SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Facing a four-man battle for Notre Dame's starting quarterback position, Brian Kelly has enough trouble keeping an eye on each player during practice. But the Fighting Irish coach has raised the stakes on even that challenge; this spring he can watch his quarterbacks' eyes during every play.
Kelly is employing every available mode of technology to evaluate his quarterbacks during spring practice. They're wearing helmet cameras and being graded for their work using a PlayStation-like simulator, which tests their knowledge of Notre Dame's offense and opponents' defenses.
Matt Cashore/US Presswire
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly has a four-man QB battle heading into spring practice.
"You're always looking for a competitive advantage," Kelly said. "To have four quarterbacks, if you're going to give them all a fair chance, you have to use every method possible to track their progress."
Kelly probably won't name a starting quarterback until shortly before the Fighting Irish open the season against USF at Notre Dame Stadium on Sept. 3. Senior Dayne Crist and sophomore Tommy Rees started games last season, and sophomore Andrew Hendrix and freshman Everett Golson are more mobile yet inexperienced options.
Heading into Saturday's Blue-Gold spring game, Kelly said he is already leaning toward playing more than one quarterback this coming season, but he's still evaluating which quarterbacks he'll use.
"I'd say it's probably a given," Kelly said of possibly playing more than one quarterback. "I'm like everybody else. I'd like to have one go-to guy and he's your guy. But where we are right now, it lends itself to playing more than one quarterback."
Crist, from Canoga Park, Calif., started the first nine games in 2010 before suffering a season-ending knee injury for the second time in as many years. Crist threw for 2,033 yards with 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions, leading the Irish to a 4-5 record in games he started.
Less than six months after undergoing surgery to repair a ruptured patellar tendon in his left knee, Crist has been able to participate in every aspect of spring practice.
"You're talking about two huge injuries," Kelly said. "He's a different guy than he was at this time last year. He's different because he doesn't have the entire weight of the 'Notre Dame Nation' on his shoulders. The weight is gone. He's not worrying about being the savior; he's thinking about how he's going to get on the field."
"I don't even notice it," Crist said about the injury. "I'm wearing a brace, but it doesn't even protect what I had repaired. There never has been any residual soreness. I feel very good."
Rees, from Lake Forest, Ill., started the final four games of 2010 after Crist was hurt, leading the Irish to consecutive victories over Utah, Army and Southern California to end the regular season, followed by a win over Miami in the Sun Bowl. Rees completed 61 percent of his passes for 1,106 yards with 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
"[Rees] is going to drive 55 mph," Kelly said. "He's not going to get you a ticket, but he's not going to drive 80 mph, either. He's going to manage the game and has a penchant for making plays. He really doesn't do anything stupid. He's going to make some mistakes and get some balls batted down, but he's not going to do anything catastrophic."
Hendrix, from Cincinnati, and Golson, an early enrollee from Myrtle Beach, S.C., are more prototypical quarterbacks for a spread offense. Both are capable of throwing the ball or running on any given play.
"The other two kids are exciting," Kelly said. "They can do a lot of things."
Evaluating each of Notre Dame's quarterbacks this spring has been Kelly's challenge.
"It's a lot of teaching and a lot of learning," Kelly said. "We're really trying to do two things in one. We're spreading it out with Hendrix and Golson. We've had to do more than just classroom instruction."
A few hours after practice on April 6, Kelly, Crist and Rees gathered in a meeting room on the bottom floor of the Guglielmino Athletics Complex. They reviewed film from that morning's practice, with the quarterbacks' helmet cams giving Kelly an action-level view.
More than anything else, Kelly preaches to his quarterbacks about finding what he calls a "movement key" -- a particular player on defense, whose actions will indicate how the play is going to progress -- immediately after taking every snap.
"Get your eyes on your movement key," Kelly said. "Your movement key takes you through your progressions. You're guessing if you can't get your eyes on the movement key, and I don't like guessing."
On one passing play, Kelly watches the play develop through Crist's helmet cam. There are other angles available from overhead remote cameras.
Crist's movement key on one particular play is safety Harrison Smith.
"We're putting two guys on the weak safety," Kelly said.
The helmet cam shows Crist's eyes drifting to the right, while Smith stayed to his left.
"Be careful," Kelly told Crist.
"I would like to see him move on Harrison to freeze him," Kelly said. "We would like to have seen him hold the safety a little more with his eyes."
On another play, Notre Dame's offense uses two crossing routes to create a 3-on-2 opportunity in the middle of the field.
"He's got a good picture," Kelly said. "As long as he kept these two players in his vision, he's not guessing."
Notre Dame's game simulator is equally as innovative. XOS Digital, a Florida-based company that provides audio and visual systems to hundreds of college and NFL teams, created software in which the Irish can load their offense and opponents' defenses into a PlayStation game.
During the meeting with Kelly and Crist, Rees grabbed a PlayStation remote and began reading Miami's defense. The Irish defeated the Hurricanes 33-17 in the Sun Bowl on New Year's Eve.
Before Rees could snap the ball, he was quizzed about his presnap reads. Notre Dame's quarterbacks must correctly answer questions about pass coverage, protections and potential blitzes before snapping the ball.
"It's a good tool to have the night before a game," Rees said. "It's a good thing to use as a refresher."
Before taking a snap on a play called "North Squeeze 63 Dolphin," Rees was asked to identify Miami's pass coverage. His options were: Cover 4, Tampa 2 or 2 Man. After correctly identifying the coverage, Rees had to throw to the correct receiver.
"It's pretty cool to see that play because we ran it in the bowl game and it turned out the same way," Rees said.
On another play -- "Cowboy East Win 52 Hank Snap" -- Rees is asked to identify Miami's blitz package because the Irish lined up in a no-back formation.
"It's absolutely critical our guys understand where their protection is," Kelly said. "You can have all the talent in the world, but if you don't know your protection, you can't get into no-backs."
The simulator is also capable of producing a field-level view, which is very similar to the helmet cams.
"It's almost like how we're going to see it on Saturday," Crist said.
Kelly said the simulator might be most valuable on the night before an actual game, when he can use it to test his quarterback's knowledge of Notre Dame's game plan and an opponent's defense.
"Now it's not just a term you're talking to them about, it's something they can actually see," Kelly said. "I can tell them all they need in the meeting, but they need to see it. It's just a tool. It still comes down to work ethic, habits and skills."
Now Kelly and his coaches can see what their quarterbacks see like never before.
Mark Schlabach covers college sports for ESPN.com. You can contact him at
schlabachma@yahoo.com.
