April 26, 2003

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Notre Dame Head Coach Tyrone Willingham Quotes
About Olsen:
“I thought Chris Olsen did a good job out there today. I was impressed with how incredible he seemed to be at times in making plays. That’s always a good quality.”

About the starting quarterback for the fall:
“Time will tell.”

About Jared Clark’s role today:
“Well, I don’t necessarily look at it as a Jared Clark role. I list it as a playmaker role ? people that can make plays. That’s what we’re about. That’s what we want. That’s what we encourage. Jared is one of those guys that fits in that category.”

How far we’ve advanced since Willingham came in as a new coach last spring:
“We’re a lot further along. We’re so much further along that we were able to take Carlyle out and not have him play.”

About spring practice:
“I think that the 14 days have gone well for us. There’s so many important things to take with us today and this weekend, but at the same time those 14 days have led to this day and they’ve been good days for us. We are not where we’d like to be entirely in some areas, but we made a few points and we’re getting better and that’s what’s exciting.”

About the offensive line:
“We’ve still got a lot of work. There were some errors. At times we were good. I thought we got a little more comfortable in the second half. We’re still learning, we’re still growing.”

About incoming freshman being key players:
“My wishes and desires are the same as every year. We have a great incoming class that can help us be a better team. We will encourage them and we will work and we will do everything that we can with them between now and then to help them be in that position. We do have some position depth questions. I think we have the option of allowing them to step into the line up soon.”

Player Quotes

Senior quarterback Carlyle Holiday
On the difference between this year’s and last year’s spring camp…
“We knew the talent was here. Now just going through the offense for a year, you know more what your role is in the offense. At this point, you just have to put the talent to what you know.”

“Last year, it was all new. It was like starting over again as a freshman. This year, we know what the basic concepts are. We just have to take it to a higher level.”

On sophomore quarterback Chris Olsen….
“Chris did a lot of great things today. He executed very well and it will just carry over (to the fall).”

Sophomore fullback Nate Schiccatano
On changing positions…
“I like getting the ball as a running back, but I like doing all three things: catching the ball, blocking and running the ball.”

On pregame nerves…
“The first time being in uniform and actually getting to play made me pretty nervous. You can’t know the feeling until you’re actually out on the field, running the ball.”

Sophomore quarterback Chris Olsen
On being the starting quarterback….
“My main goal when I came to Notre Dame was the be the number one quarterback. I must keep on learning the offense, and be more consistent … Carlyle (Holiday) is the number one guy, and I must make great steps in order to compete with him”

Senior tight end Jared Clark
On being a playmaker in the fall…
“I just want to be one of those go-to guys. I want to make plays and get the ball down the field. The harder I work now in the offseason, the easier it will be for me to be that guy come the Fall.”