Notre Dame Football: QB Competition Will Become Problem for Irish

Brian Kelly has about four, five months at most, to pick his starting quarterback for the 2012 college football season.

The problem is that he has four quarterbacks to choose from, and there is a good chance that none will truly separate themselves from the pack—at least not without an extremely short leash.

Juniors-to-be Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix are the clear-cut favorites, but sophomore-to-be Everett Golson and early enrollee freshman Gunner Kiel are also in the mix.

Irish fans know the story of Rees and the potential of Hendrix. Golson, at 6', 185 pounds, may ultimately switch positions for the better of the team, and Kiel, one of the top quarterback recruits in the class of 2012, is considered the future—for the time being.

Kiel could conceivably take over this season and start the future now, but most believe that Kelly will lean on Rees and Hendrix out of the gate.

A South Bend Tribune report from Brian Hansen quotes the Irish coach saying, "This is going to be a long process."

A long process that may not actually have a definitive end.

A year ago Rees saw an overwhelming majority of the action, but Hendrix also appeared in four games including an encouraging performance in the loss to Stanford.

The Blue-Gold Game will be on April 21 before the Irish break for summer, and once the season gets underway they have no easy weeks.

They open the season against Navy in Dublin, Ireland before returning home against Purdue. They have trips to Michigan State, Oklahoma and USC on the schedule and will host the Miami Hurricanes at Soldier Field. They also have to travel to Boston College.

That is six games the Irish play away from Notre Dame Stadium—something a young, inexperienced quarterback will certainly have trouble with.

With the expectations routinely heaped upon the Irish, there will always be pressure to succeed. Because they have so many options under center, it could be even worse than usual.

The longer the quarterback competition goes on, the more of an issue it will become during the season.