Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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16 NOV. 12, 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY PATRICK ENGEL T he text from Notre Dame offen- sive coordinator Tommy Rees confused Mitchell Evans in two ways. One, he did not understand the movie reference to the 2003 com- edy "Old School" when Rees, out of the blue, sent him and tight ends coach Gerad Parker a picture of a poster that read "Mitch-a-palooza." Two, he had no earthly idea why Rees was texting it to him on the Wednesday of UNLV week. "Mitch-a-palooza, what is he talking about?" Evans said, admitting he had not seen the movie. Clarity came from Parker shortly after. Rees' idea of Mitch-a-palooza, turns out, was his unconventional idea for working Evans into the offense. "Coach Parker comes out in meetings and goes, 'All right, we're going to do this QB sneak thing,'" Evans said. The 6-foot-5, 255-pound Evans has turned Mitch-a-palooza into a Notre Dame short-yardage staple since the Irish unfurled it vs. UNLV Oct. 22. They Evans converted all four of his quarterback sneak attempts in the first two games Notre Dame used him in short-yardage situations. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER 'MITCH-A-PALOOZA' Tight end Mitchell Evans has become a short-yardage staple … as a runner