Five Musts For Gerad Parker As He Takes Over The Notre Dame Offense

Notre Dame has officially named Gerad Parker as its next offensive coordinator. Head coach Marcus Freeman is tasking Parker with running an offense that needs to take a huge leap forward in 2023, at least it does if the Irish are going to be legitimate contender for a College Football Playoff berth and a national title.

Parker and Freeman still must figure out who is going to coach the offensive line, but beyond that there are five very important tasks that Parker and the rest of the Notre Dame coaching staff must focus on as they build the offense up.

1. Get Sam Hartman and Tyler Buchner On Board - The loss of Tommy Rees and the turmoil that has followed has created a great deal of angst with Notre Dame fans, who are concerned about the quarterback position. Parker and quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli must immediately get to work making the quarterback room feel comfortable with what's about to happen.

The first conversation Parker must have is with transfer quarterback Sam Hartman. I can't imagine what is going through Hartman's mind over the last couple of weeks. Things are settling in for the quarterbacks now that Parker has been promoted and Guidugli has been brought in (although still unofficial). Parker must share his vision for the offense, and how well Hartman fits into it. Keeping Hartman engaged and locked in is a must for Parker, and the Notre Dame program as a whole.

This isn't to imply that Hartman is unhappy or second-guessing his decision, but rather focusing on making sure it doesn't happen, and if it is to make him at ease.

His next conversation needs to be with rising junior Tyler Buchner. Although Hartman is expected to be the starter in 2023, keeping Buchner at Notre Dame is a must. For the 2023 season, having Buchner on the roster and engaged ensures the depth chart is solid, and Notre Dame has protection should Hartman go down. I could also see a package for Buchner that could be highly effective.

Beyond 2023, Buchner still has two seasons where he could be Notre Dame's starter (2024, 2025). If he can build on his impressive Gator Bowl performance, Buchner could still eventually be a star signal caller for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame must start stringing big-time quarterbacks back-to-back, which means even if Hartman is outstanding in 2023, Buchner is the player that gives Notre Dame the best chance to keep that going in 2024.

That's why keeping both Buchner and Hartman engaged is important.

2. Make The Wide Receivers A Priority Again - Notre Dame's offense should always be an offense that features the tight end, but at times over the last two seasons it has become a bit too tight end centric. The volume of attempts to the tight end position weren't the problem, but the lack of production at wide receiver has been an issue. There have been several reasons for this, including injuries and quarterback issues, but the wide receiver position must become a greater focal point in the offense.

A key for Parker and wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey will be ensuring the receivers do a much better job of playing with great technique. We saw a jump in that during the 2022 season under Stuckey, and another level is needed in 2023. Creating an offensive structure that puts a bit less on the plate for wideouts mentally is another adjustment Parker must make. More attention to detail and a greater emphasis on technique is better for college wideouts and a college offense than an expansive scheme.

Notre Dame must also attack the perimeter of the defense to a far greater degree. Again, there have been issues why this was the case in past season, especially with the quarterback woes in 2022, but the point is attacking the perimeter of the defense with the pass attack is a must. The more Notre Dame can force teams to spread out from an alignment standpoint the more dominant the run game will be.

Notre Dame has a lot of talent at wide receiver, but it's largely unproven. Two keys for Stuckey and Parker is getting rising sophomore Tobias Merriweather to make a big jump in year two, and to build up Lorenzo Styles' confidence. Get those two things to happen, to go with a late-season breakout from Jayden Thomas and Deion Colzie, and the Irish wide receivers will be hard to handle next season.

3. Expand The Ground Attack - Notre Dame was quite good at running the football for big chunks of the 2022 season, but consistency with the ground game has been an issue for several seasons. Quarterback play was part of the reason for this in 2022, but another was a lack of diversity with the ground attack, and that must change.

Duo was the primary run play in 2022, but far too often the offense became too reliant on running the Duo concept. More diversity is a must. Duo will continue to be a part of the offense, as it should, but Notre Dame needs to mix things up more. I'm a big fan of complementing Duo with more Inside Zone calls. When Notre Dame did that in 2022 it was fantastic, and the Gator Bowl is a great example.

Notre Dame will continue to run misdirection (Counter) concepts, but doing more to attack the perimeter with the run game is vitally important. We saw very little of this in 2022, which means Parker and the coaches involved with the run game absolutely must get the Outside Zone and quick perimeter plays (Jet Sweeps, Toss, etc) going as part of the offense.

More balance from a conceptual standpoint, along with attacking the perimeter more effectively (and more frequently) will make the run game more effective and more consistent.

4. More Explosives In The Pass Game - Notre Dame has ranked 42nd, 47th, 65th, 40th, 58th and 50th in yards per completion in the last six seasons. Simply put, Notre Dame must create more explosives in the pass game. Throwing the ball down the field with greater effectiveness is a part of that, but there are plenty of things that can be done scheme wise to get players in space to a great degree.

A more effective screen game could add to that, and the emphasis I mentioned above about getting the ball to the perimeter more effectively should also play a role in creating a more explosive pass game.

Talent matters, of course, but that should not be an issue for Notre Dame in 2023 and beyond.

5. More RPOs Please - I will be brief with this, since I've talked about it so much in the past. Notre Dame absolutely must make RPOs (Run Pass Options) a greater part of the offense. It helps protect the run game, forces defenses to spread the field to a greater degree, gets playmakers the ball in space and creates greater offensive efficiency when implemented correctly.

Irish Breakdown Fans be sure to get your Notre Dame tickets from SI Tickets HERE

Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge

Irish Breakdown Content

2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule

Notre Dame 2023 Scholarship Offers
Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

———————

Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.

BECOME A MEMBER

Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!

Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @CoachD178
Follow me on Gettr: @IrishBreakdown
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook

Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter