Notre Dame Football: Breaking Down the Fighting Irish Quarterback Controversy

Two months prior to the start of spring practices at Notre Dame, another quarterback controversy is staring head coach Brian Kelly square in the face.

It is the second consecutive offseason in which the third-year head coach has been faced with the issue.

And with four capable quarterbacks currently on the depth chart, this year's edition of "Quarterback Derby" is likely to be even more riveting than the race between Dayne Crist and Tommy Rees last fall.

For a complete breakdown of this year's competition, please take a look at the following slides.

Enjoy!

Tommy Rees

When spring practices begin at the Labar Practice Fields in the first week of April, Tommy Rees will know that he has a clear advantage over Gunner Kiel, Everett Golson and Andrew Hendrix.

That advantage would be a season's worth of game experience.

However, that is the only advantage that the junior-to-be will have over his competition.

What Rees lacks is mobility, an ability that the ideal spread quarterback possesses. Because he is flat-footed and slower than the average quarterback, Rees simply cannot extend plays or pick up yards with his feet. Prototypical spread quarterbacks are able to do those things.

What many fans fail to realize is that Rees was recruited by former head coach Charlie Weis to play in his pro-style offense, in which mobility isn't a must.

What will doom Tommy Rees is the disturbing trend of making the same types of mistakes on a game-by-game basis. The Lake Forest, Illinois native didn't show significant improvement over the course of 13 games last season.

Despite his deficiencies, don't be surprised to see Rees on the field when the Irish take on Navy in the season's opening game because of his real-time experience.

Andrew Hendrix

What Irish fans saw out of Andrew Hendrix in the second half of an eventual 28-14 loss at Stanford was only a flash of pre-med major's potential.

In those 30 minutes of action, Hendrix completed 11-of-24 pass attempts for 192 yards and one touchdown, as well as one interception.

Hendrix also displayed an uncanny ability to make things happen with his feet.

While I don't consider one half of football to be legitimate experience, it showed what Hendrix is capable of doing with a summer's worth of preparation.

He possesses all of the physical tools a coach desires in a quarterback, especially size, speed, arm strength and intelligence.

What many fans are questioning, including yours truly, is why Brian Kelly didn't give Hendrix more opportunities to showcase those traits. Those opportunities also would have given Hendrix the true in-game experience to be the Irish's main signal-caller in 2012.

Unfortunately, Kelly kept Hendrix on the bench, creating a scenario in which there is no clear-cut favorite to win the title of starting quarterback.

Everett Golson

Everett Golson is, perhaps, the fan favorite to win the starting quarterback job at Notre Dame.

The only question surrounding Golson is whether or not he can match his high school performances on the collegiate level.

We won't find an answer to that question until the redshirt freshman is given a chance to prove himself on the field.

And like I stated in an article published two weeks ago, Golson is ranked sixth all-time in national high school history for touchdown passes, with 151 in his career at Myrtle Beach High School.

Also worth mentioning is Golson's 11,364 passing yards as a prep phenom. Those figures scream for Golson to be given the reigns to Brian Kelly's offense. After all, Kelly personally recruited him.

One of his many highlight videos, "Doin' Work," portrays Golson's spectacular ability to run the spread offense with exact precision. It shows that he understands when to tuck it and run or fire the ball down the field.

Gunner Kiel

Gunner Kiel, the nation's top-rated quarterback in the class of 2012, has enrolled in spring semester courses at Notre Dame in the hopes of getting a leg up on his competition at quarterback.

It's no mystery as to why he was named the nation's best quarterback either.

At 6'4" and 220 pounds, Kiel possesses phenomenal size and athleticism for a quarterback. Also helping his cause is the fact that his head coach at Columbus East High School employed a watered-down version of Brian Kelly's spread attack.

Kiel was granted the option to change plays at the line of scrimmage during his senior season and ran the offense to near perfection.

However, after a whirlwind recruiting cycle, the best option is to redshirt the nephew of former Notre Dame quarterback Blair Kiel.

Having a full season to adjust to the academic and athletic rigors at Notre Dame will only benefit Kiel in the long run.

Conclusion

With four quarterbacks who all possess the ability to lead Brian Kelly's offense, the duty of deciding which player gives the team its best chance to win falls on Kelly.

No, his job does not depend on choosing the right quarterback, but if we see the same types of mistakes being made at the position, frustration will only grow among the fanbase.

In this writer's humble opinion, Kelly is going to go a familiar route with his quarterbacks in 2012.

Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix will split time, just as they did during the latter stages of the 2011 season.

With that system in place, the possibility remains for Hendrix to outshine Rees and take over on a full-time basis.