Article from the IndyStar who's covering camp. Discusses BW.
Notre Dame football: What's different about QB Brandon Wimbush?
CULVER, Indiana — He had an uneven rookie season, was benched in a bowl game, and was forced to watch his backup lead Notre Dame to a wild victory. Angry and confused by his own inconsistencies, he sought extra help outside campus walls to fix his mechanical kinks and accuracy issues.
Six months later, on Day 1 of Notre Dame fall camp, quarterback Brandon Wimbush has laid out everything he’s worked on and is still tweaking this offseason, with a few weeks until the home opener.
“Be consistent, completion percentage, being accurate, being decisive, taking a leadership role, understanding the ins and outs of the offense,” Wimbush said calmly after Friday's practice at Culver Academy. “And then, as Michigan comes around, it’s being able to prepare for our opponent. I think the quarterback room is such a cohesive unit and I think we’re going to push each other.”
Upon first look, Wimbush doesn’t look much different. Still 6-1 and 220 pounds, he uses the word "consistency" in response to almost every question. During practice, there didn’t appear to be much drop-off between him and backup Ian Book, who played the majority of the Citrus Bowl against LSU.
This was only the first practice, though. And if Wimbush has made any reasonable progress in the last six months, it will be visible when No. 11 Notre Dame kicks off against No. 14 Michigan on Sept. 1.
Irish coach Brian Kelly liked what he saw Friday from Wimbush.
“In particular, out of the pocket throws, he kept his posture up,” Kelly said. “He clearly has built on some of the things that he was concerned about last year that it got to him mentally. Threw the screens well. We couldn’t throw screens last year. The throws on the move. I thought he did a really nice job."
During 11-on-11 drills, Wimbush had a few bounce passes, but he recovered quickly. He completed passes in the short game, some mid-range balls, and his most beautiful play was a sideline pass to Miles Boykin, who leapt over Julian Love to grab it. Boykin, who made the famous game-winning touchdown in the Citrus Bowl, looked like he will make plenty of those types of catches this season.
In his season-opening news conference Thursday, Kelly said Wimbush had an “A+” offseason. This included working on his leadership skills, becoming more vocal, and holding his teammates accountable — things he didn’t do last year.
“He was kind of trying to figure out himself in a lot of ways,” Kelly said. “And not that he’s got all the answers, he wouldn’t tell you that, but I think he clearly has a confidence about him that he lacked at times last year.”
Wimbush was always confident off the field. In his first meeting with the media in the 2017 spring game, he wore a bright pink shirt. Center Sam Mustipher called him out for his style, saying he wears too many hats. One in particular he described as “Crocodile Dundee.”
On the field last year, Wimbush acknowledged he didn’t have to exert as much confidence and leadership because Mike McGlinchey, Quenton Nelson and Josh Adams had that covered. It seeped into his performance and he would overthink. Wimbush says he’s changed in that regard heading into his second year starting.
“I think I’ve matured,” Wimbush said. “Having a year under your belt helps immensely. Year 2 is an extravagant leap in understanding what my guys are able to do out there on every play. Having that consistency and mindset of being that same guy every day I come out here. That’s going to prove to be my biggest asset come game time.”
His teammates can tell a difference in him, too.
“He’s just more comfortable back there,” Mustipher said. “He’s more comfortable in his own skin and his own talents. There’s no reason he shouldn’t have been, but he is now and he’s realizing that he’s capable of playing a high level of football. And it’s something the rest of the team, if you ask anybody, they’ve known all along.”
Wimbush’s 2017 stats are well known at this point: He completed 49.5 percent of his passes, throwing 16 touchdowns to six interceptions (four in the last four games). As the Irish started 8-1, he completed 51.5 percent of his passes. Then his season crumbled on the road against Miami when he turned the ball over three times. He never came back mentally, completing 44 percent of his passes in the final four games. Ultimately, he finished the season on the bench against LSU.
Wimbush enlisted the help of Taylor Kelly of 3DQB training a month after the bowl game. They’ve had several sessions since. Wimbush and Brian Kelly believe there have been improvements in several necessary areas, including his confidence and mechanics. The biggest technical gains Wimbush has made this offseason, he said, are in his footwork.
“Everything ties in from your feet,” Wimbush said. “You can just watch my feet and see if I’m going to complete a pass. That’s the biggest thing.”
Repaired footwork isn’t going to turn Wimbush’s passing game a complete 180, but he believes it will make a “huge difference." Taylor Kelly has instructed him to be more compact with his feet. Sometimes he’d be too elongated, for example, and the rest of his body would follow and be too wide, causing the ball to dive toward the ground. If he’s tighter, the delivery will be better.
“I think that will help me get to where I want to be,” Wimbush said.
Wimbush struggled mentally in stressful environments last year, especially at Miami and Stanford. He’ll get an early test against Michigan, even though that game is in South Bend. Brian Kelly said they will start to ramp up the pressure around the quarterback in the sixth practice when they put on pads.
It's difficult to gauge at this point whether Wimbush will be any different. Kelly has set expectations high with the offseason A+ grade. Maybe that's a coach trying to inject more confidence into his quarterback. All that matters for Notre Dame is how Wimbush handles success and failure this time around, because that could be what determines the team's fate.
“When he’s confident, there’s nobody that will stop this offense because everybody believes in Brandon Wimbush,” Kelly said. “If he walks out there and he is confident in what he’s doing, he has the Larry Bird effect on everybody, where everybody raises their play because if Brandon’s confident, we’ve seen what happens when he’s a confident player.”
