Ian Book Not Feeling Pressure To A Win National Title
As part of Notre Dame Day 2019, former Notre Dame quarterback Joe Theismann sat down with current Irish signal-caller Ian Book.
Theismann was able to pick the brain of the California native a little bit, including the process of becoming Notre Dame’s starting quarterback last fall.
“It has always been my dream since I started playing when I was eight,” Book told Theismann. “I didn’t want to go to a university and be a backup. I wanted to come here and start. It’s what I’ve always dreamed of doing. I’m glad I got my shot and I feel very fortunate.”
This spring was Book’s first as the starting quarterback and he maximized the opportunity. The goal was to build rapport with Notre Dame’s young receivers, but also to work on his own game. The 6-foot, 208-pounder felt the Irish offense checked off many of those boxes over the last 15 practices.
“With the repetition, you start working with the guys and working on chemistry,” explained Book. “You start knowing where they will be at what time and recognizing defenses. I give a huge shoutout and a lot of credit to Coach Rees for getting me ready and helping me a lot in the classroom. From the offensive standpoint, we were able to see a bunch of guys step up. We have a lot of work to do. There is a lot of time left. I was happy with the way we played, ran the ball and threw the ball.”
“As you work on that day in and day out, it starts to become a little bit easier. That’s what is going to take us to the Championship again.”
Book threw for 2,628 yards and 19 touchdowns last fall while leading the Irish to the College Football Playoff. The season didn’t end as expected, but Book won’t soon forget the great moments he experienced last fall.
“My first start against Wake Forest I will always remember,” said Book. “It was a great opportunity to step in and win the game. My first home start against Stanford. Those two stick out. The whole reason went by so fast, but the whole year, there were so many ups I enjoyed and so many great times I’ll always remember.”
As it relates to the College Football Playoff, the Irish offense could very well be counted on to lead Notre Dame early in the season as the defense grows. Book doesn’t feel there is pressure on him to lead the offense, but knows they want to make life easy for the defense.
“I don’t think we put a huge pressure on ourselves,” Book explained. “We want to do what we can to make the defensive guys lives easier. We know what we can do as an offense this year and we know we can put up a lot of points.
“The defense gave us a lot of opportunities last year and always gave us the ball back. We hope to help them out as much as we can.”
If returning to the College Football Playoff wasn’t enough, Theismann made it clear he and Notre Dame’s alumni wanted Book to lead the Irish to a National Championship.
“We want to win a National Championship,” stated Theismann. “We want you, as alumni at Notre Dame, to win a National Championship. No pressure. Just throwing it out there for you.”
Book responded in typical Ian Book fashion.
“None taken.”