Everything Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said before Irish vs. Georgia Tech

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock has been chipper in his Tuesday night media sessions lately. Can you blame him? The No. 12 Fighting Irish (5-1) have won four games in a row and have averaged 43.5 points per game in those victories.

Denbrock checked in with local reporters again this evening about the in-season evolution of the Irish offense plus much more. Here’s everything he had to say.

On the way Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard came out vs. Stanford

“I loved the confidence that he played with on Saturday. I thought he let himself be the player that he can be. And obviously, that’s a real positive sign for moving forward. I saw that continue again today. And hopefully, maybe, we’ve kind of broken through a little bit and we’re ready to bust this thing loose.”  

On Notre Dame tight end Mitchell Evans

“Yeah, listen, I think Mitch had probably as strong a game from a physicality standpoint and what he did in the run game as he’s had the entire season. And I think the last time we kind of visited about it, we talked a little bit about where’s his confidence in his knee? And how has he recovered, and those things. And I think he demonstrated, kind of by the way he went at people in the game, that he’s put a little bit of that behind him. I think there’s opportunities, probably this week, for a few more targets. A lot of the things we did in the dropback game, he could have caught some balls. He didn’t happen to be targeted. I’m not sure.  

“I’m not the one making the decisions [about] where the ball goes or what the coverage is. But I will say a lot of the other things that we did — from an RPO standpoint, because of the scheme that Stanford ran — we needed some extra length to the edges of our offensive formations. So, he was kind of stuck doing the dirty work instead of having the reward on the other side.”  

On Notre Dame’s situation at field receiver with Kris Mitchell, Jordan Faison and KK Smith

“With some really good depth. [Laughs] I think that’s the good news. But I want to see Faison back healthy 100%, because I think he’s a dynamic piece to our offensive unit that we’ve been missing quite a bit. I want him to be more involved in who we are and what we are. Kris, I thought, did a good job in the game. Played really well. Probably played as well as he has. Probably could have gotten maybe a couple more [catches] that he didn’t. And then to see KK kind of bust loose and get in there speaks well of the guys that we have kind of coming up the chain. And if something unfortunate was to happen in front of him, we’ve got a guy now who’s played in the game and actually caught a football, which is a positive sign.”  

On Notre Dame center Pat Coogan’s catch

“I told him the best thing, when we went over it in the team meeting yesterday — the best thing was how he — and I told this to the receivers, in particular — do you see how he put his foot in the ground and went north and south? There’s no dancing around and BSing. He stuck his nose in there and got positive yards.”  

On Coogan’s attitude rubbing off on the Irish

“100% yeah, 100%. I mean, he’s just got this kind of light about him — you know what I mean? And he’s very demanding of his own abilities and he’s demanding of the people around him. And I think people are attracted to guys who work every day to be a high achiever. And if they want that for themselves, they get drawn to people like that. And he’s one of those guys.”  

On Notre Dame’s stable of running back being deep all the way down to freshmen Aneyas Williams and Kedren Young

“We have — I won’t call it an embarrassment of riches, because I’m not embarrassed to have probably one of the most talented running back rooms in the country — but those guys probably in a lot of other situations would probably touch the ball a lot more and have some more experience under their belt. A credit to them to continue to prepare the right way. And they got an opportunity, thankfully, on Saturday, because we played a little more consistently offensively than we had, to get some of those guys in the game and let them kind of showcase what we’ve seen from them out here on the practice field a lot.”  

On the way running backs coach Deland McCullough coaches his unit

“He does an unbelievable job with the running backs overall. But I think as much as anything is the communication that takes place in that room and, really, the attitude towards team glory that he builds in that room, where guys understand that they have to earn a role. And once they earn their role, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re A or B or C. It depends on situational football and who fits that situation the best, and that’s why we’re fortunate to have a room full of really good football players in that room and fortunate to have somebody coaching them who really does a good job with the culture of the room as well, that keeps everything positive.”  

On McCullough’s coaching habits permeating through the rest of the staff

“I think we’ve got that in a lot of rooms, quite frankly. I mean, I think that same culture is true of the receiver room. I think it’s true of the quarterback room. I think it’s true of —to be honest with you — every room that I get to observe and be part of every day. So, I think that’s basically the culture of our football team, which is pretty cool to be around.”  

On the Irish offense being on the verge of executing well no matter the game plan and opponent

“I do. I think really, over the course of the last couple weeks, three weeks, like we’ve been talking about, where we’ve kind of seen it coming, seen it kind of developing. And then, boom. I think the most rewarding thing for me is we’ve been really demanding with them, making sure that they earn the opportunity to get better by the work that they do on the practice field. And then to watch them be rewarded for that in a game in that beautiful stadium across the street, it just makes me feel full. You know what I mean — for them. And I’m so happy for [Riley Leonard], because they did exactly what we asked them to do, and they got rewarded for it.  

“So, now the challenge for them, for me, is: All right, we know the formula. So, are we still starving or are we full? Are we still hungry to go back to work? And they did that today. I was really, really happy with the way they practiced today. So, to me, it’s like this should be a continual improvement deal all the way through the end of the season, and that’s what we’re going to work really hard to make sure it happens.”  

On where the Notre Dame offense line is right now

“I think they are, with all the chaos that’s gone on with that group in particular, especially through fall camp, the first few weeks of the season. And this guy’s out, that guy’s in. And two series of the Purdue game, you lose two more guys. And then now, I think the five that have been playing the last few weeks have got a chance to kind of be with each other, settle in a little bit. Our communication’s gotten better. I think our attention to detail’s gotten better and our play’s gotten better. We talked about Deland and the job that he does. I mean, [O-line] coach [Joe] Rudolph is doing an unbelievable job with those guys in getting those guys prepared to play.”  

A conversation on Leonard dropping his elbow to throw from different arm angles

Denbrock: “Yeah, I hate it when he drops his elbow.”  

Reporter: “That’s what I’m wondering?”

Denbrock: “Well, go ahead.”  

Reporter: “Is that for real, because, I mean, I guess anything in moderation is OK?”

Denbrock: “Yeah, I mean, I’m sure he fancies himself a gunslinger. Is that what you’re asking? [Laughs] No, listen, he does have the ability to change his arm angle and make some throws. Consistency comes with keeping your elbow in the slot. So, we’re going to work bolet’s play name th of those probably.”  

Reporter: “Have you had a guy, through the years, who could get away with it consistently? I mean, changing that arm angle based on the moment?”

Denbrock: “Uh, probably not that I’ve had. I mean, I see guys that have the ability to do that. Hopefully, he becomes one of those guys. That would be good for all of us.”  

On Notre Dame left tackle Anthonie Knapp

“He’s just a guy that does a lot of things right all the time, and is rarely in bad position. Is rarely not prepared for everything he’s going to see because of the work that he does, not only with coach Rudolph, but the work he does on his own to make sure nothing really surprises him. He’s just mature beyond his years, and he plays that way.”