Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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MURPHY'S LAW DAN MURPHY terback at Notre Dame is like playing point guard at Duke or batting cleanup for the New York Yankees. Eventually, if Golson's successful climb continues, he'll be expected to be the face of the program. His absence away from the field is already growing conspicuous. Teammates say he started to find his It's all part of the gig. Playing quar- field. Luckily, the stingy defense has given Golson time to grow slowly and steadily in both realms. Add media re- quest lightning rod to the already long list of things senior captain Manti Te'o does to help his team. Steve Shenbaum is the Nick Saban of voice on the field and in the locker room during October. He was more assertive making calls on the line of scrimmage, which led to fewer proce- dure penalties and a smoother offen- sive operation. The next step is carry- ing that voice off the field. His raw materials for that role are as impressive as his strong arm and ability to escape pressure. Those who know Golson say he's gregarious and outgoing off the field. His musical tal- ents — he can bang out just about any song he hears on the piano — make him a capable performer. Turning an interesting person into an interview coaching. In fact, Saban was among the big-name college coaches that hired him to prepare their teams for the press this summer. The former actor teaches college and professional athletes how to be themselves on cam- era without sticking their foot in their mouth. He says, like it or not, Notre Dame is doing the right thing pressing the mute button of Golson. "At 8-0 who can blame them?" Shen- baum said. "The stage is too big now for a first-timer. You don't practice golf by going out and playing at Pebble Beach. You're going to shoot 130 and you'll never play golf again." Shenbaum suggested the Irish help interesting interview is a process just like turning a good athlete into a good quarterback. Kelly and the Irish have a plan for that, too. "I'm not ready to put him out there yet. He's getting there. There's no question. We want to continue on that trend," Kelly said last week about Gol- son's progress as a representative for the team. "I don't see it happening this year." Kelly, Golson and the school's public relations staff hashed out a plan this summer for how they would bring Gol- son along in the public eye just as they would piece together his game on the Golson practice behind the scenes first by getting him involved in an improv class or letting him pick the brains of older players like Te'o who know how to give a good interview. He said that type of training is harder to do now because of all the demands that the regular season puts on a player's time. Golson has continued to march for- ward with his progression of becom- ing a complete Irish quarterback, and his next step will be talking about it. ✦ Dan Murphy has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since August 2011. He can be reached at dmurphy@blueandgold.com