Everything Notre Dame OC Mike Denbrock said before Week 3 at Purdue

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock addressed reporters following his team’s upset loss to NIU. Here’s what Denbrock had to say.

On Notre Dame’s inexperienced offensive line

“I actually thought we made some progress up front. I thought our communication was better. I thought there were spots during the game where we started to kind of feel ourselves as far as the dominant unit that I think those guys can develop into. I think that’s going to be a work in progress as we go, as they gain experience, as they understand the scheme better and how to talk to each other and adjust it as we go. But there’s progress being made there, and I am happy to see it.” 

On Riley Leonard being very effective runner in the first half against NIU and not a run threat at all after that

“I mean, probably a number of reasons. One, we had too many three-and-outs and didn’t have the ball as much as we needed to. Based on how we executed and what we did, we were our own worst enemy where that was concerned. There was an opportunity that I thought the running backs were hot. I wanted to try to get the ball in their hands a little bit more. And that kind of led to some of the decisions that we made.” 

On Leonard’s interception, and where the ball should have gone

“You guys have all dissected the tape. I mean, you’ve seen it. You know the answer to those questions already. But, I mean, he just has to make a better decision on second-and-1, and I’ve got to do a good job of assessing whether we can really put him in those situations until he’s ready to handle them, too. We could have run the football again and got a first down and continued the drive. I’ve got to analyze all that stuff and make sure I’m making good decisions where he’s concerned and not putting him in jeopardy if it could lead to a bad decision. And there were opportunities there to make a big play, and we didn’t get it done, and that’s on me. And, unfortunately, we’ve got to do a bit better job there.” 

On wanting Leonard to throw it away if the shot play isn’t there

“Yeah, as a play-caller, that’s kind of a shot down [the field] when you have an opportunity to maybe put the dagger in somebody and finish it. But you also have to make sure that the quarterback sees it the same way you do. And we’ve got to make sure that the communication between him and I — and between him and I and Gino [Guidugli]— is spot-on specific, and he understands in those scenarios that there’s nothing wrong with throwing the ball out of bounds or taking the dropdown or the checkdown or whatever if you don’t love it. If you love it, let it fly. If you don’t love it, there’s a lot of other options and a lot of other things we could be doing.” 

On his instruction to Leonard after the game

“I think No. 1 is Notre Dame is a tough place to be quarterback, and you’re going to feel that here over the course of the next whenever, until we get this offense functioning at a much higher level. And he understands that. He’s a mature guy. He understands what he’s tasked with. I also think it’s important for me to always evaluate and recognize what I can do to help him more. I’ve got to help him more. And whatever that looks like and whatever that ends up being, you’ll see a little bit of that on Saturday. But the fact of the matter is, he’s got to be comfortable playing quarterback within this system and the things that we’re asking him to do. And that falls on me to make sure that I get that right.” 

On the notion that Notre Dame’s offense will be a high-functioning one down the road

“It looks like a long and dusty trail right now, doesn’t it? No, I mean, listen, there’s signs. There’s just such incredible inconsistency across the board. One play, it’s a running back. One play, it’s an O-lineman. One play, it’s a receiver. One play, we’re not making the best decision with the ball. Whatever happens, I mean we’re all taking turns. And we’ve got to get to the point where — one by one, position group by position group — we eliminate ourselves from that equation. Then comes consistency. Where does that happen? It happens right out there. And the more consistent we show ourselves in practice and the reps that we’re taking and the things we’re asking them to do, confidence builds. And you carry that to the game. I didn’t think we were a very confident group, for whatever reason, going into the game on Saturday. And it showed in the way we played. The mistakes that we made on the practice field during the week reared their ugly head during the game on Saturday, and it cost us.” 

On Leonard’s comfortability in Notre Dame’s offense

“Yeah. Listen, nobody wants to hear from me that we’re really just two games into this, because the results Saturday — we all know — were absolutely unacceptable on every level. But the reality is, when you look at it, it sounds like an excuse. That’s why I hate to even bring it up. But it’s not an excuse that he’s two games into what we’re asking him to do, and he learns every single snap that he’s out there, good and bad. And, hopefully, that process, I can help speed that process up by some of the ways that I structure things, so that they are hitting his mind and his skill level the right way.” 

On if Leonard’s health was a concern entering the season

“There was none. None. Absolutely no risk health-wise. He had an unbelievable summer, was running around like a gazelle and jumping and throwing. And so, going into the season, there was absolutely no reason for concern whatsoever from an injury standpoint.” 

On Leonard having a health injury now

“He does?” 

Reporter: “He does.” 

“You’re sure about that?” 

Reporter: “Positive about that.” 

“OK, so I haven’t seen any reports out there. Are there a bunch of reports out there?” 

Reporter: “The only ones that matter, I guess.” 

“The only ones that matter? Is that what you said?” 

Reporter: “Yeah.” 

“Your report?” 

Reporter: “The reality is the reality. Well, I mean, we saw him get hurt at the end of the first half. Anyway, my point, I don’t want to dwell on that.” 

“There’s a lot of guys out there nicked up.” 

Reporter: “Yeah, I’m sure there are. But my point is that, you talk about trying to do what’s best for him and what gives him the best chance to succeed. If he can’t be the runner that we all know that he is, what are some of the things that you do to compensate?”

“I guess my answer to that question would be, I have no indication right now that he can’t be the runner we need him to be.”

Reporter: Fair enough. 

On other issues in Notre Dame’s passing game that have been a point of emphasis

“Listen, it’s a combination of all those things. And I think probably that’s where the inconsistency from us offensively has shown up, probably more than anywhere — whether it’s route depth, whether it’s protection, whether it’s decision-making, whether it’s … all those things. Dropped balls. All those things have contributed to us having the poor showing that we’ve had in the passing game so far, and we’re working really hard every day to try to make those things better.” 

On what he’s seen from Leonard’s mechanics

“We talked about his lower body, in particular. I think accuracy starts from the ground up. I think he’ll be the first one to say that to you that he’s got to do a better job with his feet in the pocket, in particular. Got to do a better job of not getting skittish in the pocket and maybe sliding up into it from time to time, sticking on initial reads just a little bit longer. Just things like that he’s working hard to get better at. And I know he will.”