Notre Dame Football: Fall camp to show an improved Ian Book

Notre Dame football relied heavily on the arm of Ian Book last season, but the Irish quarterback had room to grow. Fall camp should show that growth.

For the Notre Dame football team, the emergence of Ian Book was nothing short of remarkable. After not seeing much action in the first three games of the season, Book took over in game four when the Irish traveled to Wake Forest.

Notre Dame’s offensive resurgence was a major part in why the Irish were able to get to the College Football Playoff.

Now, almost a year later, Book is the undisputed starter ahead of fall camp. He has a better chemistry with his receivers, a better handle of the playbook, and a better idea of where he needs to improve in order to propel the Irish offense to the next level.

Book’s accuracy has never been a question. Book was among one of the most accurate passers in college football last season. However, Notre Dame’s passing game left a little bit to be desired last season, at least in terms of pushing the ball downfield.

In fact, as good as Notre Dame’s offense was at times last season, offensive coordinator Chip Long has spoken on multiple occasions of how he was embarrassed about the inability to produce explosive, chunk plays. There is little doubt that both Book and Long have looked for ways to improve.

For Book, the improvement needs to come in his downfield accuracy on passes that exceed twenty yards. This summer, he spent time honing his craft as a counselor and the Manning Passing Academy, where he undoubtedly worked on just that.

For Long, the improvement needs to come in opening up the playbook, which is something he will undoubtedly be able to do now that he has a quarterback with which he is comfortable heading in to fall camp. Book will be the beneficiary of an improved offense.

Right now, Book is flying slightly under the radar in terms of national hype. If things continue coming together, he won’t be able to do that for long and it all starts with fall camp at the end of this week.