Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 51 yards per game, easily the highest output by the school the last 21 years). "What you saw today may not truly reflect what you'll see in the fall, but we needed to know that we're capable of throwing it 50 times if that was what needed," Kelly said of the final spring scrimmage that saw 65 passes and 58 runs. "We opened up the play- book this spring to get to that." Another mandate was to get Wimbush to remain comfortable in the pocket while maintaining progression reads and not bail- ing out too soon. "I wasn't going to let him run — I told him that," Kelly said of his instructions to Wimbush this spring. "I was standing back there out on the field with the whistle be- cause I'm going to blow it once you take off. "If you want the play to end with a sack, then that's what you'll do. If not, hang in there, keep your eyes down field and let's try to make some plays. Doing that may have forced him to put a couple of balls into coverage that he shouldn't, but the emphasis here was to have him in the pocket." It's a departure from last season when the offense leaned on the veteran line led by guard Quenton Nelson, tackle Mike Mc- Glinchey and running back Josh Adams, all of whom are headed to the NFL. Will the change be for the better? It shall eventually come to pass, literally and figuratively. ✦ Days Of Prosperity And Woe No quarterback in Brian Kelly's eight seasons at Notre Dame had more starts than his current instructor at the position. Second-year quarterbacks coach Tom Rees started at least twice each season from 2010-13, every game as a senior and 31 overall. A 4-0 finish with him in 2010 and four times posting a critical save or win during the unbeaten regular season in 2012 earned him adulation. Five- and four-loss campaigns in 2011 and 2013 generated disparagement. Thus, no one can better identify better with the prosperity and woe current senior Brandon Wimbush underwent in 2017. During the 8-1 start in 2016 that elevated Notre Dame to No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings, Wimbush was celebrated for his dual-threat playmak- ing skills. Then during a 2-2 finish in which Wimbush faltered and was benched twice, including the final three quarters of the Citrus Bowl win in which backup Ian Book shined, the setbacks battered his confidence. To Rees, maybe the worst part was Wimbush was paying too much attention to "the noise." "It was a struggle," Rees admitted about his own curiosity and attention to outside sources. "You're tempted to think, 'What are people saying?' "I care what people think, but as you get older, you start to learn that all that really matters is when I'm in this building, when I'm on the field with my teammates, it's their opinion. How I'm working, how I'm preparing myself. Everything else will take care of itself. "That stuff got to me a little bit, and it took making a mistake off the field to learn how to block all that out." That mistake was a physical altercation with a police officer in the spring of 2012 that resulted in a suspension for the opener and ultimately losing his starting role to Everett Golson. Rees in part credited a sit-down session with standout left tackle Zack Martin, who told him he and the team always will have his back. Rees notes how with Twitter and so many other forms of social media, the outside attention and criticism is even far greater now than when he played five short years ago, which is why his off-the-field discussions with Wimbush have been equally essential. "It wears on you," Rees acknowledged. "… So the first thing is to rely on the people that go through it with you and block out as much of the outside dis- tractions as you can. The second thing is as you become an older quarterback, you start to learn that. "I think the biggest thing with Brandon is keep your confidence level. We talk about it all the time: When you step on the field you should have the belief that you're the best quarterback, the best player, on it. "There are times when he takes over the game because of his ability. He just needs to continue to harp on the confidence. Confidence is a huge part of play- ing the position, especially at this university, especially when the mistakes are high. … As you get older that becomes more natural for quarterbacks. "As the year went on we talked at length about, 'You can't pay attention to that stuff. I know it's tempting, I know it's right there in front of you, but you have to block that stuff out.' … He did better and better, and I think it's on the wayside now." A huge investment has been made into a 12-game starter such as Wimbush who accounted for 30 touchdowns in his first season at the throttle. Barring injury or suspension, he is the starter to begin 2018, but he also has to take command come September by using the experience he underwent in 2017. "By no means is he a finished product and by no means should he get com- placent, but I think his understanding of the offense, his understanding of what defenses are trying to do have grown exponentially," Rees said. "That comes with time, that comes with opportunities against live reps, that comes with his work off the field of studying and pushing himself to understand. "It's my job to teach it." — Lou Somogyi Wimbush's on-field work with quarterbacks coach Tommy Rees has been im- portant, but equally essential have been the discussions about the signal-call- er blocking out the external criticism and maintaining his confidence level. PHOTO BY COREY BODDEN