With classes at Notre Dame started and preparation for Navy underway, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly will meet with the assembled meeting for his weekly Tuesday press conference at noon. And while there’s no indication that he’s ready to name a signal-caller for the season opener against the Midshipmen, it’s time to give up the worst kept secret in South Bend: Everett Golson is going to be the starting quarterback.
The talented sophomore has been locked in a camp battle with junior Andrew Hendrix, who worked his way into the rotation last season at quarterback as Tommy Rees struggled down the stretch. But Golson, who sat out last season and saved a year of eligibility, has captivated Kelly with his skill-set, and answered many of the questions the head coach had about his maturity and ability to lead a football team, prerequisites for the quarterback that’ll likely determine Brian Kelly’s fate as the head of the Fighting Irish.
Golson’s redshirt season was one spent adjusting to the college game and the academic rigors of Notre Dame. It was also a season where the young talent needed a healthy dose of humility. Eric Hansen, in the Sunday edition of the South Bend Tribune, wonderfully encapsulates Golson’s freshmen struggles, where is lack of attention to schoolwork and the playbook cost him a chance to contribute last season.
Midway through the 2011 season, Golson and Hendrix were competing for a minor role in the Irish offense — the change-up quarterback.
It was a concept Kelly began toying with, at least in the meeting room, the previous spring after talking to Urban Meyer, who tag-teamed then-freshman Tim Tebow with senior Chris Leak in a national title run at Florida in 2006. But Kelly was slow to employ the concept in a game in the fall of ’11, and had a tough time separating Hendrix and Golson as the top candidate for that role — until Golson sort of did it for him at midseason.
He began to struggle in the classroom, more of a sign of lack of maturity than anything else, and his attention to detail when it came to being on time and focused for meetings, for example, was far from perfect.
“I can admit I wasn’t the best at that,” he said.
Golson then was demoted to scout team for the remainder of the season. His job, at that point, was to learn the opposing team’s plays and run their offenses in practice against ND’s No. 1 defense. The decline, though, started to gain traction all the way back in August training camp in 2011.
“I thought I was ready to compete for the starting spot,” said Golson, the sixth-most prolific TD thrower in U.S. high school history. “Going through fall camp, I kind of saw my reps go down a little bit. I was a little bit discouraged at first.
“It kind of humbled me. Now, that I look back at it, I’m glad I went down to the scout team, ’cause it made me realize I have to start at ground zero and work my way back up.”
The way back up included a breakthrough performance in the annual Blue-Gold Game, where Golson was the most impressive of the four quarterbacks and seemed to show a solid mastery of the offense while also flashing his prodigious physical gifts. But up until that final televised practice of spring, Golson quietly struggled with his role at Notre Dame, so much so that one source tells me he considered transferring for much of the offseason until that performance.
Those concerns are in the past now, with Golson’s work and commitment to football this summer getting him up to speed with the offense. (Also fortuitous to his candidacy was the offseason arrest of incumbent quarterback Tommy Rees, allowing Kelly and offensive coordinator Chuck Martin the ability to hit the hard reset after two seasons in South Bend.) That commitment has shown during training camp, where Golson has slowly taking control of the position battle.
Kelly has done his best to stay mum about his quarterback choice — whether it be for strategic advantage or because he’s not ready to make the decision. Yet clues all around the program point to Golson. Whether it’s teammates past and present raving about his athleticism, in-depth profiles like the one Hansen wrote, or the mobs of media surrounding the sophomore at Media Day, if it’s not announced today it’s only a matter of time before the Irish are led by Golson when they step onto the field at Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
The announcement would be the culmination of ND Nation’s hopes for the young quarterback with dynamic running and passing ability. It will also be the cherry on top of a really impressive fall camp where Golson played his way into the role of starting quarterback.
“We’ve had 126 throwing opportunities with Everett,” Kelly recounted last week, talking about the live 11 on 11 passing snaps for the young quarterback. “He’s had one interception. You build trust. You don’t just give it, you build trust.”
