Notre Dame Football: Starting Andrew Hendrix Is the Right Move for 2012

Flashes of hope—they were what Notre Dame fans haven’t seen enough of from starting quarterback Tommy Rees this season.

That’s why fans were so overjoyed once Rees’ replacement, Andrew Hendrix, finally showed a few flashes of hope in last weekend’s loss to Stanford.

Hendrix may have only hit 11 of his 24 pass attempts, but he still managed to give glimpses of his promising future potential.

The 6’2’’, 220-pound redshirt freshman showed great athleticism and better leadership qualities than Rees, and the offense definitely went up a notch when Hendrix was in there.

So, the question that now has to be asked going into next season is, who is the quarterback of the future for the Irish, Tommy Rees or Andrew Hendrix?

It will be interesting to see who ends up getting the nod in the bowl game (likely the Champs Sports Bowl).

Brian Kelly knows that 2012 is going to be a make-or-break campaign for him and his team and he’s going to need stability at quarterback for an offense that is set to lose its biggest star, WR Michael Floyd.

Kelly can’t afford another Dayne Crist disaster next season.

There's no more room for excuses.

Personally, I would go with Hendrix.

The former 3-star recruit has a little spark in his game, something that Tommy Rees has always lacked.

Rees may not be a bad quarterback, but he’s certainly not a very enthusiastic one. He’s a vanilla quarterback who doesn’t really add much intensity to the huddle.

Will that really be missed?

Maybe it’s about time Notre Dame finds a quarterback that has a little moxie.

Sure, Hendrix may not have the same pure skills and makeup as Jimmy Clausen, or even Brady Quinn, but he’s got the type of attitude that you can rally behind if you’re a team and he’s already shown that he can handle a huddle and guide an offense in tough a environment.

Notre Dame fans will once again have high expectations for the 2012 season, and with the type of veteran talent returning and the type of young talent emerging, there will once again be hopes of making it to a BCS bowl game.

Hendrix looks like the quarterback that’s best equipped to help lead the Irish on their quest to reach that distant destination.

It will be interesting to see how Kelly handles his quarterbacks during bowl practices, and subsequently, in spring practices.

I’m hoping for the Hendrix experience in 2012, but it’s up to Brian Kelly to ultimately pull the trigger. Kelly’s got a lot riding on this one decision, and he certainly can’t afford another wrong choice and another slow start.

Eight wins only gets you so far in South Bend.

It will be up to either Tommy Rees or Andrew Hendrix to get that total up in 2012.  

Hopefully, Kelly makes the right choice and goes with Hendrix.