Notre Dame Football News: Look At All Those Starters!

Notre Dame held their own version of a media day yesterday. It was quite the action-packed day when one looks at all that was on the plate. They had their usual practice:

Photo shoots:

Video takes:

Press Conference:

And whatever other tomfoolery that takes place on such a day:

What came out of it all (besides a few soundbites and a lot of material for social media) was a handful of names that have been slotted as starters after much off-season discussion. Brian Kelly also settled the quarterback decision. Well... kind of.

While we contemplate what the quarterback decision means, let’s take a quick look at some of the things that we now know.

• Greer Martini is the starter at the WILL. While Brian Kelly was quick to praise both Tevon Coney and Asmar Bilal, he was also fairly assertive in stating how good Martini has been. In an Irish Illustrated podcast, it was suggested that Martini and Brian VanGorder don’t exactly have the greatest relationship, so if that is at all true, the fact that Martini is the starter speaks volumes as to his worth.
• The three man battle at right guard between Hunter Bivin, Colin McGovern, and Tristen Hoge is now a two-man battle. Bivin is out and it’s now down to the sophomore Hoge and the senior McGovern. While more has been reported about Hoge, something about McGovern and his status as a senior makes this race feel more like it will end with him in front.
• The starting wide receivers are who we had imagined in Tori Hunter, CJ Sanders, and Equanimeous St. Brown- as well as Durham Smythe at tight end. Still, the most noise from these groups (not counting Alize’ Jones yelling out “TIGHT END U” all the time) comes from guys like walk-on Chris Finke, Nic Weishar, and Miles Boykin. Finke gets open all the time, Weishar is a beast in the red-zone, and Boykin has a knack to make spectacular catches.
• The cream is rising to the top in terms of leadership. Mike McGlinchey, James Onwualu, Cole Luke, and Isaac Rochell are the names that roll off of any tongue that speaks on the subject.

Fireball Take

While I think having a public decision now for the quarterback battle between DeShone Kizer and Malik Zaire is needed to help focus the team and move forward in beating Texas, two things come to mind:

1. I am not surprised. Quarterback battles such as this one have befuddled many coaches throughout college football history, and Brian Kelly is certainly not immune to this disease of indecision. He may think that this is an actual decision, but it is the easy way out. That’s not a “knock” on Kelly, it’s just what we have all come to expect from coaches.
2. Ohio State 2015. Now, if Notre Dame only loses one game this year and wins a major bowl- that’s not a bad thing (entirely), but that may be the best possible outcome given the divide that something like this can create with the team. Still, it has the chance to work well (DEAR LORD IN HEAVEN I’M GETTING BRAIN-WASHED).

Also... Greer Martini looks amazingly similar to Cesare Borgia. This pleases me.