What came first, the chicken or the egg?
I ask that in regards to Notre Dame’s offense and the disaster it has been two games into the 2022 season. The news for the squad that is averaging just 15.5 points per game to date didn’t get any better Monday as it was announced starting quarterback [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag] is officially done for the year.
Related: Notre Dame updates depth chart ahead of Cal game
Now comes [autotag]Drew Pyne[/autotag] and the roughly 50% completion rate he’s put up in limited time through his first two years on campus. At least he has [autotag]Tommy Rees[/autotag] to help guide them though, right?
That’s what most Notre Dame fans would have thought this off-season if they were told Pyne would be called upon this early, but what about now?
Our friends at Trojans Wire are experiencing whiplash from how quickly they’ve seen a modern offense come storming into Troy, led by Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams. They’ve also now weighed in on a concern for Marcus Freeman’s time at Notre Dame, and related it back to the offensive coordinator and former Washington head coach Jimmy Lake’s demise.
From Trojans Wire (and do yourself a favor and read the entire piece):
Translated: Lake did not seek the best of the best on offense. He is a brilliant defensive tactician, but he dramatically underestimated the value of having a strong, top-tier coordinator on the offensive side of the ball. Head coaches with expertise on one side of the ball have to hire a top-shelf coordinator on the opposite side.
This is the connection between Jimmy Lake and Marcus Freeman.
Look, we know Tommy Rees can recruit, and that Notre Dame’s staff is an excellent recruiting staff. There are lots of things Freeman understands about the business … but at the coordinator level, you can’t do things on the cheap. You need a star play-caller. Tommy Rees could be a quarterback coach, but the keys to the offense needed to be handed to a master chess player.
Next: Back to the chicken-egg question in regards to Rees…