Take two: Lawrence, Harbaugh and the media, Irish QB plan

Take Two is back this week tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape.

Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.

MORE: Making the two-QB system work in South Bend | Harbaugh gets a salary bump

Storyline: Everything pointed to an offseason decision for five-star quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the top-rated prospect in the 2018 class, but fans of Clemson and Georgia – his two finalists – might have to wait longer.

It now looks like the Cartersville, Ga., standout wants to see what the Georgia offense looks like under first-year coach Kirby Smart. He’ll take a closer inspection of Clemson as well before making his commitment. That means more time and more angst for fans of both programs.

Either way, Lawrence could be entering a situation with a star quarterback ahead of him, since former five-star Jacob Eason is expected to be Georgia’s future QB and five-star Hunter Johnson is committed to Clemson in this class.

Still, Lawrence has the talent to be something incredibly special and it looks like Georgia or Clemson will land him. Just not too soon.

First take: “After taking what he thought would be his final visits in late July to each finalist, Lawrence quietly backed off deciding before his junior season and will carry his deliberations into the fall. He plans to take in at least one game at each school, but he has conveyed he is not in a hurry to reach the decision. So it likely won't come until October at the earliest, probably later.

“It should go without saying that Lawrence's commitment would be huge for anyone; there aren't many prep quarterbacks who look like surefire NFL guys, but he fits the prototype. Clemson can look no further than Heisman candidate Deshaun Watson to testify for the importance of a difference-maker at the game's most valuable position.

“Yet nabbing Lawrence on the heels of 2016 five-star Hunter Johnson would represent another stepping stone in the Tigers' national validation. Only twice in Rivals.com's history has a program scored back-to-back five-star quarterbacks: Notre Dame in 2007-08 and Florida in 2006-07. Alabama, Florida State and Ohio State have been recruiting on a tier above the rest but this would be a power play that makes a strong case for Clemson's longevity as an elite mainstay.” – Paul Strelow, TigerIllustrated.com

Second take: “It’s sort of historic no matter which school he decides to pick because he’ll be following two No. 1 pro-style quarterbacks in the country if he went to Clemson or Georgia. When you look at recent history, these two schools are recruiting off the charts when it comes to quarterback talent. Knowing him, he’s a free-spirited kid who doesn’t worry about stuff like that. It doesn’t surprise me, knowing his confidence level and his personality. It’s surprising he eliminated Tennessee. I thought it was going to come down to Tennessee and Clemson initially.” - Farrell

Storyline: Coach Jim Harbaugh abruptly ended a press gathering this week and walked out after he didn’t like the line of questioning about two suspended Michigan players.

Harbaugh said two players were suspended and the matter would be handled internally. The next question was how long the suspensions would be, and Harbaugh refused to answer the question and ended the press conference.

It’s probably not the best public relations move from Harbaugh, but that’s what Michigan players, coaches and fans love about him. Afterward, Harbaugh and sports talk show host Jim Rome had a little back-and-forth on Twitter.

Harbaugh doesn’t put up with stuff, refuses to stand there and droll on and is hyper-focused on putting together a national title caliber team. That’s what Michigan wants from him, to breathe some much-needed life back into its proud football program.

It’s a bit juvenile to storm away from reporters if you don’t like their line of questioning, but it sure doesn’t seem to bother Michigan players and recruits – and that’s most important.

First take: “Players love a coach who looks out for them. Harbaugh said all he was going to say about a couple of suspensions, and when the questions continued, he delivered a “Thank you” and called it a day. As far as his feistiness, both current players and many recruits have responded extremely positively to it. Players like All-Americans Jake Butt and Jourdan Lewis find it both amusing and motivational when Harbaugh doesn’t back down to challengers and have indicated that sort of edge has spread throughout the team in terms of competitiveness and taking no guff.

“Recruits have also mentioned appreciating a coach who is a fighter and an alpha dog, not someone to be pushed around. Obviously, not every recruit will see it the same way, but it’s likely those who aren’t drawn to Harbaugh’s hard ball aren’t ones who would do well in his system, anyway.” – John Borton, TheWolverine.com

Second take: “I don’t think it will reflect poorly on recruits. It’s just interesting to see this side of him come out. Everybody knew he was a hot-tempered guy and a fiery guy when he was at Stanford and especially with San Francisco. Everybody knows Jim Harbaugh is an intense guy. What he has done at Michigan is taken an opportunity to pot shot everybody else in the country through social media. When reporters ask him about his own guys and suspension details and he gets ticked off and walks away, I don’t know if the word hypocritical is right, but if you can dish it out, you have to take it.” -- Farrell

Storyline: The old adage, “If you have two quarterbacks you have none,” is not always the case. Just look at Notre Dame this season with Deshone Kizer and Malik Zaire.

Coach Brian Kelly decided this week Kizer and Zaire will both play in the season-opener against Texas, a choice that made neither quarterback happy but one that Kelly feels is best to win ball games.

“So our goal is to turn chicken crap into chicken salad,” Zaire said. Kizer’s comments were equally disgruntled.

Rarely does a two-quarterback system work, but Kelly is gambling early in the season that this one will. Both quarterbacks have had phenomenal preseasons and Kelly has made his choice to play both. But is that really the best decision?

Choosing one over the other upsets only one player. Deciding on neither has seemed to upset both.

First take: “Playing two quarterbacks on a week-by-week basis has rarely worked out. Florida won a national championship with both Chris Leak and Tim Tebow taking reps, but Tebow was a true freshman and had a very limited role. That was Chris Leak’s offense. If Notre Dame does indeed attempt to go with a two-quarterback system, it will be using two veterans quarterbacks, both of whom want the offense - and team - to be theirs.

“Zaire and Kizer have different skill sets, but both have the ability to make plays with their arms and legs. Their dual-threat skill set should allow the Irish offensive staff to employ one game plan that both can execute, making it different than what happened at Ohio State last year. The issue is not, then, whether or not the offense can work with both quarterbacks; it can. The question is will the chemistry on the team be what it needs to be in order for the Irish to make a playoff run.

“With no established quarterback, there is greater risk that whoever is on the field will be looking over his shoulder, likely concerned over whether a mistake might lead to the other player getting more reps. The desire to end the competition by playing both quarterbacks will likely have the opposite effect, with both players looking to make a big play in an attempt to become the “hot hand,” which could give them the starting role. The danger with this is it could lead to forcing plays instead of playing within the framework of the offense.

“Notre Dame has the talent at the position to make it work, but talent has is not the issue with whether this will work. It’s about both players swallowing their pride, putting aside their personal goals and focusing on what each can do to win football games.” – Bryan Driskell, BlueandGold.com

Second take: “Brian Kelly is 10 times smarter than me when it comes to anything football related, and he knows his personnel much better than I do. But I can think of very few, if any, examples where two quarterbacks split time and it being very successful. I know many coaches have been criticized for it. Maybe he’s playing out the first game to see who wins the job. I was surprised. Kelly is a very smart offensive mind and I thought he would determine a starter. Let’s say he’s thinking they’re going to blast Texas and this is a great opportunity to get both guys playing time and then determine a starter after that. If that’s the message, that’s scary. Texas may be down, but that’s not the team to do it against. If it is indecision it’s going to be one of those things where two quarterbacks equal zero quarterbacks, so I was surprised when I saw that.” - Farrell