Notre Dame's Evan Sharpley seemed to really enjoy his time in the interview room Tuesday.
The fifth-year senior, who cut his minor league baseball season short to come back to Notre Dame, is now the backup quarterback with sophomore Dayne Crist out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL in his right knee.
Sharpley jokingly said now you guys want to talk to me when he came into the interview area and was cracking jokes while talking to the media between serious answers.
"Now instead of being the second most important person on the team, which is the third-string quarterback, I'm now the most important person on the team," Sharpley said. "That is always how I looked at it. I mean you are one play away. You always have to be prepared. You are not going to get the same amount of reps as the starting quarterback, so you have to be that much more prepared mentally.
"That's the way I always looked at it, and that's what I told Dayne, 'You are the most important player on this team, whether you like it our not.' … If Jimmy comes out, you're in. You have to be ready."
Sharpley said working with the scout team this season helped him stay ready physically, but now, he will be a little more in touch with Notre Dame's offense.
Sharpley said when adjustments were made in practice, he would not find out about them until the next day in the offensive meeting because he would be working against the Irish's first-team defense when the adjustments were being made.
"In terms of that, it will be a positive," Sharpley said of working only with the offense. "I will be on the field watching what Jimmy's doing maybe a nuance or something that has changed."
Sharpley is a student teacher at John Adams. He is teaching two senior government classes and three geography classes.
"Each week it is like can we sign a petition to send to (Irish coach Charlie Weis) so you can play," Sharpley said of the students' interest in him playing for Notre Dame. "What can we do to get you on the field? I don't know, maybe some smiling faces or some pictures … I've gotten some pictures and some cool little designs they made for me drawing other players on the team."
Sharpley said the student teaching is the last phase before he is certified.
