Notre Dame, Ind (UHND) - Throughout the 2002 season, I was and still am a big fan of Carlyle Holiday. For two years under Bob Davie/Kevin Rogers Holiday was basically asked to drop back and then make something happen with his feet. There was no real offensive system from which Holiday was to learn. Rather, 90% of passing plays ended up in Holiday scrambling around trying to make something happen. Enter Tyrone Willingham and Bill Diedrick.

Under the new coaching staff's watch, Holiday evolved from a pure option quarterback to a competent passer. A repeat performance in 2003 however cannot be accepted. In order for Notre Dame to improve on its 10-3 mark in 2002, Holiday must improve as a passer. Its already been stated that the starting job is up for grabs. Holiday clearly is in the pole position, but it is not a given that he will be the starter when Washington State comes to South Bend in September.

Holiday made huge strides from 2001 to 2002, but in order to keep his job, he must make similar strides this off season. Holiday still tends to hold on to the ball too long, has trouble completing short passes, and locks on receivers at times. Holiday did however show that he can throw a nice deep ball multiple times in 2002, most notably on the first play against Florida State, when he connected with Arnaz Battle for 65 yard touchdown.

This spring will be critical for Holiday and the future of the Notre Dame offense. Holiday will feel the pressure from Chris Olsen who will be a redshirt freshman next season. Olsen did not see action this year and was reportedly just not ready to contribute in 2002. After a full season of practice, Olsen will be ready to make a push in spring. Olsen was a highly rated quarterback coming out of high school and will need to make a push in spring with another highly rated quarterback, Brady Quinn. coming in the fall.

Quinn is considered by many to the best QB to come to Notre Dame in years. Quinn will come in the fall and do everything he can to make it on the field. Quinn played in a similar offense in high school and has all the tools to come and compete right away. Then there is also the back-up from 2002, Pat Dillingham. Dillingham played courageously in 2002 and lead the Irish to a comeback against Michigan State and a win over Stanford. Dillingham however does not a very strong arm, and will most likely drop down to fourth on the depth chart for 2003.

After spring practice we will have a better understanding of who will be quarterbacking. Many fans tend to focus on Holiday's performance against USC and forget the improvement he showed after the injury in the MSU game. Holiday showed steady improvement as the season progressed but was hampered by the injury in the MSU game and then again in the bowl game against NC State.

I would not count Holiday out just yet, he showed a lot of heart last year and if he can make similar improvements this off season like he did last year, he will most likely be the starter next season. There will definitely be more competition for the starting job this off season to push him. Last year Matt LoVecchio transferred and the starting job fell into Holiday's lap. This offseason he will have something to prove. He is going to have to fight off stiff competition from the other trio of quarterbacks and nothing is a given at this point. If some of the publish reports are true, the toughest competition could come from Quinn who is said to have the talent to start from day one.

It will be very interesting to see how this all plays out. If Quinn does in fact come in and grab the starting job and Olsen shows that he is capable of contributing as well I would not be surprised to see Holiday moved to another position ala Arnaz Battle. That is of course if Holiday does what most people think he will and not retain his starting role. I for one however, am not ready to give up on Carlyle just yet and expect to see him lining up under center on September 6, 2003 against Washington State.