Notre Dame football star likes the 'boom boom boom' of Mike Denbrock's offense

Remember when Gerad Parker was the offensive coordinator for Notre Dame football, and the upbeat and optimistic among us thought that, at any minute, his offense was finally going to start clicking? The offense never really clicked. Thankfully, Parker is now Troy’s problem.

In his place, the Irish got Mike Denbrock. That’s a trade I’ll take every day and twice on Sunday.

However, the more important thing to note is that it appears the players are happy with the “trade” as well. There have been more than a few members of the Notre Dame football team who have talked about how night and day Denbrock’s attack is to Parker’s. The latest player to do that was Mitchell Evans, who underlined just how different things are this fall camp compared to last year.

Notre Dame football’s offense is quite a bit different in 2024

"It’s a lot different than last year’s,” Evans told the assembled media last week. “Last year we huddled a lot, kind of took it slow. With Denbrock, it’s boom, boom, boom, boom. I like that."

That’s obviously something Irish fans love to hear. But it says something about the change in the offense.

It’s also noteworthy that players are saying stuff like this. They’re not openly talking smack about Parker, but it’s clear many on that people team felt as though the offense was better than it looked an awful lot of the time.

Notre Dame football offense looks to be better

Fans tended to blame Sam Hartman because he wasn’t putting up big numbers. They thought he’d bring his 40 touchdown arm to South Bend and supercharge the attack. But that’s not what Parker’s offense was built for. 

Denbrock’s offense, on the other hand, is built for scoring. It’s built for speed. And it’s clear that Evans believes he can put up big numbers in the attack. So can Riley Leonard. And so can the rest of the wide receiver corps. 

Notre Dame football fans are excited about this offense this year. More importantly, it looks like Fighting Irish players are quite excited about what they might be able to do on the way to the playoffs.