Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1538217
18 PRESEASON 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY ERIC HANSEN T he high end of what Mike Den- brock believed was possible of- fensively in his third tour of duty at Notre Dame was going to re- quire patience, including from himself, and some schematic duct tape as well. That helps explain why when Irish wide receiver commit Brayden Robin- son came to South Bend for a recruiting visit during the wooing phase of his re- cruitment, Denbrock showed the Texas high school standout LSU tape rather than samplings of an Irish offense that ranked a modest 55th national in to- tal yards per game but a mega-efficient 10th in scoring in 2024 on its way to a national title game appearance. The Tigers were No. 1 in both cat- egories, by the way, in 2023. That was Denbrock's last season of a two-year stopover with former Irish head coach Brian Kelly in Baton Rouge. And LSU's past, in Denbrock's heart and mind, was much closer to what he's trying to build in Year 2 at Notre Dame under his former Cincinnati coworker, Marcus Freeman, who's presiding over his fourth training camp as Notre Dame's head football coach. Recruiting, player development and retention, and smart shopping in the transfer portal all feed into that vision and how much it might sync up real- ity in 2025. But so does what Denbrock is able to accomplish in training camp ahead of a gristly Aug. 31 season opener at Miami (7:30 p.m. EDT; ABC-TV). Here are the objectives to that end that Denbrock is likely to have on the whiteboard in his office and the mental version in his head: 1. Advancing The Offense Through Quarterback Competition Even a compressed quarterback competition would have the potential to become the football equivalent of leaving the parking brake engaged when it came to evolving the offense. Denbrock, speaking with the media on Aug. 1 after practice No. 2 of preseason camp, was confi- dent he could multitask both endeavors. That is, doing the things in practice that would differentiate the players who started camp as the No. 1 quarterback contenders, CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey, while also nudging the progression of the Irish offense from the Riley Leonard-driven version to one with a more dynamic downfield passing game, like Denbrock presided over at LSU in 2022 and '23. "I mean, I think we have a little advantage where that's concerned," Denbrock said of striking the balance. "Last year you're trying to — without spring football [for Riley Leonard] and with miss- ing part of the summer — kind of figure out what Riley's real strengths were. And what he could handle, what he couldn't handle, and that took us a while. "These guys have been in the program. I think I've got a pretty good feel for what they do really well, and what it could look like depending on who ends up winning the quarterback battle. So, those things are kind of on the shelf right now, ready to go, and will be implemented once the quarterback decision gets made. "But right now, it's more of, 'Hey, let's put them all in as many high-pressure, volatile, chaotic situ- ations as we possibly can, and let's watch how they respond and then make sure we're picking the right guy.'" 2. Mapping Out Plans B And C At Quarterback It's not just about who the backups are, but what to do with them. Most intriguingly and pointedly, A SIX-PACK OF FALL CAMP OBJECTIVES For offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, it's not just about picking Notre Dame's next No. 1 quarterback Denbrock aims to shape the Irish offense into a more dynamic downfield passing attack — similar to what he ran at LSU in 2022 and '23 — than the run-driven Riley Leonard-led unit a year ago. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER