Notre Dame Football: What Ian Book’s captaincy means for the Irish

Late last week, Notre Dame football announced captains for the 2019 season. Among those chosen to represent the Irish was quarterback Ian Book.

It had been a decade since the Notre Dame football team had a quarterback as a captain. And when one really takes the time to reflect on the fact that no quarterback has been named a captain since Jimmy Clausen in 2009, it sheds a little light on the strangeness of the Notre Dame quarterback position since that time.

Since Clausen left for the NFL, the Irish haven’t had the best luck with the quarterback position, as injuries and suspensions have seemingly prevented the position from having continuity. The  development of Notre Dame quarterbacks has been non-existent, mostly because there have always been questions about the position at the start of each season.

But when Notre Dame announced that Book would be named a captain ahead of the 2019 season, it should have put some of the anxieties about the position to bed.

It almost goes without saying that as a quarterback goes, a team will follow. After all, it is the most important position on the football field. It might, however, be the most important position off the field, as well. If gaining the recognition of his coaches and his peers is any indication, Book has exceeded and excelled in those off-the-field leadership positions.

Maybe poor internal leadership is the reason that the Irish have been good, but not great under Brian Kelly. I personally maintain that the quarterback controversy before the 2015 season between a healthy Malik Zaire (who started the season opener a year before) and a rising star in DeShone Kizer was to Notre Dame’s detriment. Blame can be spread a variety of ways, but let’s suffice it to say that it’s difficult for a team to pull in the same direction when it is polarized by a personnel issue.

But, back to the present, the Irish will avoid those issues completely.

As more reports come from fall practice, there seem to only be good comments said about this team’s chemistry and its energy in approaching practice. There is little doubt that much of that can be attributed to the attitude and example of the face of the team (with a good bit of help from his teammates, of course).

There’s an old coaching say that goes something like this: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Let’s hope for the latter for the Notre Dame football team this season.