Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Kizer hopes summer work will help transition to Notre Dame starter

Published Sep. 17, 2015 3:30 p.m. ET

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Marcus Hartman

Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer has made quite a move on the Fighting Irish depth chart in a relatively short period of time. 

After redshirting last season as a freshman from Toledo, Kizer went through spring watching senior Everett Golson and third-year sophomore Malik Zaire battle for the right to be the starter this fall. 

When Golson announced he would be transferring to play his final season somewhere else (he ended up at Florida State), Kizer's summer took on a different tint, however. 

"I had no idea he was heading out," he told reporters in South Bend this week. "I was preparing to learn from him another year and watch him and Malik battle it out through the summer and see who was going to be the guy next year." 

If Golson's presence meant limited reps for Kizer in the spring, his exit meant more meaningful ones in the summer. 

"I believe playing the position I play has a lot to do with being comfortable," Kizer said. "Over the summer I was able to get out and throw to all the guys as much as I possibly can, and I got quite a few reps in. When it came to 7-on-7s, I was working with the ones and twos rather than working with the incoming freshmen I was working with last year." 

With Zaire going down with a season-ending ankle injury last week, Kizer may find those reps even more valuable than he realized they would be at the time. 

"It allowed me to gain a little more confidence in my game," he said. "Obviously, that kind of carried in the fall, and that confidence is now at its best going into Week 3." 

He has the confidence of the man who will be snapping him the ball, too. 

"DeShone is very intelligent," senior center and team captain Nick Martin said. "His football IQ is high. He knows the protection we're going to be in for the most part. So I wouldn't say I'm changing protection because he has to know where he's protecting and where he's not." 

Coach Brian Kelly indicated the Irish will not have to change their offense for Kizer, who is listed at 6-foot-4 1/2 and 230 pounds compared to the 6-0, 222-pound Zaire. 

"We recruited DeShone Kizer because he can run the system of offense that I like to run, so we're going to run our system," Kelly said. "That's what we do. So he does things a little bit different than Malik does, but they all are within the realm of the offense. It's just we'll choose a little bit from different chapters within the offensive system.

"I think DeShone will do quite well. We'll just feature some of the things that he does a little bit better than maybe -- or that are considered his strengths as a quarterback and feature those."

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