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Notre Dame Football

St. Brown Embracing New Culture and QB

March 24, 2017
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The Equanimeous St. Brown was one of Notre Dame’s most explosive receivers last year, despite fighting through double coverage many games and playing through a shoulder injury for the second half of the 2016 season. This year, though only a junior, the 6-foot-5, 204-pounder will be the veteran in the receiving corps.

“We’re a young group, as receivers,” St. Brown commented. “We need a lot of young receivers to step up, and I think they will.”

The youthful receivers will be thrown into the mix of newly-hired offensive coordinator Chip Long’s restructured offense. Long, the 33-year-old second-year offensive coordinator, will be given more autonomy than Brian Kelly has previously allowed. Long’s approach is oriented towards three goals: accelerate the tempo, cut down turnovers, and play with a pronounced physicality.

“It’s a little adjustment, we kept a lot of the terminology but there’s some new things that we need to learn,” St. Brown, going into his second year as a starter, said. “The way we’re calling plays is different so we need to adjust to that. Having two tight ends, two running backs – a lot the formation is going to be good for the offense. It gives us a lot of options to throw to different players, put different personnel on the field, and to go at a fast pace. It’s new so it’s going to take some time but we’ll get there.”

I think he’s going to do great things. - WR Equanimeous St. Brown on QB Brandon Wimbush
At the helm of the new offense will be Brandon Wimbush, a redshirt sophomore. Wimbush has been close to St. Brown throughout their time at Notre Dame, throwing to him before their current spotlight.

“He’s been my quarterback for a long time now, even when DeShone (Kizer) was starting and he was second string,” St. Brown recalled. “Freshman year he would throw to me all the time when I was third string. He’s a great quarterback. He’s grown a lot over the years, and I think he’s going to do great things.”

Wimbush, slightly smaller than Kizer at 6-foot-1, brings an edge in the running game with speed, while Kizer had the size advantage.

“They’re really similar in a lot of ways, but I think (Wimbush) is a little faster, whereas DeShone is a little bigger.”

In addition to the numerous goals set by the offense, St. Brown’s personal goal is to add a few pounds during the spring.

“I’m definitely putting on more weight to be more physical in the blocking game and the run game,” the 205-pound receiver said. “Those are things that I want to improve on. I want to get stronger and bigger.”

Trying to put on weight to help the physical aspect of his game, St. Brown is also happy with the new trainer, Matt Balis. Balis, previously head strength coach at UConn, Mississippi State, Utah, and Virginia.

“With Coach Balis coming in, he changed the demeanor of the team. Everyone is excited and ready to get out there in spring ball and get better,” St. Brown said. I like (his training style) a lot, it reminds me of the way I train with my dad. I like that I’m not losing weight during spring ball, like I did last year, so that’s good.”

The team culture, in an attempt to improve on last year’s 4-8 record, has dramatically shifted into a serious, no-nonsense, operation.

“Everything is much more serious. Starting from since we came back from winter break, everything was way more serious than last year,” St. Brown perceived. “There’s no tolerance for being late or anything. Everyone is on point, and it shows.”

St. Brown and the team in large will take this newfound seriousness into spring practices, hoping to lay the foundation for future success in the fall of 2017.
 
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