The bitter taste of a National Championship blowout seems to have stuck with Notre Dame Quarterback Everett Golson as he explains there’s a lot of room for improvement over last year’s play.
Golson gave his honest opinion telling ESPN, "Last year we didn't really make our mark. You can kind of blame it on the excuse it was just our first year going through it. But at the end of the day, we didn't do our job. That's definitely an emphasis for me personally, to make this offense better and have a better season."
The Irish were able to finish this past regular season without any loses but it was no secret the defense and running game were Notre Dame’s strong suits. Goloson’s first year numbers were average completing 58.8 percent of his passes and throwing for 12 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Golson’s inexperience rarely was a problem but was also rarely a solution.
Notre Dame offensive coordinator Chuck Martain explained, "There were times last year where people gave us looks that I was about slamming my head against the wall that we weren't throwing the ball. But we were not throwing the ball by design because we weren't as good at throwing the ball."
Notre Dame was ranked 71st in passing last season and Coach Brian Kelly chimed in and explained what is expected of Golson.
"Getting us in the right protection, playing at a tempo and a pace that we can control the football game. Just the next step in his development, which there's a lot of things that he's going to have to work on."
Golson has spent his offseason not only readying his body but took to tapes of similar NFL quarterbacks like Russell Wilson, Robert Griffin III, Colin Kaepernick and Drew Brees to ready his mind. Goloson explained he enjoyed the process, "Mostly because it amazes me is those guys getting the ball off at the rate that they do. Drew Brees, his big thing is his footwork. He's very exact. Letting his footwork take him through his reads and his progressions. So just watching him helps me a lot."
Coaches have already seen the change in Golson and Chuck Martin explained, "He's a different kid right now. Time off does everybody good."
Coach Kelly explained Golson is at a new stage in his development.
"He wants to do too much. He knows his tool box very well. He didn't know anything relative to what he had for tools last year, in terms of what he could do with the offense. Now he wants to do a little too much. So we're at a totally different point in his development."
Golson attests his new dedication to being, “crushed and blown out and basically getting embarrassed,” in this past season National Championship against the Crimson Tide of Alabama. He went on to say, "Having that feeling inside of me gives me a lot of motivation."
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