ESPN projects who will be Notre Dame’s starting QB in 2021

The battle to replace Ian Book will be one many eyes will be watching and ESPN has predicted which QB emerge as Notre Dame’s starter.

One of the biggest questions going into spring football for Notre Dame is who will replace the all-time winningest quarterback in Irish history, Ian Book. ESPN’s Tom Luginbill took a look around the nation (insider) at programs who will have new signal callers in the 2021 season and obviously the Irish were included.

Of the four quarterbacks on campus fighting for the job (Jack Coan, Brendon Clark, Drew Pyne and Tyler Buchner), Luginbill feels like Coan is the leader in the clubhouse.

There are four legitimate options, but while Buchner is an exciting incoming freshman and can be a difference-maker, he is not the leader to be under center come the fall. That has to be the Wisconsin grad transfer Coan…

This makes plenty of sense, as Coan was brought in to bridge the gap. We predicted that Brian Kelly would dip in to the transfer market to replace Book and the former Badger was the answer even though he wasn’t on our watchlist.

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Luginbill does assess each of the contenders as “Clark is probably the best passer with the most arm strength,” but knee injuries have stunted his growth.

As for the other returning quarterback “Pyne most resembles Book’s skill set, having served as the Irish’s No. 2 quarterback down the stretch last year. He’s undersized but has some skill as a passer with good feet, a solid feel for the game and a high ceiling.”

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How about the incoming freshman Buchner? “He is likely the future. He’s physically capable of playing right away, but as with all freshman, the learning curve can be steep.” The Californian is already on campus going through spring drills, so Buchner is already getting his feet wet in South Bend.

The spring will be very telling as to who will ultimately replace Book, if Kelly will go with experience in Coan or a higher ceiling in Buchner.

Notre Dame makes scholarship offer to another 2022 quarterback

With Ian Book out the door, the debate for Notre Dame is whether Brendon Clark or Drew Pyne will be his successor at quarterback in 2021.

With Ian Book out the door, the debate for Notre Dame is whether Brendon Clark or Drew Pyne will be his successor at quarterback in 2021. But what if neither of those guys is the long-term solution at the position?

Tyler Buchner is a big-time recruit but what about the recruiting class of 2022?

Maybe the upcoming season will be a bridge between Book and the next great Irish quarterback. Specifically, Pyne and Clark could be keeping the seat warm for Drew Allar, a pro-style quarterback from Medina, Ohio, who has received an offer from Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees:

Allar now has offers from 22 schools. Just this week, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Illinois and Ole Miss joined the list. He’s also drawn significant interest from programs like Wake Forest, Iowa, USF, Washington, Iowa State, Kentucky, Michigan, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Penn State, Indiana, Michigan State, Pittsburgh and Syracuse.

Related:
Notre Dame’s best football recruit from each state since 2000

Notre Dame’s 2022 Recruiting Class Commitments

Notre Dame scholarship offer tracker for 2022

Prominent college programs always are looking for who might be the next person to represent them at the most important position in sports. Allar will do that somewhere, but we don’t know where exactly yet.

Notre Dame drops in ESPN’s future quarterback rankings

With the graduation of Ian Book, Notre Dame must find their signal caller of the future or they could continue to drop in the rankings.

Going into last year the Irish were in very good hands at the most important position in sports, with Ian Book quarterbacking the team for this 3rd-year as a starter. The results were great, a regular season ACC title, a berth in the College Football Playoffs for the second time in three years.

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Although the 2020 season didn’t end the way any of us wanted to, Book brought stability to the position which resulted in 10 wins. The immediate future most likely sees transfer Jack Coan as Books replacement, although the need for Brian Kelly to develop depth at the position is much needed for the future of the program.

The upcoming season’s past 2021 will hold a much different future for the position and after ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg looked at his future quarterback rankings (insider), the Irish will need to catch up a bit. Falling from 7th last year to 16th after this update, the position will once again be in the spotlight in South Bend.

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Rittenberg sees the situation like I do, “Notre Dame needs to upgrade at quarterback to truly challenge for a national title despite two CFP appearances in the past three years.” The need for a difference maker at the position is glaring, Coan isn’t the long-term answer but maybe that player is already on campus.

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The 2021 class included top-100 recruit Tyler Buchner from California, who is the future at quarterback. That’s not a knock on Brendon Clark or Drew Pyne, it’s more of a testament to Buchner’s abilities. Rittenberg mentions Buchner as being “long been pegged as Notre Dame’s quarterback of the future.”

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The future is now and the need to develop the depth at the position is a glaring issue. Clark and Pyne had virtually no experience heading into this season, which is why Coan was brought in.

Kelly and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees can’t have another situation like this years emerge next year. The younger quarterbacks need to play, so going into 2022, there should be some semblance of urgency to get the younger QB’s that much needed experience.

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With Coan’s injury history, relying on him to complete a whole season shouldn’t be taken for granted. Again, getting the younger players experience will be paramount. When Rittenberg revisits his future QB rankings next year, this group should be ranked higher as long as development happens.

How can Notre Dame make a Playoff run in ‘21? ESPN answers

Is there one answer to this question as to how Notre Dame makes it back to play in a big time bowl game?

The Irish have made the College Football Playoffs two of the last three years and going into the 2021 season, it might be a more difficult task to make it three of the last four. There is always hope going into a season, after all, in college football anything can happen.

Recently, the ESPN staff looked at their way-too-early top 25 teams and how the cards need to fall for them to make the CFP. In Notre Dame’s case, they “are losing quite a bit on offense and defense, so if they’re going to make it back to the playoff or a New Year’s Six bowl, the first thing that must happen is they need to find their quarterback early,” said Tom VanHaaren.

What’s interesting about VanHaaren’s assessment of the position is that he doesn’t mention Wisconsin transfer Jack Coan, naming Drew Pyne and Tyler Buchner as his front runners. That doesn’t mean that Coan is not in the mix for the starting job, maybe VanHaaren just forgot about him. Either way he say’s “the coaches need to stabilize that position.” That’s saying it lightly.

Over on the defensive side of the ball, VanHaaren noted that new coordinator Marcus Freeman will need “Kyle Hamilton, Kurt Hinish and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, among some other veterans on defense, to be its best players.” Losing a high end player like linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and others will definitely hurt, but the talent is there for other players to step up.

When looking at the whole picture for VanHaaren, it’s probably not going to be what Notre Dame fans want to hear “with so much change on the roster and the staff, Notre Dame must have everything fall into place to make it back to where it was this season.” Hopefully everything does fall into place and we see Brian Kelly leading his team to a bowl game on or around New Year’s Day.

Opinion: Jack Coan is not the answer for Notre Dame at quarterback

On man’s opinion on the Wisconsin transfer Jack Coan, who seems to be in line to lead Notre Dame in the 2021 football season.

We all saw the news last night with former Wisconsin quarterback Jack Coan committing to Notre Dame and will be eligible immediately as a graduate transfer.

I for one am not overtly excited about this addition. A few weeks ago, I opined that Brian Kelly’s best option for his 2021 starting quarterback was in the transfer market, and personally, Jack Coan wasn’t even on my radar.

This move does absolutely nothing for me. I’m actually a bit disappointed by this decision.

It’s become clear that Notre Dame, or any school that wants to compete for a national championship, has to have a difference maker at the most important position in all of football. Jack Coan is not that guy.

Coan is a game-manager, not a game-breaker. He is Ian Book-lite and we all saw what the outgoing Irish quarterback was capable of. Both of them will win you the games your supposed to, but when it comes to winning big games, neither is that dude.

Book over his career went 8-5 against top 25 competition, which is a solid record but one of those games he didn’t start, and of those 8 wins, three of them were to teams that went on to finish unranked by the end of the year.

Coan has garnered a 3-4 record, obviously worse than Book. This just isn’t very encouraging in my eyes.

The new Irish quarterback has throw for 300-yards in a game just once in his career. He’s not even close to the same kind of runner Book is, Coan has -11 rushing yards on 76 attempts. Yeah, sacks are included there, but Book had 1,518 rushing yards including those sacks as well.

I get what Kelly is doing with this addition, he needed a veteran presence at the position. With Drew Pyne, Brendon Clark and incoming freshman Tyler Buchner having virtually no collegiate experience between them, taking a transfer made all the sense in the world.

To me, Jack Coan isn’t that guy. Already, outlets like ESPN are predicting the Irish to have a “down year” in 2021. If that is going to be the case, why not get your younger players the ever valuable experience that quarterbacks need.

I would much rather see one of the young guys get their opportunity to see what they can do with the bullets flying. But that’s just my honest opinion on the situation.

Former Wisconsin Quarterback Jack Coan Transferring to Notre Dame

Notre Dame fans already missing Ian Book may not have too miss him for too long.

Notre Dame fans already missing Ian Book may not have too miss him for too long. Sure, the Irish already have Brendon Clark, Drew Pyne and Tyler Buchner competing for the starting quarterback job, but what’s a little more competition? Enter former Wisconsin quarterback and graduate transfer Jack Coan:

Coan, who is recovering from a broken foot that cost him the entire 2020 season, was 12-6 in 18 starts for the Badgers, most of which came as a junior in 2019. In three seasons, he completed 68.0 percent of his passes while throwing for 3,278 yards and eight touchdowns. He also ran for five touchdowns.

The journey to South Bend is a long time coming for Coan. Before choosing Wisconsin, he originally committed to Notre Dame as a lacrosse player. Now, he’ll have a shot at revenge on the Badgers when the Irish meet them Sept. 25 at Soldier Field. Talk about coming full circle.

Five ways to fix Notre Dame from flopping in big games

An opinion of what Notre Dame needs to do in order to truly compete for a national championship.

It seemed like this year was going to be different, especially after the thrilling victory over Clemson during the regular season, but that wasn’t the case. Back-to-back blowout losses to Clemson and Alabama ultimately put this season along with many in recent times, a disappointing ending. The Notre Dame faithful just can’t seem to elude this glaring statistic:

I’ve had a few days to digest the Rose Bowl loss to Alabama, looking at their sidelines and trying to figure out how to get to their level of competitiveness. Here are five ways Notre Dame can avoid being embarrassed on the big stage  in the future.

Rose Bowl and CFP Semifinal: Third-Quarter Analysis

So far, Notre Dame has been able to prevent the complete annihilation many said Alabama would deal it.

So far, Notre Dame has been able to prevent the complete annihilation many said Alabama would deal it. But with this being the Rose Bowl and College Football Playoff Semifinal, moral victories don’t count for much. The actual winner of this game gets to play for the whole thing, and that’s all that matters. That being the case, the Irish will have to figure out how to erase their 28-7 after three quarters quickly.

When the Tide took the ball to begin the second half, many expected them to play similar to how they came out in the first quarter. Surprisingly, they ended up punting for the second straight possession, only getting as far as the Notre Dame 37-yard line. That gave the Irish a chance to eat the clock en route to a key touchdown drive. Instead, Ian Book threw a rare interception to Christian Harris while still in Irish territory.

Alabama only was too pleased to take advantage of a short field. They overcame a holding call, the first penalty for either team, and found themselves with a first-and-goal at the 7-yard line. Mac Jones only needed one more play to hit DeVonta Smith for his third touchdown of the game. Those two are not Heisman Trophy finalists for nothing.

The Irish’s comeback chances took a major hit on their next drive. Book was sacked by the 6-foot-5, 310-pound Christian Barmore for a 14-yard loss. Worse yet, he was injured on the play. With their starting quarterback headed to the medical tent, the Irish were forced to turn to Drew Pyne, who surely did not want to have to enter the game in this situation.

Notre Dame news about future of quarterback position

It may be a bye week for Notre Dame but Monday brought a bit of news regarding their future at the quarterback position.

Brendon Clark isn’t a name Notre Dame fans have heard much this year, aside from the sophomore quarterback getting into a couple of games in mop-up duty.

Clark is listed as the second-string quarterback and during Brian Kelly’s media availability on Monday, we were tipped off to what will figure to be one of the biggest storylines regarding Notre Dame this coming off-season as the Irish will have to replace record-setting Ian Book.

Clark was seen with a knee brace Saturday against Syracuse and Kelly was asked about it.

“Brendon had ACL surgery in high school and that knee has been cranky, so the knee brace is to give him more stability through the rest of the season. Then he’ll get evaluated at the end of the season as to whether there needs to be a procedure cleaning it up or a reassessment as to where he is with that knee.”

That creates an interesting storyline in regards to who eventually takes over at quarterback for Ian Book.

Clark entered the year second on the quarterback depth chart and has battled back and forth with freshman Drew Pyne at that spot throughout the year.

Entering next year as a recruit will also be highly-touted Tyler Buchner of California who once had a five-star composite rating on 247Sports.

Then there are some that would like Notre Dame to expand further in the transfer game and pursue an experienced quarterback who may be looking for a new home like Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Miami, and others that have benefitted from recently.

Related:  Ranking Notre Dame’s quarterbacks entering 2020 season

 

Start Notre Dame/Florida State week the only way one should

That day in mid-November saw No. 1 Florida State travel to No. 2 Notre Dame for one of the most anticipated games in the history of college football.

Happy Monday and for the first time in a few weeks now we can say it’s welcome back to game week for No 5 Notre Dame (2-0) who returns to action this Saturday against un-ranked Florida State (1-2).

When you think Notre Dame and Florida State there are a handful of memories that come to mind but even before the ridiculous flag for a pick-play in 2014 or even Arnaz Battle’s touchdown and celebratory chop in 2012, there was the Game of the Century in 1993.

That day in mid-November saw No. 1 Florida State travel to No. 2 Notre Dame for one of the most anticipated games in the history of college football.

We’ll remember that game and a few other memories of the Notre Dame/Florida State series during the week but who remembers who NBC started the telecast for that Game of the Century?

If you don’t recall then take the next couple of minutes and relive it now as we get ready for No. 5 Notre Dame and Florida State this Saturday night in South Bend.

Even if it isn’t No.1 vs. No. 2 this weekend this “helmet game” between two of college football’s most recognizable brands is one you dream of when you’re playing a pickup game in your backyard as a kid.

And a fun fact – the high school that intro was filmed at is New Canaan, Connecticut, the same high school current Notre Dame freshman quarterback Drew Pyne attended.