Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/408565
More often than not, an addition of one play to a call sheet leads to the re- moval of another. Players can retain only a certain amount of information, and the coaches also want to be able to make their sideline calls quickly. An excess of options can lead to confusion and poor execution. It falls on Denbrock to attempt to manage the extent of possibilities. He admits that rather than limit his and Kelly's choices on Saturday, he relies on his players — his students — to expand their knowledge base. "Part of my job is to say, 'What do you want to throw out if you want to put that in?'" he said. "It's part of my job to try to manage the numbers so it's not too overwhelming for the kids, but the great thing is we've got smart guys." Just because the call sheet expands does not mean those smart guys need to learn entirely new concepts. Much of the added material stems from the original, only with added aspects, nuances and shifts. The controversial touchdown/of- fensive pass interference at the end the game against No. 2 Florida State Oct. 18, for example, was a different version of a similar play Notre Dame ran to score its first touchdown against the Seminoles. The first Irish score came on a pass in the flat to sophomore wide receiver Corey Robinson. Junior slot receiver C.J. Prosise ran a slant to "rub" the defend- ers away from Robinson, while sopho- more wide receiver Will Fuller ran a miniaturized version of a go route. The fourth-and-two non-touchdown, replayed thousands of times since it oc- curred, came with a little twist on the first rendition. Not only was it focused on the other side of the field, but Full- er's route mirrored Prosise's, slanting toward the goal post.