One way to make the task of being a first-year head coach even more difficult is by having a quarterback competition at the start of spring practice. That’s exactly what Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman inherited when he was named the Fighting Irish head coach.
Freeman met the media after Thursday’s practice, the first of the spring for the Irish, and discussed the quarterback competition. As you can probably expect, keeping the ball in Notre Dame’s possession will play a big part of the ultimate decision.
“Take care of football. You have to take care of football. You have to be able to put the football where it belongs. You have to be able to make sure the offense is in the right position to have success. Make the right checks, right calls, but also there’s a leadership to it. It’s the credibility of, hey, I’m the leader of the offense and for the most part, a lot of times the quarterback is the leader of the team. Obviously, I believe in a quarterback that, yes, makes good decisions, but also has an ability to escape. We don’t need a dual threat as much as a quarterback that’s able to escape that situation. That’s the things I’m gonna look for. Who is taking care of the ball, who’s making good decisions, who’s able to extend plays at times when the pocket maybe fails.” – Marcus Freeman
For whatever it’s worth in the small sample of 2021 for both Tyler Buchner and Drew Pyne, Buchner threw three interceptions in 35 pass attempts while Pyne didn’t throw an interception in his 30. Obviously those stats aren’t going to be what decide the 2022 opening day starting quarterback but it was at least worth mentioning.
Next – Freeman’s role in eventual starting quarterback decision