Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said Tuesday that he would call the offensive plays at Notre Dame in 2014.
Kelly revealed the news on Bill King's SiriusXM show Tuesday morning. He has not hired an offensive coordinator, but whoever gets the job will obviously not be in a play-calling role. Offensive coordinator Chuck Martin left after the end of the season to become the head coach at Miami (OH).
Kelly said he wants to become more involved in the offense, because with Everett Golson coming back, the coach feels ND finally has the right quarterback in place. He also feels the skill players around Golson will allow the Irish “to be more aggressive on offense.”
He called ND’s collection of skill players, “the most balanced” since he has been at Notre Dame.
Golson is returning to the Irish after being suspended for cheating. He was readmitted to the university in December. He started at quarterback in 2012 as Notre Dame went to the BCS Championship Game and lost to Alabama.
Notre Dame went 8-4 in 2013, but that could be traced more to a defensive drop-off than an offensive one. With Tommy Rees as the starting quarterback, Notre Dame's points-per-game slightly increased (from 27.2 to 25.8) and its yards-per-play average dipped just slightly (from 6.0 to 5.9).
Golson will be without running back George Atkinson III and tight end Troy Niklas in 2014. They both announced that they would be entering the NFL draft. Leading receiver TJ Jones, who was a senior in 2013, also departs.
Atkinson was the Irish's second-leading rusher and Niklas had 32 catches for 498 yards. However, leading rusher Cam McDaniel is returning, as is receiver DaVaris Daniels.
In addition to a new to-be-determined offensive coordinator, Notre Dame will have a new defensive coordinator in 2014. DC Bob Diaco took the head coaching job at UConn and the school announced the hire of Brian VanGorder on Monday.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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