Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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SEASON KICKOFF: QUARTERBACKS News & Notes most difficult one in the country. Junior pre-med major and quarterback Andrew Hendrix has his own • Notre Dame's 2012 football schedule is regarded in many circles as the challenging slate to deal with this fall. While 12 credit hours would be ideal to balance academics with football, Hendrix will be taking 16, including Statistics for Life Sciences, Anthropological Biology and Physical Chemistry, which also entails lab work. "It's not as much as it will be in the spring," Hendrix noted. "I catch up [academically] in the spring." He does admit that the best quarterback knowledge on the roster be- longs to classmate Tommy Rees. "I never stop asking him questions," Hendrix said. "He's been such a positive influence on all the QBs. There's nobody that knows this offense better than Tommy. The man knows his stuff. Any time I am curious about a read or it's debatable, I just go to that guy." • It was virtually a given this spring that 6-4, 210-pound five-star recruit Gunner Kiel would preserve a year of eligibility the way Everett Golson did last year and Hendrix the year prior. That might still be the case, but head coach Brian Kelly said the rookie's physical skills do stand out. "Physically, Gunner has all of the skills," Kelly said. "Knowledge base]is smile. He acknowledges all of the above were issues in 2011. "I wasn't the best at that," he replied with a sheepish and off the field — through winter, spring, summer and now in camp. Golson has begun to excel with his learner's permit, has tested for his license, and now Kelly appears much more confident in handing him the keys for freeway driving. "That's one of the most important parts of having a Kelly's trust in Golson has gradually been earned — on EARNING TRUST great football team, the relationship between the quarter- back and the head coach so that you know the offense will be on the same page," Golson said. "The quarterback has so many more things on his plate where there is a little bit of a separation [from the veterans]. But I said this to the other coaches: 'If I didn't have Andrew and Everett, I would not be afraid of playing Gunner Kiel.' I really wouldn't. "Gunner has all of the intangibles that you are looking for." — Lou Somogyi than any other position on the field," Kelly said. "First of all, he's got to take care of the football. He's got to com- municate to the offensive line, he's got to be able to take all the signaling. … There are so many different columns that he's got to be able to check off. "If you're a defensive lineman — get lined up, be really excited and get to the ball. There's no other position that requires the kind of attention that the quarterback posi- tion does." In his column checklist of most important qualities in a quarterback, Kelly has production at the top. However, he has no extensive framework on that with either Golson or Hendrix. "Then you turn the page and you go, 'Okay, I want ac- curacy, escapability,'" Kelly said. "When you don't have somebody leading into the season that has that produc- tion, then you have to be able to use all those columns to make an educated guess as to who that next player is and who that starter is going to be." If all the columns are even, then Kelly said he looks for the intangibles. "The ability to show poise under pressure, the ability to command a presence," Kelly said of what defines intan- gible. "… The realization that he's got to bring the other 10 along with him, and especially the offensive line. "In our system, he's communicating with them every snap. So if there's confusion, if there's not good com- munication with the quarterback and the offensive line, you'd better pull him aside and talk about presence; you'd better talk about communication; you'd better talk about that most important element, and that is the leadership of the group." For Hendrix, the first priority is to take care of his own details to help lead everyone else. "Just keep chopping wood," he said. "I can only control what I do, and that's all I focus on." Regarding presence in the huddle, Golson said: "I think Freshman Gunner Kiel has all of the physical tools to go along with his five-star recruit rating, but he needs more time to digest the mental aspect of Notre Dame's offensive playbook. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA 42 PRESEASON 2012 I've grown in that a lot. I think it was something that was in me, but I was scared to really show it." Blessed with superb musical talent, Golson has the special ability to listen to a song and then play the piano by ear. In some ways, the quarterback situation is something the Irish staff also continues to play by ear. What kind of harmony comes from it will be answered in the ensuing months. ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED