By John Brice
Special Contributor
A poster. A screenshot. A text message.
In tracing the origins of Notre Dame’s new offensive set, one more Clydesdale than wildcat, the genesis simply is a message from Irish offensive coordinator Tommy Rees to sophomore tight end Mitchell Evans.
“One day, Coach Rees just texted me and sent me a little screenshot,” says Evans, a Wadsworth, Ohio, native, recently back in the Irish offensive plans after recovering from injury. “It just said ‘Mitch-A-Palooza.’
“It was like a weird poster-thing, but I had no idea what it was about.”
Evans remembers the picture coming into focus during positional meetings later in the day.
“We were in meetings and stuff, and Coach (Gerad) Parker just kind of explained it to me,” Evans says. “He said, ‘Hey, we’re doing this. We’ve got a little QB-sneak thing, and this is how it’s going to go and you’re going to do it.’
“And it’s just kind of been a little thing since.”
The ‘thing’ is Evans under center, bulling forward, in short-yardage situations. In four snaps, Evans has three chains-moving first-down plunges and a 1-yard scoring plunge.
Seldom under center in its regular offensive sets and still honing in on optimizing the offense with Drew Pyne as starting signal-caller, the Clydesdale package seems to fit for the 6-feet, 5-and-one-eighth-inches Evans, his 255 pounds being pushed along with an additional 492-pound boost being supplied by Michael Mayer and Audric Estimè.
“Honestly, I’m just thinking we gotta get the first down, no matter what,” says Estimè, Notre Dame’s bruising tailback. “Because I’m behind him and I’m just thinking, I gotta push this big dude and we just gotta get the first down.
“He’s a pretty strong dude himself, but I’m pushing on one side and got big Michael Mayer pushing on the other side. So I’m just honestly pushing as hard as I can and trying to help move the pile. There’s not really any scheme to it; it’s just push and the strongest man wins.”
Closing in on Notre Dame’s career defensive record for quarterback sacks and no stranger to opposing backfields, Isaiah Foskey shakes his head at the memory of his first exposure to ‘Mitch-a-palooza.’
“It was like one of the practices, it was the first time the defense saw it and he just ran in and did the exact same thing,” says Foskey, his 22.5 career sacks just two off the program benchmark. “We were like, ‘What?’ We were so confused, and he just got the yards that they needed.
“I’m happy he’s on our team. He’s getting some yards.”
Despite his heritage as a prep quarterback, Evans is doing this for the Irish offense in a previously unseen formation. His Notre Dame bio notes 2,132 passing yards to accompany 23 touchdowns in his senior season at Wadsworth and makes no mention of Evans’s rushing tallies.
“I had never done that,” Evans says of taking a snap under center. “Probably middle school, maybe? In high school, we were all empty, spread; I was never under center. So that week when (Rees) said we were doing that, I was like, ‘Oh, OK. Here we go. We gotta try it.’
“I just did it once, found a little routine with it and it worked. I haven’t fumbled a snap. Coach trusts me with it, so we’re good.”
Teams are starting to hone in on the center of the Irish offensive line as Evans readies for snaps; still, the Jarrett Patterson-Zeke Correll-Josh Lugg trio represents Notre Dame’s veteran-most offensive linemen helping provide the front-line impetus for Evans to move the chains.
“It’s a surge,” Evans says. “First of all, we have the best offensive line up front and they do all the work, basically.
“I’m just along for the ride with my Mike and Audric pushing me. You can tell with Audric, his arms as massive and he’s just this strong dude; same with Mike. So it’s a huge force to be reckoned with with all of us pushing up there.”
Could that force eventually include some aerial demonstrations? Evans isn’t divulging any secrets.
“Whatever Coach Rees has cooked up, I have no idea,” Evans says. “I just do whatever he tells me to do and whatever he wants me to do.”