Football: One year later, Holiday knows much more
BY MATT LOZAR
Associate Sports Editor
Last spring, Notre Dame quarterback Carlyle Holiday was competing for the starting job and trying to learn a brand new offensive system.
One year later, Holiday is firmly entrenched as the No. 1 quarterback and, more importantly, has a much better grasp of the offense implemented by head coach Tyrone Willingham and offensive coordinator Bill Diedrick.
"There was so much to learn last year. It was a totally different thing from what we used to run," Holiday said. "The playbook was so thick when we first came in and we had so many things crammed into such a short amount of time."
When the season ended, Holiday went to the film room and started on mastering that thick playbook.
"He has done a good job in the off-season not only working and improving his mechanic, but he has spent a lot of time looking at video and really studying the small intricacies of the offense," Diedrick said. "I think he has become a lot more acquainted with the system. He feels a lot more comfortable in it."
While Holiday spent time in the film room, he was also able to work with his receivers gaining chemistry. That off-season work went towards developing the chemistry needed so everyone is on the same page in the fall.
"We watched films. When we had time, the quarterbacks and receivers would go throw on routes and try to get on the same page with each other," Holiday said. "I think that was part of some of the downfalls of last year that everybody wasn't on the same page."
After working with his receivers in the off-season and learning all of the details of the offense, Holiday has been able to focus more on the fundamentals this spring and not learning new vocabulary and schemes.
"This year, after a year within the system and establishing himself as the starter, now it is more on him to polish and improve skills so he can get to a point where he can raise and elevate his game to a higher level and be consistent," Diedrick said. "Now the next step is doing that on a consistent basis."
To achieve that consistency and improvement Diedrick and the coaching staff are looking for, Holiday needs to be on the field as much as possible. Last season, Holiday was knocked out of three games and missed the Stanford game because of injuries to his shoulder.
But those hits haven't led Holiday or the coaches into believing he is injury-prone or that his shoulder is a potential problem.
"I think if you look at what they were, they were shoulder hits, both of them where one he was driven into the ground and those are hard to prevent. The one in the bowl game he was up in the air and he didn't really have a chance to protect himself," Diedrick said.
"You go back in the off-season and try to build yourself up a little physically, try to become a little more flexible, so you can be more durable."
In just stepping on the field, Holiday will naturally be a leader as the quarterback. With four starting offensive linemen graduating along with captain Arnaz Battle, Holiday knows he needs to step up and become more of a leader this season.
Having been the starting quarterback for a year, not only has Holiday matured, but so have his teammates and they look to him in the huddle to take control.
"I realize that with the position I am in, the leadership role just has to come to you," Holiday said. "Everyone is looking up to you, you are like a captain on the team whether you want to be or not."
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, April 16, 2003
