Blue and Gold Illustrated

May 2014 Edition

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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what's best out of everyone. It's differ- ent for everybody, so it's very relatable to people," Farley said. "He instilled a lot of confidence in me." LaFleur has far fewer players un- der his direction than VanGorder this spring, but he plays an integral part in getting Notre Dame's offense up to speed. The former Washington Red- skins assistant is the first coach fully devoted to quarterbacks that Kelly has hired in South Bend. His past quarter- backs coaches have doubled as offen- sive coordinators. Hiring LaFleur was a clear indication of how important Kelly believes the position has become in college football. With only Everett Golson and Ma- lik Zaire consuming most of his time, LaFleur is available for them when- ever they have questions, and he is able to break down the smallest details of their technique. He said he's en- joyed the relatively new experience of working with players that are far less polished. "It's been a lot of fun to see these younger guys," he said. "You really don't take anything for granted about what they know. You can't assume they know anything. It's a blank slate, so you can kind of mold these guys more than in the NFL." LaFleur 's track record of work in the NFL made Zaire and Golson more open to being molded. The 34-year- old coach has already worked with some of football's most prominent dual-threat quarterbacks. He coached Washington's Robert Griffin III to an NFL Rookie of the Year award in 2012. Kelly said LaFleur was a mobile quar- terback himself when the two first met while Kelly was coaching at Grand Valley State. "Coach LaFleur is more of an in-

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