Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1506454
16 SEPT. 2, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY JACK SOBLE N o one outside the Guglielmino Athletics Complex knows ex- actly what new Notre Dame of- fensive coordinator Gerad Park- er's offense will look like until the season begins. But we do know one small — or maybe not so small — part of it, thanks to graduate student center Zeke Correll. Correll said that the Irish have had him practice pulling much more than they had before. He has more oppor- tunities to get out in space and use his athleticism to take on second and third- level defenders. And he loves it. "That was high school football Zeke Correll," Correll said during fall camp. "That's all I did. I was a pulling guard for about 80 percent of the run plays." Correll's coach at Cincinnati An- derson, Evan Dreyer, can concur. Cor- rell became a four-star prospect in the class of 2019 as a right guard, due to his explosiveness, flexibility, spatial awareness and ability to finish the block through a defender on the run. To Correll, it feels good to get out in space and just play loose again. To Dreyer, it's a sign that Correll, in his fifth year at Notre Dame and second as the starting center, might be primed for his best season yet. "If you look at his high school high- lights, there's one in the regional semi- finals where he pancaked three guys on the run, heading down the sideline," Dreyer told Blue & Gold Illustrated. "It was pretty special. I think his ability to move and communicate through- out different fronts in college football PULLING HIS WEIGHT A new system and offseason work have Irish center Zeke Correll primed for his best season yet