Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock met with local writers Friday after Notre Dame's fifth spring practice. Here's everything Denbrock had to say.
Answers are largely verbatim. Questions may have been edited for brevity and clarity.
MIKE DENBROCK
“Before we kick this into gear, any questions that you guys have other than the quarterbacks, I’m happy to answer. So, that should cut this to like 10 seconds.”
How would you describe the difference between the last spring and this spring in terms of what you’re trying to do with the quarterbacks?
“I would describe year one as finding out who you can be, teaching scheme, trying to get your place offensively to being competitive in all aspects, so that you can win some football games. What gets lost sometimes is enough valuable time to teach and dig into really the detail of everything that you’re doing. Year two offers you an opportunity to really dig down and drill down on specific details of everything. From situational football to what you’re doing with your stance and all those different things. All the fundamentals of the game as well. All that adds in together. If you look at the way we played a year ago, details are missing all over the tape. If we just fix that, the leap that we could make offensively is pretty good. That’s without adapting scheme and changing this and changing that. That alone, being on top of our business at all positions and understanding the game better, understanding the scheme better, that starts with the quarterback position, because we put so much on that guy. But that’s everybody.”
So a little less anxiety for you this spring?
“Yeah, I would say so. At least year one we were able to establish a foundation of how we were going to play the game. Scheme, to a certain extent, of what we were gonna look like. Not that that won’t change necessarily a little here and there moving forward. Now it’s an opportunity for us to take that. We’ve had a chance as coaches to kinda evaluate it from a 10,000-foot view and say, well that really doesn’t fit us or that fits us better or whatever. And then focus your attention on some of those things heading into year two. Then you gotta do a good job in spring football of evaluating what tools you have and what positions we need to put those guys in to maximize their abilities and to reach our full potential.”
What’s your goal for the spring for all your young receivers with three different quarterbacks?
“From their standpoint, we dropped the football way too much last year. We gotta make the plays. I don’t know if you’d call them ordinary plays, but we need to make the plays — the ones that are 100 out of 100, we gotta be 100 out of 100. That comes with consistency in depth, consistency in route running. For a receiver, to be honest with you, it really shouldn’t matter who the quarterback is. I need to understand space and spacing and depth and specifics of techniques of route running. Going into year two, I know Coach Brown’s had a great opportunity to really have a whole year with these guys now. You can see that starting to come along. I like the depth we have there. We gotta get some guys to emerge and play more consistently.”
Any of those young receivers stepping forward?
“Yeah. I’m not ready to single anybody out. I just like the direction of the entire group. They just seem like their understanding of what we’re asking them to do is at a whole ‘nother level than it was a year ago. It kinda gets back to the same discussion we started with. The details are so important in everything that we do. The things that they’re doing and showing on the practice field now are way more detail-oriented than they were at any time last year, even at the end of the season. We’ve been able to make some progress just because of them understanding what to do better.”
What did you see in Blake Hebert initially as a recruit? And what have you seen from him this spring?
“We were in on Blake early in the process and liked his arm strength. We liked his size, obviously, his physical tools that he had. Thought he had things that they were asking him to do in the scheme that he played in high school, a lot of those concepts and things — even though they probably call it something way different than we do — matched up. So, you could see that he could function in the system that we run pretty well. All of those things went into that.
“Coach Guidugli did a great job of kinda keeping in contact with him even though things had moved in a different direction for us. The just in case that you always have to do in the recruiting world. Fortunately, we were able to talk him into coming at the end.”
How do you structure Hebert’s workload when he’s the fourth QB behind a three-man battle?
“We ended practice today with what we call basic seven-on-seven, which is really just some of our core passing game principles that he’s getting his feet wet with. Put the young receivers out there and let those guys develop some chemistry and do some of the base offensive stuff that we do. That’s where he’s getting the majority of his reps. When we break up into group periods and things like that, he’s gotten an opportunity to kinda have the keys to the Ferrari a little bit and has done a nice job with it. Smart guy.”
You mentioned the drops and how route running may have played into that. Can you explain how improving routes will make them catch the ball better?
“I don’t know if it’s gonna make them catch the ball better. I hope that’s the case. More than anything it’s just confidence and consistency in what you’re doing. We were not very confident in anything we did in the passing game a year ago. That I think you’ll see take a huge leap into year two. I think that will come from a number of positions not just the wide receivers. It comes down to focus and concentration as much as anything. Finishing catches. You hear me yelling at them when you guys are hear at practice. Probably ‘Catch the ball with your eyes. Finish the catch with your eyes.’ That’s a detail. That goes to everything that we’ve already been talking about. You gotta do that consistently.”
What kind of progress have you seen in Eli Raridon since the start of last season?
“Eli’s got a chance to become one of the really good ones here. Incredible size, good movement skills, toughness. I really like where he’s heading as a player. It’s been nice, because him now getting through the season mostly healthy last year kinda helped him build confidence that, ‘Hey, I’m OK to do this again.’ And do it at a high level. He’s just gonna continue to climb.”
It seemed you trusted him more and more as the season went on last year. Was there a time when things clicked for him?
“Probably around midseason. It seemed like he was just coming on, coming on, coming on. Part of that goes back to what you asked me before where I think he was a little hesitant based on — I know he came back the year before, but he was coming off a knee injury. Look at Mitch Evans. It took him half the season. Sometimes it’s just different for different guys. They’re healthy enough to play. They’re cleared to play. In their mind, do they believe they’re healthy enough to play? And are they able to cut themselves loose and play at a high level? He got to that probably about game four or five of the season — I shouldn’t say midseason anymore with as many games that we played. He just kept getting better.”
Does it feel like you’re installing a new offense because the quarterbacks are so different than Riley Leonard?
“No. From a passing game standpoint it will look pretty similar in a lot of ways. Obviously there’s always little changes here and there. But where it’s gonna probably look the most different is in the run game where we’re going to have to not be as quarterback heavy as a run team. How do you make up those yards? What do you do? Do you get into running some direct snap things? Do you get into using motion as a weapon a little bit more? How do you account for them screwing an extra guy down in the box? You hope you do that by having some dynamic players on the perimeter, so when you do that we’re gonna sting your butt. It’s a balancing act. We’ll get the run game situated around whoever ends up winning the job. But when the decision gets made, that’s kinda how that will kinda fit together.”
Leonard was such a get-out-of-jail-free card. Do you have to find another one of those?
“I don’t know for sure. Riley was dynamic at what we asked him to do with some of those things. I don’t know that any of those three guys couldn’t do those things at times. I don’t think it’ll be as big of a piece of what we were. They’re not guys that can’t make a couple plays with their feet or move in the pocket and do some things. I don’t think we’ll completely go away from some of that stuff. But it won’t be as featured quite as much, because he was just so dynamic doing it.”
Angeli seems to carry himself as a starter and leader. Where have you seen his growth in that regard?
“It stems from confidence more than anything else. He knows for maybe the first time that he’s in a real battle. Really if you had to like say, well, who’s got the most experience? Which I know you guys love to do on podcast and radio shows and whatever you’re doing. ‘We would have to lean … He’s gotta be the favorite’ type of thing. All those things play into where he’s at mentally in saying, ‘You know what? This is my job. When they give it to me, I’m gonna be ready to go.’”
Answers are largely verbatim. Questions may have been edited for brevity and clarity.
MIKE DENBROCK
“Before we kick this into gear, any questions that you guys have other than the quarterbacks, I’m happy to answer. So, that should cut this to like 10 seconds.”
How would you describe the difference between the last spring and this spring in terms of what you’re trying to do with the quarterbacks?
“I would describe year one as finding out who you can be, teaching scheme, trying to get your place offensively to being competitive in all aspects, so that you can win some football games. What gets lost sometimes is enough valuable time to teach and dig into really the detail of everything that you’re doing. Year two offers you an opportunity to really dig down and drill down on specific details of everything. From situational football to what you’re doing with your stance and all those different things. All the fundamentals of the game as well. All that adds in together. If you look at the way we played a year ago, details are missing all over the tape. If we just fix that, the leap that we could make offensively is pretty good. That’s without adapting scheme and changing this and changing that. That alone, being on top of our business at all positions and understanding the game better, understanding the scheme better, that starts with the quarterback position, because we put so much on that guy. But that’s everybody.”
So a little less anxiety for you this spring?
“Yeah, I would say so. At least year one we were able to establish a foundation of how we were going to play the game. Scheme, to a certain extent, of what we were gonna look like. Not that that won’t change necessarily a little here and there moving forward. Now it’s an opportunity for us to take that. We’ve had a chance as coaches to kinda evaluate it from a 10,000-foot view and say, well that really doesn’t fit us or that fits us better or whatever. And then focus your attention on some of those things heading into year two. Then you gotta do a good job in spring football of evaluating what tools you have and what positions we need to put those guys in to maximize their abilities and to reach our full potential.”
What’s your goal for the spring for all your young receivers with three different quarterbacks?
“From their standpoint, we dropped the football way too much last year. We gotta make the plays. I don’t know if you’d call them ordinary plays, but we need to make the plays — the ones that are 100 out of 100, we gotta be 100 out of 100. That comes with consistency in depth, consistency in route running. For a receiver, to be honest with you, it really shouldn’t matter who the quarterback is. I need to understand space and spacing and depth and specifics of techniques of route running. Going into year two, I know Coach Brown’s had a great opportunity to really have a whole year with these guys now. You can see that starting to come along. I like the depth we have there. We gotta get some guys to emerge and play more consistently.”
Any of those young receivers stepping forward?
“Yeah. I’m not ready to single anybody out. I just like the direction of the entire group. They just seem like their understanding of what we’re asking them to do is at a whole ‘nother level than it was a year ago. It kinda gets back to the same discussion we started with. The details are so important in everything that we do. The things that they’re doing and showing on the practice field now are way more detail-oriented than they were at any time last year, even at the end of the season. We’ve been able to make some progress just because of them understanding what to do better.”
What did you see in Blake Hebert initially as a recruit? And what have you seen from him this spring?
“We were in on Blake early in the process and liked his arm strength. We liked his size, obviously, his physical tools that he had. Thought he had things that they were asking him to do in the scheme that he played in high school, a lot of those concepts and things — even though they probably call it something way different than we do — matched up. So, you could see that he could function in the system that we run pretty well. All of those things went into that.
“Coach Guidugli did a great job of kinda keeping in contact with him even though things had moved in a different direction for us. The just in case that you always have to do in the recruiting world. Fortunately, we were able to talk him into coming at the end.”
How do you structure Hebert’s workload when he’s the fourth QB behind a three-man battle?
“We ended practice today with what we call basic seven-on-seven, which is really just some of our core passing game principles that he’s getting his feet wet with. Put the young receivers out there and let those guys develop some chemistry and do some of the base offensive stuff that we do. That’s where he’s getting the majority of his reps. When we break up into group periods and things like that, he’s gotten an opportunity to kinda have the keys to the Ferrari a little bit and has done a nice job with it. Smart guy.”
You mentioned the drops and how route running may have played into that. Can you explain how improving routes will make them catch the ball better?
“I don’t know if it’s gonna make them catch the ball better. I hope that’s the case. More than anything it’s just confidence and consistency in what you’re doing. We were not very confident in anything we did in the passing game a year ago. That I think you’ll see take a huge leap into year two. I think that will come from a number of positions not just the wide receivers. It comes down to focus and concentration as much as anything. Finishing catches. You hear me yelling at them when you guys are hear at practice. Probably ‘Catch the ball with your eyes. Finish the catch with your eyes.’ That’s a detail. That goes to everything that we’ve already been talking about. You gotta do that consistently.”
What kind of progress have you seen in Eli Raridon since the start of last season?
“Eli’s got a chance to become one of the really good ones here. Incredible size, good movement skills, toughness. I really like where he’s heading as a player. It’s been nice, because him now getting through the season mostly healthy last year kinda helped him build confidence that, ‘Hey, I’m OK to do this again.’ And do it at a high level. He’s just gonna continue to climb.”
It seemed you trusted him more and more as the season went on last year. Was there a time when things clicked for him?
“Probably around midseason. It seemed like he was just coming on, coming on, coming on. Part of that goes back to what you asked me before where I think he was a little hesitant based on — I know he came back the year before, but he was coming off a knee injury. Look at Mitch Evans. It took him half the season. Sometimes it’s just different for different guys. They’re healthy enough to play. They’re cleared to play. In their mind, do they believe they’re healthy enough to play? And are they able to cut themselves loose and play at a high level? He got to that probably about game four or five of the season — I shouldn’t say midseason anymore with as many games that we played. He just kept getting better.”
Does it feel like you’re installing a new offense because the quarterbacks are so different than Riley Leonard?
“No. From a passing game standpoint it will look pretty similar in a lot of ways. Obviously there’s always little changes here and there. But where it’s gonna probably look the most different is in the run game where we’re going to have to not be as quarterback heavy as a run team. How do you make up those yards? What do you do? Do you get into running some direct snap things? Do you get into using motion as a weapon a little bit more? How do you account for them screwing an extra guy down in the box? You hope you do that by having some dynamic players on the perimeter, so when you do that we’re gonna sting your butt. It’s a balancing act. We’ll get the run game situated around whoever ends up winning the job. But when the decision gets made, that’s kinda how that will kinda fit together.”
Leonard was such a get-out-of-jail-free card. Do you have to find another one of those?
“I don’t know for sure. Riley was dynamic at what we asked him to do with some of those things. I don’t know that any of those three guys couldn’t do those things at times. I don’t think it’ll be as big of a piece of what we were. They’re not guys that can’t make a couple plays with their feet or move in the pocket and do some things. I don’t think we’ll completely go away from some of that stuff. But it won’t be as featured quite as much, because he was just so dynamic doing it.”
Angeli seems to carry himself as a starter and leader. Where have you seen his growth in that regard?
“It stems from confidence more than anything else. He knows for maybe the first time that he’s in a real battle. Really if you had to like say, well, who’s got the most experience? Which I know you guys love to do on podcast and radio shows and whatever you’re doing. ‘We would have to lean … He’s gotta be the favorite’ type of thing. All those things play into where he’s at mentally in saying, ‘You know what? This is my job. When they give it to me, I’m gonna be ready to go.’”
