Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM PRESEASON 2024 61 I t's not always easy, but Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock works hard to keep things in perspective. He demands perfection on the practice field in fall camp, d e s p i te eve ry t h i n g wo rk - ing against that goal. There's an urgency to get better that comes with a trip to Texas A&M on the horizon. But Denbrock also knows that his first offense of his third stint at Notre Dame will require patience. "This isn't going to be a pol- ished piece of glass at Texas A&M," Denbrock said Aug. 1. And how could it, given the circumstances? Denbrock is still installing the finer points of his offensive scheme — as opposed to de- fensive coordinator Al Golden, whose group is at "Level 500." Notre Dame's first-team of- fensive tackles have one start between them, combined. None of the wide receivers have played with the starting quarterback before, and even though they were hard at work all sum- mer, that quarterback losing much of spring practice will probably affect their chemistry. Senior signal-caller Riley Leonard came to South Bend as an unfinished product himself, and expecting him to make every stride he's going to make this year by Week 1 is unrealistic. "Everything?" Denbrock said when asked if Leonard has done everything he needed to do this summer. "I'm not sure, but you can see there's clear prog- ress as far as his understanding and knowledge of what we're doing. And we purposefully have set the summer up and really fall camp here to try to help catch him up on some of the things that he missed in the spring." Then, there's the matter of the venue. EA Sports' College Football 25 named Kyle Field in College Station, Texas, the most difficult place to play in the coun- try. While one can debate whether it's truly worthy of the top spot (and many have), there's no denying that Texas A&M's 102,733-seat cathedral can get absolutely bonkers. It's generally con- sidered one of the five or so loudest sta- diums in the nation. Re-energized by first-year head coach Mike Elko and with College GameDay in town, mercy from the crowd is not something the Irish should anticipate. Mercy from Elko himself is also un- likely, with a bevy of talented pass rush- ers at his disposal. Denbrock lauded the progress offensive line coach Joe Ru- dolph has made with his group, but he also acknowledged that the Irish are still in the "polishing process" up front. "The hope is that the confidence con- tinues to grow with them so that even when they get into a hostile environ- ment, even though they don't have a lot of experience, they lean on one an- other." Denbrock said. "And that's been evident so far. That's just something we've got to continue to build." Notre Dame has legitimate young tal- ent on its offensive line. It is clearly bet- ter and deeper at wide receiver than it was a year ago. Leonard has the traits and, crucially, the makeup to be really, really good. None of that is likely to be where it needs to be in Week 1. The goal is to finish as a cham- pionship-caliber group, not start as one. "This is going to be some- thing that evolves as the sea- son moves along," Denbrock said. "We're going to, I believe, continue to get better and bet- ter at what we do." There is precedent for an unproven, work-in-progress group to make the necessary in-season strides with the right players and the right coaching. Look at last season's Alabama squad, which looked like a mess in a home loss to Texas in Week 2. T h e C r i m so n T i d e ke p t faith (after a brief Tyler Bu- chner trial run) in their raw but super-gifted quarterback, Jalen Milroe. They committed to developing him and his supporting cast. The result was 12 straight wins, a Southeastern Conference champion- ship and very nearly a berth in the na- tional title game. The Irish might very well look simi- larly discombobulated in their first test of head coach Marcus Freeman's third season. They could still escape College Station with a win on the backs of their newfound explosiveness and dominant defense. Or they could start 0-1. If it's the latter, as long as a spiral doesn't follow, a College Football Play- off appearance and even the opportu- nity to host a game are still well within reach. The Irish won't be challenged like this again until Nov. 9 when they host Florida State. They have plenty of time to get everything right. Notre Dame needs to — and, I believe, will — exercise patience in its brand- new offense. Irish fans should do the same, too. ✦ Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock is confident that his unit is "going to be something that evolves as the season moves along." PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER OFF THE DOME JACK SOBLE Staff writer Jack Soble has covered Notre Dame athletics for Blue & Gold Illustrated since August 2023. Contact him at Jack.Soble@on3.com. On Offense, Don't Expect Polished Glass