Notre Dame Football: Approach Irish need to take at QB to start season

The Notre Dame Football program has talent at the quarterback spot, and here is how Brian Kelly should navigate it to start the 2021 season.

Over the past three seasons, the Notre Dame Football team has trotted Ian Book out as their starting quarterback, and the returns were plentiful. Book led the Irish to two of the last three College Football Playoffs, but with him fighting for a role with the New Orleans Saints, the most important position in sports must be addressed.

This is where it gets interesting for the Irish, as they have some veteran talent, as well as a true freshman who looked very good during the Blue-Gold Game. There is also the fact that Notre Dame has a tremendous talent coming in next year in Steve Angeli, so the position group as a whole is in good shape.

For the 2021 season, the Irish must tread lightly at quarterback, and Brian Kelly and his staff should go into the summer with Jack Coan atop the depth chart. Coan was extremely efficient at Wisconsin, and making him QB1 to start, with Drew Pyne pushing him, will enable the best competition possible this summer.

From there, either Pyne or Coan should be the starter against Florida State, enabling Tyler Buchner to come along slower, and possibly use a redshirt season.

Notre Dame Football must be patient with Buchner

Despite his efforts in the Blue-Gold Game, the Irish need to be patient with Buchner, as he did not play his senior year of high school due to the pandemic. He is learning on the fly and will benefit from the tutelage of both Pyne and Coan in Year 1.

With Coan gone next year, Pyne would assume the starting role, but would then be pushed by both Buchner and Angeli. This is a positive cycle for Kelly and his staff and ensures that the Irish will be solid at quarterback for the foreseeable future.

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Now, I am not saying that Pyne should not go into the summer looking to win the job and that he won’t push Coan every single day. If he does that and wins the competition, he was a good enough prospect to succeed with the Irish in 2021, but for a veteran team looking to move on from Book, Coan could be the more safe play to start the 2021 campaign.