Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/366772
BY DAN MURPHY T wo years ago, Notre Dame quar- terback Everett Golson viewed winning the starting job as an accomplishment. And it was, be- cause he passed a pair of upperclassmen without having played a snap of college football. Now, after a trip to the BCS National Championship Game, a season-long suspension and another offseason quar- terback competition, he sees the job as a responsibility. Head coach Brian Kelly publicly named Golson his starting quarter- back Aug. 13 — 10 days after the start of the team's fall training camp. The coach was adamant that this year 's competition wasn't some trumped up motivational tactic, but it seemed in- evitable that Golson would find his way under center again by the time Notre Dame faces Rice to open the season Aug. 30. "This is my team," Golson said. "I'm responsible for the actions and perfor- mance of our team." Golson started 11 games in 2012 be- fore losing a season of eligibility and his incumbency to an academic suspension. His lone loss on the field was the 42-14 shellacking at the hands of Alabama in the aforementioned BCS title game. The starting job is his again, but this time around it's a much different position. When asked about his quarterbacks at the start of training camp, Kelly said Golson was more of a passenger on the journey to a 12-1 record led by one of the nation's top defenses in 2012. Kelly expects Golson to drive the bus on his second go-round. The coach said the leadership Golson displayed since he returned to campus in January is one of the main reasons why he beat out sophomore Malik Zaire in the training camp position battle. "I think in 2012 we had guys — Zack Martin, Manti [Te'o]..." Golson said. "It was hard for me to crack into that top level [of leaders] being that I was young TAKING CONTROL Everett Golson has twice won the starting quarterback position at Notre Dame, but this time around he's got a different job description