Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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12 SEPT. 11, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Thinking Outside The (Press) Box An aerial view of the football field is what most coordinators seem to pre- fer when calling a football game, which is why they are usually stationed in the press box. For first-year Notre Dame offensive coordinator Chip Long, he opted to be in the action along the sidelines. In fact, the only two on-field assistants who were slated to be in the upstairs booth were first-year defensive coor- dinator Mike Elko and first-year quarterbacks coach Tommy Rees. Head coach Brian Kelly said it was discussed with the coordinators at great length prior to making the decisions. "We clearly go over what communication system do we like, who our signalers are, what forms of communication do we want on the sideline with the players," Kelly said. "We just start with that — do the coordinators want to be watching the game from the box, whether I have a strong feeling in that, or do you want to be on the sideline? "Then we go to work on where the assets are, how they best fit, then we put it together from there." Kelly said that Long preferred, at least in the beginning, to be on the sidelines. "He'll start the first game on the sideline and see how that rolls," Kelly said. " I think he just wants to get a real good feel of the game itself and all of our personnel and our communication. "It could change. But that's where we'll start it." Long was designated as the play caller from day one after he and Kelly agreed on their philosophies and how to utilize personnel. "We're on the same page," Kelly said. "We both have a very good under- standing of how we want the offense to be run. We had five or six months to sit down and talk philosophically. Now it's more about how we utilize some guys' traits that we may not be aware of. "Chip has a style of his own — he likes to attack — and we're going to use some things that he's comfortable with and some things that suit our personnel. "I said in my first year that I'm about players over plays, and Chip's a pretty smart guy. He's not going to get caught up in scheme over players." The main adjustment for Long, per Kelly, is getting assimilated into the uniqueness of the Notre Dame football culture. "When we think about our Fridays, there's mass, there's the pep rally, there's class," Kelly said. "He has to get acclimated to what makes this school special." BRANDON WIMBUSH AND 'THE GRIT FACTOR' Ever wonder why "grit" has seemingly been the favorite word of head coach Brian Kelly the past 10 months, or since the end of the night- mare 4-8 cam- p a i g n f r o m 2016? Some insight m i g h t h a v e been provided several days before the Temple opener when he cited renowned psychologist/author Angela Duckworth when asked what characteristic he most values in quarterback Brandon Wimbush. Duckworth in 2016 published the popular 333-page book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perse- verance, and The New York Times called her "the psychologist who has made 'grit' the reigning buzz- word in education-policy circles." "He has a passion for the game, and he's got perseverance," Kelly said. "I think Angela Duckworth called that in her book. … He's got grit. He's got such a passion for what he does, and because he loves what he does, he doesn't get down. If he makes a mistake, he fights through it and he gets to the next play. "That's a great quality to have in anything that we do in life. I'd like to be better at it, too, but he does it at the quarterback position, which is a really fine trait to have for a young player." Whether it's a seasoned veteran or a first-time starter like Wim- bush, battling through setbacks is a necessity in football. What Kelly especially noted this August was that his quarterback doesn't dwell on the mishaps while moving on to the next play with poise. "I'd be more concerned if this was a young man that let mis- takes in camp eat at him," Kelly said. "… Where it starts for most quarterbacks that I have coached is their ability to move through a poor play and get to the next play." First-year offensive coordinator Chip Long will begin the season stationed on the sidelines during games, rather then in the press box. PHOTO BY COREY BODDEN WIMBUSH