When Charlie Weis arrived on campus in 2005 as head coach, he had a junior quarterback ready to man his system in Brady Quinn. Coach Weis ran a pro-style offense, and in that system, you need a big, strong, drop-back passer. And at 6’4″, 205 pounds, Quinn fit that bill.
In 2007, Coach Weis successfully recruited the first 5-star QB to come to Notre Dame in quite some time in Jimmy Clausen. Like Quinn, Clausen was a big, strong (6’3″, 195 pounds), drop-back passer.
The next year, 2008, Weis brought in another 5-star QB in Dayne Crist, who, like the other two before him, was a typical pro-style QB. It appeared that Weis and Notre Dame were set at quarterback for quite some time.
When Coach Weis was let go in 2009 and Coach Kelly was hired, the quarterback recruits for the 2010 class included Tommy Rees, Luke Massa, Derek Roback and Andrew Hendrix. The only one of those four who remotely fit Coach Kelly’s system was Hendrix, whom he was able to maintain as a commitment even after a strong, late push from our friend Urban Meyer at Florida.
Coach Kelly’s first year (2010) at the helm saw him running an offense without a true system quarterback to make it work. Crist played admirably before hurting his knee, and Rees filled in capably up to the end of the season.
At first, it appeared that Coach Kelly and his staff had whiffed with getting their style of quarterback in the 2011 recruiting class when Bubba Starling chose to play professional baseball. However, late in the recruiting cycle, the Irish landed their first true dual-threat QB fit for their system in Everett Golson. Golson coming to South Bend was a sign that the times had changed from the drop-back passing QB to the dual threat spread option style QB.
With Chuck Martin taking over as offensive coordinator, it’s clear that the drop-back passing quarterback at Notre Dame is a thing of the past. It also makes it easier to understand the Gunner Kiel signing at LSU and the recent hot pursuit by the Irish of Devin Fuller.
Martin’s style of offense is more balanced than Charley Molnar’s. Molnar’s offense was more of a pass-happy attack if you will, compared to Martin’s more balanced one. And for balance, I mean a good mix of running and passing with not all the running done by the running backs (read: running QB).
The ideal quarterback for Martin’s system is mobile, accurate and an excellent decision maker, with the emphasis on excellent decision maker. By elevating Martin to offensive coordinator, Coach Kelly has further paved the way for Golson to become the starting QB in 2012. Now, I do think that Golson and Hendrix will both compete for the position, but I also think Rees has seen his last days as a starting QB in South Bend.
The elevation of Martin and his offensive style also makes Notre Dame more appealing for Fuller and may help bring in more playmakers at the RB position, as well as faster WR options. Should Fuller decide that Notre Dame is not for him, Coach Kelly and the Irish staff have already made an impression on 2013 dual-threat QB recruit Matt Alviti.
In short, the one good example I can think of is that with Martin now as OC, the Irish offense should start to look like the Oregon offense, which is great news for recruits.
Now, the traditionalist Irish fanbase may have some concerns, but when they see the scoreboard lighting up in a couple of years, those all go out the window.
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