Notre Dame Football tackles day two of fall camp in the scorching heat
SOUTH BEND, Ind – New offensive coordinator Gerad Parker speaks on the experience of Sam Hartman and his tight end room without Michael Mayer.
“There's a lot to be said about experience and being in it, and he's been in the fire a lot,” Parker said about Hartman’s college football career.
“I think you guys can all see he's a great quarterback, great leader. You know, we knew what to expect when he came in, he's got it, he's got a great pedigree coming from Wake Forest. And, you know, since he's been here, he's just taking everybody under his wing showing us the way,” said tight end Holden Staes.
In Hartman's sixth season, his leadership and experience will go a long way for Parker, entering his first season running the Irish offense.
“The job really is to coordinate like, what does that really mean? Like everybody in our business, thinks, plays, plays, plays, and they matter. But you're really just trying to make sure you help, guide and give direction to a great staff,” Parker added.
As Parker conducts the offense, he has still done plenty to keep his tight ends engaged in the production. Something they have taken a liking to as he adjusts to his new role.
“With GP (Gerad Parker) at the, you know, OC position...he obviously loves us, and he'll be keeping the tight ends essential part of our offense, which we love as tight ends, and it's a big part of our offense in general,” said tight end Kevin Bauman.
In his first season as the OC, Parker and Notre Dame will not have "Mr. Reliable," tight end Michael Mayer. Instead, he’s relying on three healthy veterans in the tight end room this year.
Mitchell Evans, Kevin Bauman, and Holden Staes. Parker says each of them bring a different skillset and value to the offense.
“They complement each other. All (of them) kind of have different skill sets. Holden...is clearly the younger of the three. He brings a different skill set in the pass game at different phases of the block game off the ball. Kevin's an old veteran, will play on the ball, the main and gritty as he continues to work to get healthy. And then Mitch can do a little bit of both. And he's proven that, so what better combination of three veterans that kind of feed off each other because they have three different skill sets and talents,” Parker mentioned.
