Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL 2024 19 Getting Notre Dame's athletes out in space is something Denbrock harped on multiple times, and he's proved he can do it with the right playmakers. He schemed electric wide receiver Malik Nabers into the open field countless times in Baton Rouge, La. Denbrock helped harness Nabers' speed and versatility into a 1,569-yard, 14-touchdown junior season and a chance to go in the top five of the 2024 NFL Draft in April. As far as the run-pass splits go, Den- brock said it will depend on what the matchup each Saturday presents. He's more open to pass-happy attacks in modern college football than he has been in the past, even though he wants to run the ball against the right looks. Adaptability will be paramount. "There will be a good balance of that," Denbrock said. "There will be after- noons when we may run it 50 times and there will be afternoons when we may throw it 50 times." That same mindset applies to the quarterback run game, which Denbrock said is essential — particularly against elite defenses. LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels rushed for more than 2,000 yards in two seasons under Denbrock, which helped him win the Heisman Trophy in 2023. New Irish signal-caller Riley Leonard isn't a Daniels clone, but it's worth noting that he's seen similarly to the way Daniels was viewed in his first three seasons at Arizona State. Leonard can make magic happen with his legs, and Denbrock plans to use that if he wins the starting job as expected. "Quarterback mobility]doesn't have to be the major factor," Den- brock said. "It doesn't necessarily have to be the deciding factor. "But there are going to be instances almost in every football game — and I think that happened here last year with Sam [Hartman]. There were times when he had to get out of the pocket and make a play with his feet. And it led to some pretty positive results. Those things will be an element of what we do for sure." The most important part of Den- brock's tenure at Notre Dame, however long it is, might be Freeman's trust. Freeman is familiar with the pieces of Denbrock's offense that are still with him from their time together at Cincin- nati, but plenty has changed since then, too. Denbrock believes the new wrinkles have made it better, which was part of his conversation with Freeman before taking the job. Denbrock knows he has Freeman's go-ahead to bring those new wrinkles with him to South Bend, and potentially even build on them. "Hopefully we'll add a few things this year, whether that was some of the things they did a year ago that the kids are familiar with and do a good job of executing or whether that's a new idea from the Miami Dolphins or Philadel- phia Eagles or another college team," Denbrock said. "We're always trying to be better at whatever we're doing and how we're doing it." AVOIDING THE BRICK WALL Denbrock still supports running the ball as the engine of his system. Having spent 10 seasons as an assistant at Notre Dame, that mindset was and continues to be part of who he is as a play caller. But there's a catch. "I think I'm more open than I was years ago to not just pounding my head against a brick wall," Denbrock said. In stints as the offensive coordinator at Cincinnati and LSU since he left the Irish in 2016, Denbrock grew to understand that the game has changed. The power run game can still make an impact, but it's taken a backseat to spacing and speed on the best offenses in college football. That's not the only way Denbrock has improved since the last time he coached with the Irish. He had the leeway to run his own show with the Bearcats and Ti- gers, gaining experience along the way. The head coach — whether it's Kelly, Cincinnati's Luke Fickell, Kelly again or Freeman — will always give input. Denbrock knows that and welcomes it. But he also believes experience is the best teacher, and he gained it by running things himself. "I was able to break away and develop my own way of doing things," he ex- plained. "My own system. My own style of offense. And then decide what I think is the best way to do that based on the personnel we have available to us." Along the way, Denbrock has seen him- self become more adaptable as an offen- sive coordinator. That applies to in-game situations, over the course of a season and over the offseason when he tinkers with his playbook the way he sees fit. "I have been able to adjust it the way I want," Denbrock said. "I've been able to add to it the way I want. I've been able to subtract from it the way I've wanted. That's the biggest difference now." Denbrock will control his system at Notre Dame, and he could continue his upward trajectory as an offensive coor- dinator as the years go by in South Bend. Yes, years. Successful college assistant coaches tend not to stay in one job for very long, either earning head coaching jobs or leaving for the NFL. This offseason alone, Notre Dame lost its safeties coach (Chris O'Leary) to the latter and its pre- vious offensive coordinator (Gerad Parker) to the former. Boston Col- lege nearly hired Irish defensive line coach Al Washington, and one would have to think it's only a mat- ter of time before someone does. Denbrock, who turned 60 in late January and has never been a head coach before and seems open to sticking around as Freeman's co- No. 2 (along with defensive coordi- nator Al Golden). He might be here for the long haul. It would be tough to leave behind of- fensive autonomy, a location close to home and a head coach he believes in. "I think this has become more and more a young man's business," Den- brock said. "I don't see — unless some- thing incredible just hits you in the face — that that would be my career path from this point forward. "I'm very content leading an offense and helping Marcus and this program win a national championship here. I want to be part of that." ✦ "I was able to break away and develop my own way of doing things. My own system. My own style of offense. And then decide what I think is the best way to do that based on the personnel we have available to us." DENBROCK ON HOW HE HAS EVOLVED AS AN OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR SINCE HIS LAST STINT AT NOTRE DAME