Malik Zaire Competing With Passion To Regain Starting Job

From 1987-92, the San Francisco 49ers were enormously blessed to have an eight-time Pro Bowl quarterback (Joe Montana, the righty) and a future seven-time Pro Bowl quarterback (Steve Young, the lefty) on the roster.

Furthermore, the No. 3 QB was Steve Bono, who would be a Pro Bowl player himself in 1995. The trio epitomized the “embarrassment of riches” that Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said he now has at quarterback this spring. Nevertheless, the dynamic and tension of that Montana-Young relationship was recently reflected in a recent AT&T commercial in which the two are reunited by happenstance, and even their mistimed (albeit choreographed) handshake attempts were awkward.

The 2016 Notre Dame football team has a lighter, collegiate version of this competition with the right-handed, poised incumbent DeShone Kizer — who as a sophomore already directed three Montana-like fourth-quarter comeback wins, plus nearly a fourth at Stanford had the defense not collapsed — and the left-handed Malik Zaire. In his lone two starts and finishes with the Fighting Irish, Zaire showcased his dynamic dual-threat abilities, from an MVP performance in the 2014 Music City Bowl win over LSU in which he rushed for 96 yards to the 19-of-22, 313-yard passing clinic in the 2015 rout of Texas (38-3) in the opener. (Sophomore Brandon Wimbush is the Bono-like figure, for now.)

A fractured/dislocated ankle one week later at Virginia (Sept. 12) ended Zaire’s season, but not his contention that he can still be “The Man” for the Notre Dame offense. Interestingly, through friends in the quarterback fraternity, Zaire also has developed regular communication with Young, who for many years was frustrated behind Montana before Super Joe signed with Kansas City. It provides Zaire valued perspective.

“The greatest lefty quarterback,” Zaire, the first southpaw at Notre Dame in 90 years to toss a touchdown pass, declared of Young. “He’s a busy man but he finds time to get a chance to holler at me and we share our little stories, and it’s always a good time. … It’s just a blessing being able to talk with the great Steve Young.”

Cleared to practice this spring after doing some light work in December for Notre Dame’s bowl preparation, Zaire is still in the rehab stage while working on his mobility, regaining his range of motion and strengthening his tendons.

For the third straight spring, Zaire is engaged in an intense spring competition to start. After a one-season exile, the far more experienced Everett Golson won the job in 2014, but Zaire’s ascent at the end of that season led him to win the starting job by default in 2015 once Golson opted to use his fifth season of eligibility at Florida State. Two years earlier, it was five-star recruit Gunner Kiel who opted to transfer (to Cincinnati) from the Irish.

Zaire’s mere presence keeps putting the pressure on the other quarterbacks, but entering his senior year (with a fifth year of eligibility remaining in 2017) he is getting antsy to have a full season to call his own.

“You really wonder what it’s going to take to finally convince people enough that I’m able to do the job,” Zaire said. “I don’t make decisions [on who starts], so I’ve got to keep balling and do what I’ve got to do — that’s being the best in the country every time I’ve got to be out there.

“I know I’m a championship quarterback, and that’s something we’re working on. Every day is another process for me in my growth and development, and I know I have to be in the best shape at all times to help this team win football games.”

While he admits he might be back to “square one” in the QB competition because of his injury setback last year and needs to improve the mental aspects of his game, Zaire will not concede a starting role, especially after the devastation he felt when his 2015 season prematurely ended.

“I’m confident in my abilities and I know that I’m the most hardest working quarterback, I think, in the country,” Zaire said. “For me to be traveling all these places that I did to get ready [in 2015] and for me to put so much effort, and blood, sweat and tears into this team and not be able to get the prize at the end of the day, it was kind of hard for me to deal with at the moment.”

Zaire’s leadership and passion for the game have been lauded by Kelly, especially with how engaged he remained daily with the team during his rehab.

“This is what I do,” said Zaire, shrugging off comments about his dedication. “This game means a lot to me and this team means a lot to me, and this is what I want to do for a long time. Just because I hurt, I know there are still things I need to work on and things that need to get done because I’m trying to be the best in the country.

“I know I can be the best in the country, so I have to be able to do that in order to help this team to the best of my ability. That doesn’t stop with any dream.

“I don’t compete with people. I compete with myself to get better. I’m looking at being the best I can be all the time and looking to be the best quarterback in the country. I don’t know what competition that they feel like is out there, but I do think that it’s good being around the team and good being with the guys, working on our timing and getting right.

“… Coach decides what he decides, and I stay focused believing I can get better and grow with my teammates. I know that my work ethic and my belief in the guys around me and my belief in what I want to do and what I want to accomplish will all fall into place.”

Returning to a starting role would never be awkward to Zaire.