Aug. 11, 2000
Notre Dame head coach Bob Davie’s comments after Friday, Aug. 11, morning practice session:
On any possible position changes:
“We’re looking at Darrell Campbell at three technique (moving inside), and Anthony Weaver back at end. At 285 pounds Darrell’s a guy we think can keep his weight. Once again we all know that in about two weeks we’re going to alternate and try to have enough healthy guys to keep going. At some point we’re going to have to play Anthony Weaver some at end. It makes sense with Weaver at 285 (pounds), then Darrell at 285. Campbell played nose guard in high school and we’re looking at it today.”
On the freshman quarterbacks grasping the “big picture”:
“I’d say it’s dead even. It’s too early to tell. We’re spoon-feeding all three of them, and you’re talking about the second day of practice, first day in shoulder pads, so nobody has really emerged out of the three of them. Godsey is still clearly the number two.”
On distributing the reps between the freshman quarterbacks:
“What we’re going to try to do with the quarterbacks is hopefully somebody can make that decision for us over the next couple of days. Try to keep it exactly equal and let it play itself out a little bit. So we’re trying to be fair to each one of them, and be fair to our team, and the one that emerges all of the sudden will be our third quarterback. Fortunately, we’re not looking for a second quarterback.”
On the condition of senior co-captain Dan O’Leary’s back:
“It seems to be good, we’re going to kind of control him a little bit in the second practice every day. Let him work in the morning, and then control it in the second practice. So far so good, but it’s something that he’s obviously thought about and rehabed a lot this summer. We’re just going to try to take it one step at a time so the thing doesn’t flair up on him.”
On the effect senior Brock Williams has on the team:
“I think Brock is one of those guys whose enthusiasm is contagious, there’s no doubt about that. You have to be a part of it (practice) and you have to be productive to really be a factor. It’s hard for someone like Brock, who’s not playing, to add something. There’s no question he does. He’s a confident, cocky little guy, meaning cocky in a positive way. It’s just great having him back here, that took a big chunk out of us last year when he was gone.”
On Brock Williams return to the team and the effect it has had on him:
“I wasn’t sure (about his return), and the reason is, I knew he came from a great family and I knew deep down he was a great kid, but a kid that loves to play football. He’s done great academically, but lets face it, football is a key reason why he’s here. He loves football. I just didn’t know if he could stay away from it for a year. You’ve got to give that kid credit, he has come a long way and I think it will be the best thing that’s ever happened to him. He’s handled it the right way.”
On the recovery from spring injuries of Jordan Black, Sean Mahan and Ryan Roberts:
“All of them are at full speed. Jim Jones is full speed, really everyone is back. We took it kind of cautious in the spring with all those shoulders and stuff, but once again, today is the first day you put the pads on, so we’ll see in the next few days how this whole thing shakes out. We don’t have anybody whose really nicked up right now.”
On the possibility of junior David Givens having a “break out year”:
“I think David Givens is a guy that’s got himself in position, hopefully just like this football team. David Givens and Javin Hunter both those guys (have improved). Once again, you can’t ask anyone to do any more than David Givens, he’s busted his tail, he’s involved in a lot of things – special teams. I think it all depends on what you define a break out year as. You know we’re not a team that’s going to throw it 50 times a game, so it’s hard to say he has to have 45 catches and that’s a break out year. He’s got to be solid in all the things we ask him to do. He’s on the punt team. He’s on the kick-off return team. He’s on just about all the special teams. He does a lot of things for us. He’s a blocker. He may get his hands on the football a little bit carrying the ball. He can have a breakout season without having a whole lot of numbers catching the ball, and I think he will. I think he’s in a position to do it. He’s a mature football player.”
On what he wants to accomplish between now and Monday, when the Irish begin practice in full pads:
“What you want to do is get a lot of things in mentally. I think when you’re in shorts, you throw a lot of things at them, you try to get the whole package in, and then Monday you come back and just try to get back to a strong fundamental standpoint and clean some things up. This is like a cram session. Then you come back Monday and you start playing fast and at full speed. I want to get a lot of teaching done here while we have the shorts on.”
On sophomore center Jeff Faine’s development:
“He spent a lot of time this summer on his own watching tape. You’ve got certain guys that can’t live without football and he’s one of those guys. I think he’s doing fine. It’s a tremendous responsibility he has because the center has so many calls. Last year, we really prepared him every week like he was going to play. He game planned every week. We’re farther along when it comes to those things, identifying fronts and all that, then we were at any time last year, and he’s got some help, you know he’s got some other guys in there.