The Jack Coan Era At Notre Dame Has Officially Begun

The Jack Coan era at Notre Dame has officially began, as the graduate transfer quarterback was named the starting quarterback for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame is now Jack Coan's football team.

It was fitting that Coan was named the starter on the day that former three-year starter Ian Book took his first career snaps with the New Orleans Saints.

Coan's objective is simple, do what Book and every other starting quarterback after Tony Rice has failed to do, lead Notre Dame to a national championship. After all, that's the ultimate goal for any quarterback at Notre Dame.

Coan was named the starter on Saturday for two reasons. One is he had a strong spring, a great summer that saw him earn his teammate's trust, and according to sources he's been off to a blazing start to fall camp. It was clear that Coan was the best man for the job at this point. 

The second reason is the Notre Dame coaches wanted to give Coan as much time to prepare for the season opener in the leading man role as possible.

"When Coach [Brian] Kelly and I had a chance to have a conversation and come to a decision, we felt like whoever the quarterback was going to be, let's put him in a position to go be the guy for a few weeks," offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said of the decision. "We felt like that was an important step for whoever the quarterback was going to be, and Coach and I made that decision."

So what exactly is Notre Dame getting in Jack Coan?

JACK COAN RESUME

Coan was ranked as a four-star recruit and the No. 241 overall player in the country by Rivals. Prior to committing to Wisconsin to play football the Sayville (N.Y.) High school star committed to Notre Dame to play lacrosse.

Coan passed for 9,787 yards and 128 touchdowns and rushed for 2,551 yards and 33 more touchdowns as a high school player for Sayville.

At Wisconsin, Coan passed for 3,278 yards and 23 touchdowns while throwing eight interceptions. In 2019, Coan led Wisconsin to a 10-4 record (10-2 in the regular season) and led the Badgers to the Big Ten championship game and a berth to the Rose Bowl. He completed 69.6% of his passes for 2,727 yards and 18 touchdowns that season. 

Wisconsin finished the 2019 season ranked No. 11 in the AP poll, and Coan led the Badgers to wins over No. 10 Minnesota (38-17), No. 15 Iowa (24-22) and No. 18 Michigan (35-14).

STRENGTHS

A look at what Notre Dame is getting from a tools standpoint with Coan in the lineup:

Experience - Coan certainly brings experience to the Notre Dame offense, which is ideal after losing a three-year starter at the position. Coan has played on the big stage already, having won a road game against a Top 10 opponent (Minnesota) and playing in the Big Ten title game and the Rose Bowl.

Accuracy - Coan's 69.6% completion rate in 2019 ranked him 7th in the country. From 2018 to 2011, the only Wisconsin quarterback to top that mark was Russell Wilson. No other Wisconsin quarterback came within five percentage points of Coan. 

Accuracy isn't just about completing passes, it's about great decision making, throwing with good timing and proper ball placement. Coan thrived in each of those areas at Wisconsin, during spring ball and sources have told IB that he's done a lot of that during his fall performance thus far.

Improved Drop Back Production - Notre Dame's pure drop back game hasn't been great the last two seasons, and that is an aspect that Coan should dramatically improve for many of the reasons I just discussed. 

Compare Coan's drop back numbers (no play-action, no screens) from 2019 to Book's from the last two seasons. 

Coan - 69.6% completions, 8.0 yards per attempt, 152.53 QB rating

Book - 58.7% completions, 7.4 yards per attempt, 141.46 QB rating

(Note: stats are from Pro Football Focus)

Coan brings a willingness to spread the ball around, he is a quick decision maker and he's willing and able to attack the entire field.

There's one more reason .....

NOTRE DAME DEEP BALL SHOULD IMPROVE

Coan doesn't have the cannon that we've seen from many of the game's best quarterbacks in recent seasons, but he has enough arm strength to attack teams down the field in much the same way that we saw from Mac Jones last season at Alabama.

I'm not saying Coan doesn't have a good arm, but I am saying it's not like Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields or Kyler Murray. What Coan lacks in pure power he makes up for with timing, accuracy and guts.

I anticipate that his deep ball skills will greatly improve Notre Dame's ability to attack opponents down the field. I broke it down before, but let's discuss it again. 

Here are a few examples, the first being Coan's timing as a passer.