OL Pat Coogan Expects Explosive Notre Dame Offense in 2024
Notre Dame’s offense will feature several new faces in 2024, but offensive lineman Pat Coogan hopes to be one of the familiar faces.
A year ago, Coogan started all 13 games at left guard and now finds himself in a battle with Rocco Spindler for a starting spot this fall.
Regardless of who starts, Notre Dame will have experience at the left guard spot, which is crucial given the situation at left tackle.
Coogan is also excited to see what Tosh Baker can do with the opportunity, as he believes it’s a good fit.
“I know he’s a great football player,” stated Coogan. “He’s played left, he’s played right. He’s played all around. Coaches have asked him to play multiple positions throughout his four years here and he’s stepped up. He’s a great football player, great athlete.
“I think left is a little more natural for him, and you’d ask him he’d probably agree with that. He’s a competitor and he’s going to put his best foot forward because he’s a really good football player.”
The Irish offensive line does feel for Charles Jagusah as the sophomore put himself in position to have a breakout season, but Coogan and his teammates aren’t dwelling on it as there are College Football Playoff expectations around South Bend.
“It’s a sad moment because we see our guy walk off in terrible pain,” explained Coogan. “We reload, which his what (Marcus) Freeman has been talking about for the whole summer here, the whole camp. We reset, we take a deep breath and we’re like, all right, let’s get back to work. That’s just the nature of the game. It’s a beast of a game.
“We took a deep breath, looked each other in the eye and said, let’s move forward. We know Tosh is going to step up and he’s going to play well for us.”
There are several key new faces on the offense, including right tackle Aamil Wagner, but quarterback Riley Leonard is perhaps the most significant. The Duke transfer has NFL potential and Coogan has enjoyed getting to know Leonard on and off the field.
“He’s a great competitor,” Coogan stated. “Obviously on the football field, he’s jawing with the dudes, he’s jawing with everybody. Super overall nice guy, but then when we get on the football field that switch flips.
“He’s a natural competitor. Everything we do, whether we’re on the golf course in the summer, just playing – and he’s a great golfer too, so none of us can beat him – but it’s just stuff like that which makes him really fun to be around.”
And while Leonard’s competitive nature is the talk of the locker room, it might be his energy that rubs off the most.
There’s just a certain energy he brings with him,” said Coogan. “And it’s contagious.”
When it comes to his own game, Coogan’s offseason was different than in previous years. After starting a while season, Coogan knows what it takes to play every week, but also where he could prepare himself to handle a long season.
“The season gave me perspective at what I needed to get better at,” stated Coogan. “That was getting stronger in the weight room. I truly believe I had the best offseason of my life and I’m in the best shape of my life. Coach Rudolph and I both agreed that I had to get stronger and I believe I did that. It’s showing up on the field and I’m happy to see those results.”
Preseason camp is just over a week in, so Notre Dame’s offense is still working on finding its identity under new offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, but Coogan has a pretty good idea of what the goal will be on August 31.
“I think throughout this camp, we’re establishing that identity,” said Coogan. “We’re going to be an explosive offense and then we’re going to run the ball. We’re going to run the ball really well and then we’re going to take shots and then we’re going to throw a ball and score a lot of points. We’re going to be very explosive and then we’re going to line up and run the ball.”
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