Mike Denbrock isn’t foreign to the idea of coaching a Heisman candidate.
Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator has had experience watching one of his players race up the Heisman charts, coaching Jayden Daniels during his campaign at LSU.
So when Jeremiyah Love — who was certainly a candidate prior to the season — began to back up his candidacy with stellar play on the field, Denbrock recognized it immediately.
For Denbrock, having a Heisman level offensive weapon doesn’t necessarily change what he calls, instead they’ll just enhance it.
“I think it's hard to ignore, you know what I mean, as an offensive coordinator, that you've got somebody at least in the discussion,” Denbrock said. “Somebody that's blessed with the God-given ability to play at that level and be recognized by people around the country as one of the best players in college football. I don't know that it changes a whole lot of how you approach, like, calling the game or anything along those lines. Because guys that are in those discussions are guys that are going to impact the game in a great way just doing what they do.”
Denbrock also knows that he isn’t the reason why Love has reached a level that very few college football players reach. All Denbrock wants to do is put Love in the best situation to show the world how good he really is.
“There's a reason why they've gotten to where they are,” Denbrock said. “It's not necessarily a great play-call that makes that happen. It's their God-given ability, and then the people around them helping them look good at the same time. So, I think it's a combination of those a lot more than it is necessarily just designing a scheme that features a certain player or another.”
While Daniels and Love play different positions — Daniels probably had an easier rise to the top being a quarterback — Denbrock is seeing similarities on how the two have entered their names into the Heisman race.
“With Jayden (Daniels), we were kind of — I think as the season went along — it was a lot like Jeremiyah,” Denbrock said. “It kind of built momentum. There's always a long list of guys who have an opportunity when the season starts. And then if you are consistent at what you do and you do it every week, it's hard to ignore and it's impossible to ignore. Eventually, in my opinion, it kind of sorts itself out to a large degree. And I think that's what happened in both cases. I thought that happened with Jayden Daniels.
“He played at a high level the whole year, as Jeremiyah has for us, but there were so many people in the discussion early. And then as the season goes along and the rubber meets the road, and if you're consistently performing at an elite level every Saturday, the cream rises to the top. And I think that exact thing has happened with Jeremiyah Love.”
Denbrock claims that there is one striking similarity between Love and Daniels that both helped them succeed during their individual races to New York. At the end of the day, neither cared more about the Heisman trophy than they did about winning on Saturday.
“They're both very similar souls in that they're team-first guys,” Denbrock said. “So, you guys talk to Jeremiyah every week, so you get an opportunity to know that his focus — as much as I'm sure he would love an opportunity to be in the discussion and maybe win the award — his main focus is being not only the best player he can be, but the best teammate to the people around him. And that's what makes both of those guys really unique individuals.”
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