Notre Dame Will Need To Answer Some Key Questions This Spring

There is quite a bit of optimism about the Notre Dame offense heading into the spring, at least there is with me. There are plenty of strengths for the Irish staff to build upon, but as is the case with all teams heading into the spring, there are also some key questions and concerns that must be answered.

How well these questions are answered - and how many - will go a long way towards solidifying the offense, and they'll have an impact on just how good Notre Dame can be on offense in 2023.

Here's a look at the five areas I'll be focusing on this spring:

1. How Quickly Can The New Staff Mesh - Notre Dame doesn't have quite as much staff turnover heading into 2023 as it did in 2022, but there will still be a lot of getting to know you going on this spring. How quickly the staff can get on the same page and develop a strong working relationship this spring will have a significant impact on the overall growth this unit can have.

A year ago offensive coordinator Tommy Rees was the only returning coach from the previous season. This season, however, the Irish return three coaches to the offensive staff - Gerad Parker, Chansi Stuckey and Deland McCullough. Parker will have a new role, taking over at offensive coordinator for Rees, so there's a different voice at the top, and a different point of view. It will be up to Parker and head coach Marcus Freeman to create a working situation that allows the new coaches to quickly bond together, and get to know their players.

The fact Notre Dame's offensive line and quarterbacks have new leadership is the concern. Notre Dame needs Gino Guidugli (quarterbacks) and Joe Rudolph (offensive line) to quickly get up to speed and connect with their charges. Those are two positions Notre Dame can't afford to have a step back at either position.

2. Who Becomes The Go-To Pass Catcher - Notre Dame lost its star pass catcher when Michael Mayer declared early for the NFL Draft, as expected. Mayer was Notre Dame's best offensive player each of the last two seasons, and he was an All-American in 2022. I'm not worried about Notre Dame having good talent or production in 2023, but I don't see them replacing what Mayer did. It would be unfair to ask them to do that.

But Notre Dame needs someone, or a couple someones, to step up and become big time, go-to pass catchers for the Irish offense. Yes, the ball will be spread around, and it needs to be spread around. I'm not referring to the need to have someone step up and put up Will Fuller, Michael Floyd or Golden Tate numbers. What is needed, however, is at least one player (and hopefully more) that becomes the "go to" receiver, the guy the quarterback knows he can turn to in big moments, and with the game on the line.

Last season there were far too many situations where the Irish quarterbacks locked in on Mayer, and when he was taken out of the game it was rare that someone else stepped up and was able to make the game-winning plays. That did improve as the season wore on, and now those talented, young players that are loaded with talent must turn their potential into production.

If that's going to happen in the fall we'll start to see that happen in the spring.

3. More Explosive Plays Are A Must - Notre Dame must find more ways to create more big plays on offense in 2023, and that work needs to begin this spring.

Notre Dame ranked 69th last season in plays of at least 20 yards and ranked a dreadful 110th in plays of at least 50 yards. There are many reasons not creating more big plays is problematic for an offense. For one, it requires an offense to go on longer sustained drives, and the more plays you run the greater chance there is that you make a mistake.

For two, not being a big play offense allows a defense to play tighter to the box. Notre Dame could not take advantage of these types of aggressive defensive looks in most instances last season. I would contend that the lack of big plays in the pass game played into the issues with the big plays from the run game. There simply wasn't a lot of room for the backs to work past the first level.

Notre Dame's pass offense ranked 99th in plays of at least 30 yards past the line while the run game ranked 87th. That cannot come close to being repeated in 2023. Last season's playoff teams ranked 2nd (TCU), 4th (Ohio State), 18th (Michigan) and 20th (Georgia) in 30+ yard plays. They ranked 1st (TCU), 5th (Michigan), 17th (Georgia) and 34th (Ohio State) in 50+ yard plays.

There are normal ways to do this, like making sure you have your best personnel on the field, younger players getting older, continue enhancing technique, etc. Notre Dame must also work this spring to be a more balanced offense, which will help. Getting the pass game going will be huge, and if it does we'll likely see players like Tobias Merriweather, Lorenzo Styles, Deion Colzie and possibly some of the freshmen making a lot of big plays down the field.

If Notre Dame wants to be a more explosive offense there are also personnel changes that need to be made (mix things up more), they need to create more isolations that create big play opportunities, and when those plays are drawn up - like we saw last year - the quarterback actually needs to throw the football. Better quarterback play in 2022 would have resulted in a lot more big plays in the pass game, and those plays need to hit in 2023. We should start to see more and more of that this spring.

4. Efficiency Is A Must - Notre Dame must absolutely become a more efficient offense in 2023. The Irish ranked 45th nationally in yards per play, 48th nationally in rushing yards per play and 37th nationally in passing yards per attempt.

Notre Dame also ranked 39th nationally in efficiency on the Fremeau Efficiency Index, which was the program's lowest mark since 2010. Notre Dame also ranked 43rd in offensive efficiency at ESPN, it's lowest mark since the 4-8 season in 2016. Notre Dame ranked 27th, 11th, 26th, 19th and 12th in the seasons between.

Efficiency leads to a more productive and explosive offense.

Last year's playoff teams ranked 1st (Ohio State), 4th (Georgia), 14th (TCU) and 17th (Michigan) in yards per play last season. So you can see, Notre Dame has a ways to go, and efficiency is a key ingredient to that, as are explosives.

5. Can They Keep Everyone Happy - One of my concerns this spring is keeping everyone engaged, happy and on the roster heading into the fall. That requires coaches to be open and honest with players, make sure everyone knows what the vision is for each player, coach the entire depth chart and try as best as possible to make sure everyone gets chances to prove themselves this spring.

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