Zach Frazer Notre Dame QB transferring..

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From Blueandgold.com

Since March 22, when Charlie Weis commented that his main goal of spring would be to whittle the quarterback derby down to a two-horse race, there has been speculation that at least one of the contenders left out of that race would likely transfer to another school when all was said and done. Common wisdom also held that that individual would most probably be Zach Frazer.

Frazer garnered one of the first scholarship offers from Weis after the NFL quarterback guru accepted the position of head football coach at Notre Dame and on April 14, 2005 Frazer gave his verbal commitment to Weis. Frazer was only the third recruit to commit in the class of 2006 and the most touted quarterback commitment since Brady Quinn. He quickly became the poster boy among the Irish faithful of the glory days that lay just over the horizon.

At the time, the hopes were high for what Weis would bring to the program but until the Irish faced off against Pittsburgh, Frazer and his fellow commits were the only tangible evidence that Notre Dame's football program was back on track. Jimmy Clausen was a long shot whose name was known only to serious recruitniks, and - though it's hard to believe now - the only recruiting analyst banging the drum for Demetrius Jones seemed to be BGI's Ryan O'Leary.

During the spring, Frazer presented himself with confidence when speaking to the press. So much so that when commenting on the quarterback race, he said "in my eyes, I'm number one hands down." (The quote was often played up as arrogance but in the context of someone applying for a job, it was understandable.) However, with the arrival of Clausen, Frazer had suddenly become the second most touted pro-style quarterback on the roster. And with Jones' mobility and Evan Sharpley's experience, he was quickly slated as the odd man out. Yesterday, it just became official.

As it stands, Frazer is fourth in line to the signal-calling position. As the top one or two gain experience and as Dayne Crist arrives in 2008 and who-knows-who the year after that, the playing field will only get further away for Frazer. Furthermore, he doesn't have the sheer athleticism of a Carlyle Holiday that would allow him to get on the field at another position. Just days ago, Frazer's father had been quoted as dismissing the possibility of a transfer while at the same time emphasizing that Zach is committed to playing the game of football. With yesterday's press release, those two statements no longer seem mutually compatible.

So if not Notre Dame, where?

Some of the teams that offered Frazer that continue to be short on talent at quarterback include Duke and Syracuse. Among other schools that have been speculated on as strong possibilities are Stanford and Pittsburgh.

However, if Frazer does decide on a transfer, he will almost certainly not play for any of those teams. Charlie Weis has a policy of not granting a release if it is to a team on a future schedule. In 2005, Weis invoked this policy on Brandon Nicolas, a defensive tackle who was considering a transfer to UCLA. He ended up at Colorado. Weis would certainly have even more of a reason to invoke the policy for a quarterback who has been perusing his playbook for two years.

Whatever the future holds for Zach Frazer, I will continue to be a fan. He has conducted himself with poise, confidence, and class. He will always be a "Notre Dame Man" in my book.


It would be a terrible shame if he left.
Obviously Weis has bought into the hype of the Running QB in 'DD' Jones.
However looking at it another way,Duke and Syracuse would be much better teams with a Zach Frazer at QB.
 

Colonel_Reb

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Not to be a pest, but this should be in the college football stars forum or in an existing Notre Dame thread.
 
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Colonel_Reb said:
Not to be a pest, but this should be in the college football stars forum or in an existing Notre Dame thread.

apologies Reb,can you or one of the other mods move it?
 

Colonel_Reb

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Irish, I'll see what I can do, and no need to apologize. It happens to a lot of folks, including myself when I first joined.
 
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