Brian Kelly's Approach to QB Competition Should Force Everett Golson to Stay

Brian Kelly has made the unofficial official: The winner of Notre Dame's quarterback derby won't be named until the fall. 

With all eyes this spring on Everett Golson and Malik Zaire, Kelly acknowledged Wednesday that he won't name a starting quarterback until the Irish return for camp in August. 

"They'll continue to compete into August. There's no question," Kelly said. 

Kelly's move is both logical and strategic. It's logical in that he and offensive coordinator Mike Sanford won't have seen enough from both quarterbacks to make a clear-cut decision, as they've rededicated spring football to skill development and the fundamentals as Sanford sees them. 

It's strategic in that Kelly will force Golson to commit to the team without knowing his fate. When he receives his diploma in May, Golson will turn into a free agent capable of transferring anywhere to play out his final season of eligibility. But would he leave South Bend? It's hard to think that's possible if he's still the odds-on favorite to win the starting job. 

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After Zaire led the Irish to a victory in the Music City Bowl over LSU, some thought Golson was on his way out of South Bend. But this spring, the veteran quarterback has committed himself to the position, and his approach has been noticed. 

"The thing about Everett that I’ve been so appreciative of is his buy-in," Sanford said via JJ Stankevitz of CSN Chicago earlier this spring. "Everett’s been outstanding in the meeting room environment. He’s just been taking unbelievably good notes, very attentive, very engaged in the process."

His work on the field has been sharp as well. In the very limited open-practice sessions, Golson has flashed the arm strength and accuracy that had people mentioning him in the early-season Heisman conversation. Kelly also praised his ability to make plays from within the pocket, a challenge in 2014. 

"Today Everett had a great day in the pocket. His feet were settled. He was calm, he was protecting the football," Kelly said after Wednesday's practice. "The things that were flaws for him and problems last year, if you watched him today...you would not think that that was an issue at all last year."

On the flip side of the coin, Zaire has done everything he can to make this battle two-sided. After running his way to victory against LSU, the rising junior (Zaire has three seasons of eligibility remaining) has continued to improve his aerial game, pushing a quarterback battle to a place where both candidates are getting better. 

"Malik was throwing the ball accurate and on-time today," Kelly said. "So the areas where we've asked them to improve on, both of them were on their games today.

"I think that's healthy competition. They're both trying to get better and working to get better in the areas we've asked them to focus on. I can't see where that's not healthy, and it will continue to work to get us better as a football team because they're getting better every day."

If a healthy competition means both Golson and Zaire are around come fall, then Kelly will have deftly navigated a fairly tricky situation. Put simply, both quarterbacks will help Notre Dame win. And while Zaire showed that he was a better runner, Golson—as long as he holds on to the football—can be the complete quarterback this offense needs to run the show. 

So by keeping both quarterbacks engaged and competing in an objectively graded competition, Kelly's made it clear that he wants Golson to finish his career in South Bend. Now it's up to the veteran to prove he's bought in. 

So far, he's said and done the right things. But come graduation, we'll know for sure. 

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained firsthand.