Notre Dame Football: What Changes with Malik Zaire at Quarterback?

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Notre Dame football team is back on campus and a few sessions into its summer OTA program. And with Everett Golson prepping to don garnet and gold, Malik Zaire has the starting quarterback job—all to himself.

So what changes now that there’s clarity at the position? Irish head coach Brian Kelly spoke to the assembled media Tuesday before Football 101 on campus, an event that has raised a half-million dollars in the last five years and one hosted by the head coach’s Kelly Cares Foundation. Then, early Wednesday morning, Notre Dame embarked on its third OTA. For their summer program, the Irish didn’t alter much toward Zaire, according to the head coach.

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“I don’t know that we really changed anything. We just let him be himself and he’s got innate leadership skills,” Kelly said. “So I just think it happened naturally. I don’t think we really created anything in terms of changing anything as much, just now it allowed him to go out there and be in more of a command position because he is the guy.”

In his first two years on campus, Zaire waited in the wings. After redshirting as a freshman, Zaire donned the red hat again in 2014 while Golson commanded the offense. Kelly has said before that the Irish staff sometimes felt it lost Zaire’s concentration. That concern dissipated as playing time became tantalizingly closer.

“That changed in the spring when there was more of a competitive situation,” Kelly said of Zaire’s spring competition with Golson. “That’s kind of behind us.”

And with the starting job in Zaire’s sole possession, Kelly said he has noticed a different demeanor from the confident redshirt sophomore.

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“I think anytime that you’re sharing a position versus going out there, you can sense in the meetings there’s a confidence and you’re always looking to him for the answers,” Kelly said. “So he’s obviously feeling as though he needs to live up to that expectation too.”

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What can Notre Dame fans expect from the Irish offense in 2015? In his first and only career start in the Music City Bowl against LSU, Zaire rumbled for 96 yards and a touchdown on 22 rushes and added another 96 yards and a score through the air. Asked about Zaire’s exposure to hits, Kelly stated the obvious, saying the Irish, obviously, don’t want him to get drilled repeatedly. After all, as Kelly noted later, “the bench is not long” at the quarterback spot with redshirt freshman DeShone Kizer and incoming true freshman Brandon Wimbush set to fill out the depth chart.

“We feel like he has to be who he is, and our offense has to be structured around what his strengths are,” Kelly said of Zaire. “He has to be part of the running game. And the running game will be as effective as him being one of the options that we have.

“I think that we’ve moved forward with the similar approach to the spring, to our OTAs. And we’ll continue to do that going into the preseason.”

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Mike Monaco is a lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.