Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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cially in the pass game) and limit the complexity of the opposition's defen‑ sive schemes. This would help Zaire get more comfortable with his progres‑ sions in the passing game. It would allow Kelly to use his balanced attack to be far more aggressive attacking defenses. VERSATILITY WITH PERSONNEL Tempo needs to be a staple of the offense, but there is great value in mix‑ ing up the speed of the offense. There is value to slowing it down at times, and when Notre Dame does that it must utilize more diverse formations, motions and shifts. Even when going fast, I'd like to see a great deal more diversity in person‑ nel. Notre Dame tended to lean too heavily on its "11" personnel last sea‑ son, which is its three‑receiver, one‑ back, one‑tight‑end set. The more looks the Irish show — while still running the same concepts — the more difficulty defenses are go‑ ing to have stopping them. It would allow Kelly to find more ways to out‑ number and out‑leverage defenses. DIVERSE GROUND ATTACK There is nothing wrong with bas‑ ing the offense around the inside and outside zone concepts Notre Dame has emphasized under Kelly and offensive line coach Harry Hiestand. Last season, Notre Dame began to run more read concepts. With Zaire, Kelly will incorporate the quarterback read into more schemes. Plays like the "Power," "G Wrap," the "Counter Trey" and the "Sprint Draw" should be far more successful with the quar‑ terback option incorporated more ef‑ fectively. Zaire should help Notre Dame es‑ tablish more of a between‑the‑tackles presence. Using more creativity in how the offense lines up would help create much needed diversity in the ground attack. A few more misdirec‑ tion plays also wouldn't hurt. PLAY-ACTION BUILT AROUND READ ACTIONS The traditional play‑actions will still be a part of the Notre Dame offense, for good reason. Expect to see Kelly incorporate more read actions into his Malik Zaire's running ability can command extra attention from opposing defenses, creating more one-on-one matchup advantages for Notre Dame's talented wide receivers such as junior Will Fuller. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA