the evaluation period. So it's our job to help them improve footwork, base, core, target line, and then it al- lows them to be more accurate." For what it's worth, former Super Bowl champion quarterback Trent Dil- fer was effusive in his praise of Buch- ner at the Elite 11 camp. Whether "the next one" is The One can only be answered with the passage of time. ✦ Intangibles Ratings In addition to monitoring a Notre Dame fit academically and socially, a coach must evaluate beyond the physical "measurables." Those are labeled the intangibles. Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, who started 31 games at quarterback for the Fighting Irish from 2010-13, assesses several aspects that can't be seen on tape or even in games, especially at signal-caller. "The first thing I want to know is do they love the game of football," Rees said. Sometimes Rees will ask random questions of a recruit such as does he know where a top NFL quarter- back attended college, who was in the College Football Playoff the year prior, did he watch the Thursday night game? "Because at this position you need to [love the overall game] in order to be committed to the best ver- sion of yourself," Rees said. "The other thing that we can do, there are different ways cognitively to see how they can learn, adapt, pick things up in a short period of time." Rees pointed out how at an NFL Combine, beyond just 40 times, bench presses and vertical jumps, etc., there are quick meetings with quarterbacks to teach a concept or formation — and then take the sheet away and see how strong their retention is and how they can process and verbalize it back to the coach. When most factors are equal physically, the mental aspect can offer the separation in a choice. Also, it's important to not merely talk to the people in a prospect's own school — coaches, teachers, counselors — but also rival coaches to get an idea of what kind of competitor he is and how challenging it is to game plan around him. Finally, Rees, who also was an outstanding high school basketball player, prefers a quarterback whose athletic skills are demonstrated in other sports. "The more you can see a kid playing basketball, playing baseball, competing in another realm, it's invaluable," he said. "If you're a Division I quarterback out of high school, you should be good enough to be in the top seven of your high school basketball team, playing baseball, something else." If he's not a superstar in the other sport, that's fine too. "That teaches you how to be a different type of teammate. It teaches you about being selfless, it teaches you how to compete and take ownership of a different role — and ultimately that's going to help you where you're the star [at quarterback]." — Lou Somogyi "He's thrown a football the right way for 18 years to get himself to Notre Dame — and I'm not talking Tyler [Buchner] specifically, I'm talking in generalities. If we feel like there's something that needs to be altered there, then we probably didn't do our job in the evaluation period." NOTRE DAME OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR TOMMY REES Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees prefers to look beyond physical "measurables" to evaluate quarterbacks. PHOTO BY MIKE MILLER