Every year since I can remember Brian Kelly has extensively played at least one player who couldn't start on Western Michigan but somehow started for Notre Dame in spite of better players behind them.
Whether it be:
Tommy Rees
Carlos Calabrese
Dan Fox
Cam McDaniel
Austin Collinsworth
John "Fair Catch" Goodman returning punts
Joe Schmidt (Will be even more vexing when Nyles Morgan looks like an AA this year.....imagine if we had both Jaylon and him manning the middle last year)
Mathias Farley (barely makes the list as he was a good football player but such a liability against the pass)
Everett Golson (stayed with him too long when he owed the team to see what Zaire could do earlier)
Of course Kelly doesn't help himself either with his goofy choices for defensive coordinators and his play calling in general. Having said this it's not totally surprising that he would also be goofy about not playing his best players that give him the best chance to win in spite of claiming his goal is to win national titles.
However this year I can't think of any player that is untalented that will be getting playing time. Therefore this might be the best year ever for the Kelly ND era as we might finally play 11 on 11 instead of 9/10 on 11.
The only position I have trepidation about is how he'll handle the QB situation. I fret he'll be goofy and try to rotate both Kizer and Zaire to make them both happy. However rotating QB's never works and will ruin the rhythm of the offense. To me the clear favorite is Kizer as he showed a lot of talent and growth last year. Meanwhile Zaire had me holding my nose watching him play against Virginia last year before he got hurt. I like Malik but he's limited and should not get reps ahead of Kizer.
Finally I've heard Daelin Hayes will be great but the coaching staff think the surgeon who did his shoulder back in Michigan was not the best. They are not sure it will hold up and might have to be redone right the second time.
Whether it be:
Tommy Rees
Carlos Calabrese
Dan Fox
Cam McDaniel
Austin Collinsworth
John "Fair Catch" Goodman returning punts
Joe Schmidt (Will be even more vexing when Nyles Morgan looks like an AA this year.....imagine if we had both Jaylon and him manning the middle last year)
Mathias Farley (barely makes the list as he was a good football player but such a liability against the pass)
Everett Golson (stayed with him too long when he owed the team to see what Zaire could do earlier)
Of course Kelly doesn't help himself either with his goofy choices for defensive coordinators and his play calling in general. Having said this it's not totally surprising that he would also be goofy about not playing his best players that give him the best chance to win in spite of claiming his goal is to win national titles.
However this year I can't think of any player that is untalented that will be getting playing time. Therefore this might be the best year ever for the Kelly ND era as we might finally play 11 on 11 instead of 9/10 on 11.
The only position I have trepidation about is how he'll handle the QB situation. I fret he'll be goofy and try to rotate both Kizer and Zaire to make them both happy. However rotating QB's never works and will ruin the rhythm of the offense. To me the clear favorite is Kizer as he showed a lot of talent and growth last year. Meanwhile Zaire had me holding my nose watching him play against Virginia last year before he got hurt. I like Malik but he's limited and should not get reps ahead of Kizer.
Finally I've heard Daelin Hayes will be great but the coaching staff think the surgeon who did his shoulder back in Michigan was not the best. They are not sure it will hold up and might have to be redone right the second time.
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