Malik Zaire called football his “life’s work” as he focuses on winning the position battle over his sophomore counterpart, DeShone Kizer. Damien Dennis/The Pit
With training camp underway, the Fighting Irish look to answer many questions and fill open roles as we move closer to the September 4 meeting at Texas.
But perhaps the biggest question has yet to be answered and may not be in time for the season opener: who will be the starting quarterback for Notre Dame?
Last month, The Pit compared the two quarterbacks battling for the starting position – DeShone Kizer and Malik Zaire – giving the edge to the sophomore Kizer over his senior counterpart. But does that mean Zaire would be unable to lead the Irish to playoff contention?
Fall training camps began officially Friday, August 5 with a press conference where Head Coach Brian Kelly mentioned he may not have an answer on who starts come gameday.
“As a staff, we’ve talked about no time line other than really doing a very good job of allowing both those quarterbacks to be who they are,” Kelly said.
Kelly said that Zaire may not have been allowed to be himself in the spring, due to the offense evolving around Kizer during the 2015 campaign. Notre Dame’s focus hasn’t been on just one guy, but both.
“So it’s really more about getting our offense to run effectively for both of them and that’s really been most of the focus, if not all the focus, instead of sitting in a staff room and coming up with a date or a time as to when are we going to make a decision on the quarterback,” he said.
Zaire spoke with press, describing his workout routines and how he felt in the spring returning from injury. The 6-foot, 225-pound senior from Kettering, Ohio said that the game of football has become his life’s work.
The goal of both Zaire and Kizer is one thing: win championships. Both quarterbacks could potentially lead the Irish to the playoffs and possibly the national championship, but how will it happen?
Zaire hasn’t had much to show in the role. He started for the Irish at the tail-end of the 2014 season, leading Notre Dame to a Music City Bowl victory over LSU. He then started in 2015 against Texas and then Virginia before going down with injury.
“Well, certainly, you have a glimpse at what he can do,” Kelly said. “But then you put the Texas film on and see how easy it was for Malik, or you put on the LSU game and you see how easy it was for him, as well.”
