Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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CHALK TALK BRYAN DRISKELL D iscussing who calls plays for the Notre Dame offense seems to have become an offseason ritual for Irish fans over the past five years. With the exception of the 2013 season — when current Miami (Ohio) head coach Chuck Martin called the plays — Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly has been the primary play caller. Kelly is often coy about this subject, and that is especially true heading into the 2015 season. There is still uncer- tainty about exactly who is going to call the plays for the Irish offense this sea- son, but there is no doubt that the entire offensive staff is going to play a role in what the unit's structure will look like. "We are going to collaborate," Kelly said of the in-game coaching system. "Mike Sanford, myself, Coach [Mike] Denbrock, there will be collaboration on Saturday." However, there is nothing vague about who the final decision maker is for Notre Dame. "I do," Kelly replied when asked if he had ultimate veto authority. The coach went on to elaborate on why naming a specific play caller is not as important as creating unity. His response also gave a look into how the in-game interaction among coaches takes place. "All three of us are collaborating. We're all in unison on how we want the game to unfold," Kelly explained. "So we are all going to be working off the same play sheet. We are going to all be working off the same openers. We are going to all be working off the same down-and-distance sheet. "So whether it's coming out of Mike or Mike or Brian's lips is really immate- rial," he continued. "All I know is that we've got great collaboration [among] the three of us." CLEARLY DEFINED ROLES Creating clearly defined roles on the staff is of the utmost importance for a head coach. Kelly, associate head coach Mike Denbrock, offensive coor- dinator Mike Sanford and offensive line coach Harry Hiestand all have significant responsibilities when it comes to putting together the offense. It's critical that everyone on the Group Effort Veteran assistant coach Mike Denbrock is the man in charge of the Notre Dame offense, at least dur- ing the week of preparation. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND