BK Transcript: 9/14
Transcript by Jerry Strabley
Where does Jon Doerer stand going into the game this weekend?
“I’m going to sit down with Brian (Polian) tonight when we get into Boston and we’ll make that decision. Here’s what I can tell you, he had a really good week.”
How would you evaluate the wideouts now and what do they need to improve upon?
“Well, you know, I think honestly you have to settle on where we are going to play certain guys. We’re kind of in a flux. Where does Claypool fit? Here’s a young receiver that just needs some seasoning and needs some time. He’s an inside and outside guy, but we can’t take reps away from EQ and Cam has played a lot on the outside. So quite frankly, we have made a decision, and I don’t want to tell you what it’s going to be as that would compromise us a little bit. The first move here is to settle into where these guys can best help us and then, I think, everything flows from there. That’s the best I can give you on that. I think after this weekend, that question will clear itself up a little bit better.”
With all the tight ends, how do you decide who can help the most?
“They have all graded out very well in terms of blocking and catching the football. We want to be a little bit more consistent, certainly. We’ve had a couple of drops here and there. I think you are going to see at least three and a specialist with Brock. Cole is a kind of guy that has great athletic ability, but we don’t want to duplicate because now we are pulling reps away from somebody that has similar traits. So, I guess the easiest way to answer the question would be, we love them all but, as you know, it’s a long season so I think we are really going to continue to play all three of them – all four of them – and the fourth being in certain situations and kind of slowly integrate Cole into the mix.”
Can you talk about Austin Webster and how he was selected to be a captain and how he is holding up?
“Well, as we are looking at our why, and why are we here at Notre Dame, he really personifies the why. The why being the tradition of Notre Dame football. That is why he is here. He loves Notre Dame, paid his own way to be on the football team, also a heavy contributor in many ways in terms of leadership, morale, camaraderie, just a very well-liked player in our program; so he had a lot of the traits that I needed to kind of reinvigorate our football team with. So, that’s why I pushed him out front in that respect.”
So far, so good for him this season?
“Oh yeah, and he probably has done more from a football standpoint than we expected as he is on all of our running teams and doing a really fine job in special teams.”
Going back to the receivers, with all the options that you have, how do they fit in?
“I think after this weekend, I think everyone is going to have a clearer view as to who the guys are that need to be out on the field more and what our direction is going to be. We still need the depth. We still need the players we have. Guys are going to get banged up, and I think we are going to call on what I think is outstanding depth at our wide receiver position. We really have to start to feature some guys that may not have all the experience, but they have a higher ceiling.”
The first road trip of the year, how is the team reacting?
“The best road teams that I have had are teams that love to play and enjoy the moment; have that ability to marshal up the grit necessary to win close games because you’re going to have those kinds of games on the road. You’re going to have to overcome adversity and the crowd, things of that nature. So, the best teams I have had had those traits and this group has that. So, it will be a team that, like this, will go on the road and have success. Quite frankly, they need to win, it’s been awhile. They need to have some success and once they do, I think they’ll be in a pretty good place.”
What has Brandon’s week been like?
“I thought this was a real good week for him in terms of learning to handle the position of quarterback at Notre Dame in the sense that it is not all going to go right for you, and you have to be able to bounce back in the sense that you’ve got to learn from what happened and take that and move forward. I thought he took the coaching well. I think it’s important still that he knows he doesn’t have to be the reason why we win games. He has a great supporting cast. It’s important that we do a good job of coaching him too and that we say, ‘You don’t have to go out and win these football games for us.’ So, it’s a little bit clearly articulating to him that you don’t have to go out there and be spectacular. You need to go out and be Brandon Wimbush after two starts and that is, pick up on the little things, keep growing from that. There’s still a learning curve out there for you so we don’t expect you to have everything down after this week. Just grow on what happened last week, and I thought that that happened this week.”
Did Brandon learn a lot from watching DeShone last year and did that help his confidence?
“I don’t think Brandon really had an expectation relative to what we were doing offensively from a big-picture standpoint, because he wasn’t sure where we were going with it until really we got into camp after spring ball. I don’t think he sat around and said, ‘I’ve got this thing.’ We knew what we wanted to be in terms of running the football, but in terms of the passing game and the other pieces, we were really trying to form it around him. So, I think he is kind of evolving with it.”
Inaudible question
“Yes and no. There are some RPOs to it but it’s really off of some of the zone-read stuff. We were actually a bigger RPO team in DeShone’s first year with our offensive line. We don’t need to be 3½ yards downfield. We don’t need to trick anybody. We can hit you in the mouth. I think what we need to be better at, in terms of that, is our nakeds and boots. So, I think that is kind of where the evolution will take place for him.”
How much time does a player, on his own time, have to watch film if he aspires to be an NFL player?
“Well, that is a good question. So, it is how you watch film, so it has to be directive. We use a system with our quarterbacks that we think is quite innovative to help our quarterbacks lock in on particular things within what they are watching. We think there is clearly an advantage if you know what you are doing with film, you can build the necessary recognition, but if you just go in there, sit down with something to eat, and throw the film on without really clearly knowing what you are looking at, you’re not getting anything out of film study.”
How big is film-watching to Brandon’s growth?
“It is absolutely crucial for the quarterback to have directed film study. X O Technology has something that we feel is quite unique that allows us to do some directed film study with him.”
Some of the defensive players have said that Jaylon Smith has really inspired them and communicated with him. Were you aware of this and have you followed Jaylon and seen him play?
“I didn’t see the game. I have followed him and have been in contact. He has been terrific with our players and staying in contact with them. I can’t think of one guy that has been more motivating to our players and watching his comeback from injury. Just the way he has handled himself. I saw something on Sports Center about his attention to detail and I was really happy to see that. We talk a lot about that so I sent him something regarding attention to detail and he was all over it. So, I was pretty fired up about that. Yes, we are following him quite regularly.”