Brandon Wimbush Wants to Earn Notre Dame Starting Quarterback Spot
Friday we shared a great WatchND video featuring new defensive coordinator MIke Elko and senior captain Drue Tranquill interviewing each other. This weekend the WatchND crew outdid themselves with a great interview between Jack Nolan and Brandon Wimbush – the man everyone expects to be the Notre Dame starting quarterback.. except Brandon Wimbush.
If you have seven minutes, watch the full video above, it’s well worth your time. If not, here are some notes from the interview.
- Wimbush is not ready to assume he is the starting quarterback, he wants to earn it. He mentioned Ian Book and Montgomery Vangorder and even Avery Davis who will arrive in the summer. He’s not acting like the position is his but like he’s competing for it. I love that.
- He mentioned again that all of the players have quickly bought in to the new culture that the “new staff” has been instilling.
- In terms of tempo, Wimbush mentions that the offense is moving at a much faster tempo than they have previously. Brian Kelly wanted to have a tempo offense when he came to Notre Dame and never has been able to do it. We’ll see if it happens now with Chip Long.
- Wimbush talks about how helpful his mother has been not only throughout his life but even moreso now that he is the starting quarterback for Notre Dame (even if he doesn’t want to admit it).
- When asked about his physical condition, Wimbush gave Matt Balis some props and mentioned that his body fat has gone down and he feels like a different person.
- Anyone else notice Wimbush mention Mike McGlinchey getting pushed 10 yards back on some plays? Don’t know if we should be happy about the defense or worried about McGlinchey.
- Wimbush credited both St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, New Jersey and the education he’s received at Notre Dame for his poised and polished presence in front of cameras. Reminder: current 2018 Notre Dame commitments Jayson and Justin Ademilola both attend St. Peter’s Prep as well.
Brandon Wimbush is a supremely talented individual and his physical skills should give every Notre Dame fan a lot of optimism for the fall, but watching him conduct himself off the field should have fans equally as excited. Wimbush is clearly a kid who has his head screwed on right and it’s very obvious that the situation has not gotten to his head in the slightest.
There is still a very, very long way to go between now and the season opener against Temple, but if Brandon Wimbush keeps approaching spring football with this approach and he carries that over to summer conditioning and fall camp; Notre Dame is could come out of the gates very strong this fall.
I remember Jimmy Clausen
The performance he gave at the College Football Hall of Fame was all about California, all about Jimmy and was one of the most disgraceful moments of the Fat Boy Fat regime, and that was quite a competitive situation.
Wimbush is centered. After all he’s from North Jersey, not a sonnenkinder from California.
T. S. Eliot, no amateur evaluator of athletic talent said, when you talk to me of men, talk not of their deeds, but of their humility, for humility is endless.
Hoge’s father spilled the beans, not “in eis verbis” when Kizer left gushing over the dawn of the Wimbush era.
Notre Dame players despised ego personified by Clausen.
Notre Dame players enjoy and respect Wimbush. He’s a mensch.
Wimbush is saying all the right things, I agree. We all know he will be the starting QB, and the coaching staff probably does too. The advantage there is they can work with him from day one. But I’m glad he’s not taking anything for granted.
The one thing that gives me pause, however, is the BK regime has been a graveyard of QB potential. We all said Golson was the perfect QB for BK’s offense and he never played to his potential. Then it was Zaire, now we have the QB we need, he gets injured and never developed into that all star QB. Now it’s Wimbush. It’s to the point that while I hope that is true, I wonder if that will actually be the case. Again we say, Wimbush is THAT QB, the one that is going to bring it all home. I can’t help but wonder if he ends up flaming out too. BK does not have a good track record at this point. I’m just hoping the coaching overhaul and change in philosophy bears fruit.