Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock met with reporters Saturday about a wide variety of topics, from the offense’s progress in spring practice to the quarterback situation to the players he’s identifying as key pieces for what he’s like to run.
Here’s what Denbrock had to say.
On how he feels like the Notre Dame offense is progressing this spring
“I love it and I hate it at the same time, if that makes any sense. As we get more familiar — I mean, we’re about halfway home, maybe a little bit over halfway home [through spring ball]. I love our attitude toward work. I love our ability to learn. I love our competitiveness. We got really, really good unit strength, as far as on the offensive side of the ball. The details are a little fuzzy, and the more those come into focus and the more we continue to learn and grow — and I think more than anything, how we adjust the base scheme based off of what the defense is doing — those things come with time.
“We’re kind of in the process of that, so when we get it right, it looks really good. And when we don’t get it quite right, it can get pretty ugly, pretty fast. So, we just gotta continue to work on it, we gotta rep it, we gotta show ’em it. And obviously, playing against Coach [Al] Golden‘s defense every day doesn’t help our learning curve, because he’s got so much scheme-wise. I love it, it’s going to prepare us really well for the fall, but right now, it makes it a little bit painful here and there.”
On junior quarterback Steve Angeli
“Yeah, he’s done a great job. He really has. And I think there were a couple instances today where some things that we talked about over the course of the last week came to fruition, you know what I mean? He adjusted a protection, he got us in a good check and he scored a touchdown. So that progress from him in particular has been really, really good. The consistency now, for him in particular, needs to just continue to be as good as it can be.”
On the Notre Dame offensive line
“I’ve been as pleased with that group as I have with any group so far during the spring. I love the direction that they’re headed. Those guys are tough. They like to play the style of football that we’re playing. They’re pretty good at it. Just the communication alone, the ability of those guys to kind of — even though there’s some new faces in there — communicate with each other and be on the same page has been really, really good. So, I’m excited about where the offensive line is headed.”
On which Notre Dame wide receivers can mix and match at multiple positions
“Yeah, I think [Jaden] Greathouse has been as pleasant a surprise — I think his versatility is off the charts. I think he can play outside. He can play the boundary. I think he can play the field, I think he can play the slot. Him in particular is a guy that we’re gonna have to use mixed all over. If you watch our offense the last place I was, the receivers rarely just lined up on one spot. We’re flipping guys around and we’re using motion to create different things like we just discussed, with as far as matchups and things like that. He’s a really smart kid and he’s a kid that can play all of those spots, which is pretty cool.
“Jordan [Faison], when he gets here. What I’ve seen from him in workouts when he works out, when he’s not in the middle of lacrosse, has been really impressive. His twitchiness and the things he’s done there. The transfer kid we brought in, Jayden Harrison, has done a nice job, too. I mean, he showed more than just being a return guy, which is, I think, a bonus. So we’ll see what happens, but I think all those guys — maybe Jayden Harrison is a little bit of a true slot — but I think any of those other guys could move and play other spots as well.”
On how much of the Notre Dame offense senior quarterback Riley Leonard has learned, given his limitations due to ankle surgery
“It’s hard to judge how much is really being retained. Is he a good learner? He’s a great learner. Does he understand football? Absolutely understands football. Understands adjustments on the board. You get him on the board, he’s great. He’s got really good answers. You get out here and the bullets are flying for real, I don’t know until we see it, where he’s actually at with his learning and adjusting, and being able to adjust what we’re doing. So that’ll come with time.”
On sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love cross-training at wide receiver
“I think we’re trying to evaluate, you know what I mean? Is there something where we can play some two-back stuff and use him out of the backfield a little bit more as a threat, right? He needs to touch the ball. And we’ve got some really good backs beyond him. He’s really good, and we got some guys who are really good beyond him. So it’s — again, in an effort to get your best 11 guys on the field and give yourself the best opportunity to play against the really good teams, as good as you possibly can, you gotta have your best players out there. So, the more he learns and the more versatile he can become, the more we can use him in different spots. That’s the goal.”
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