Clausen no prima donna

CHARLOTTE -- Taking over a struggling offense early in his first season. Thrown into the fray behind an offensive line that has had protection issues. Carrying the weight of a lifetime of expectations, in addition to whatever the defense fires at him.

Jimmy Clausen has been here before.

The Carolina Panthers' rookie quarterback, who will make his first NFL start today against Cincinnati, faced similar circumstances as a Notre Dame freshman in 2007.

The Fighting Irish finished 3-9 and Clausen ended the year beaten up after Notre Dame allowed more sacks than any team in Division I history.

While Clausen went on to rank first or second in 32 school passing categories, he was not the Irish's golden-haired savior. Notre Dame managed one winning season and one bowl berth, and had one coach fired in Clausen's three seasons as starter.

Likewise, NFL observers say Clausen cannot single-handedly save the 0-2 Panthers. Clausen, who turned 23 last week, is part of the league's youngest team, which demonstrated problems beyond the quarterback position the first two weeks.

"I think the world of Jerry Richardson and the Carolina Panthers and Foxy and everyone down there. I think it's a great organization," said Joe Theismann, the former Notre Dame quarterback who played 12 years in the NFL. "But you're only part of the situation as the quarterback. Your receivers, your line, your running backs, they all allow you to function properly."

Theismann and others believe Clausen has the skills and training to develop into a successful NFL passer. The Southern California native has had his own quarterback coach since the seventh grade and directed Charlie Weis' pro-style offense at Notre Dame, a scheme similar to the one used by Panthers offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson.

"He's going to be nervous, obviously. Peyton Manning's nervous. But it won't be overwhelming to him," said Bill Redell, Clausen's high school coach. "He'll go out there, and he'll perform. ... He's prepared all his life for it. I don't know how well he'll play, but he's prepared for it."

Rough start with Irish

As the son of a former high school and college coach with two older brothers who played quarterback at Tennessee, Clausen was well polished in 2003 when he arrived at Oaks Christian, a private high school outside Los Angeles.

He also had the benefit of working with quarterbacks coach Steve Clarkson, whose portfolio also includes Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Leinart and Josh Freeman.

"He always had a very laser-sharp release. Mechanically, that's what has gotten him this far," Clarkson said. "People have always marveled how clean a throwing motion he had, and he's had it since he was 13 years old."

Clausen was 42-0 as a starter at Oaks Christian and won a state championship as a senior the first year California returned to a statewide playoff system.

Some people viewed Clausen's confidence as cockiness or arrogance, a perception Clausen fueled with his infamous news conference announcing his commitment to Notre Dame. Clausen arrived 45 minutes late in a stretch Hummer limo at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., where he showed off his high school championship rings and said he was coming to Notre Dame to win more.

But Clausen had some humility drilled into him his first year with the Irish, whose young offensive line allowed a record 58 sacks. Clausen was on the receiving end of most of them after becoming the starter before the second game against Penn State, the earliest a Notre Dame freshman had started at quarterback since freshmen regained their eligibility in 1972.

Clausen won just three of the nine games he started in 2007, but he earned the respect of the team's upperclassmen with his toughness.

"One of the things that was very impressive about him was he took a lot of beatings and he kept bouncing back," said Panthers long snapper J.J. Jansen, a senior on the Irish's '07 team. "I felt like he got better, I felt like the team got better and kind of rallied around him. Especially his freshman class really rallied around him."

Clausen said he was not trying to prove anything.

"I was just going out there playing football," he said. "And when you get hit, you've got to get back up."

Slipped down in draft

After a solid sophomore season that included a 400-yard passing effort in a bowl win against Hawaii, Clausen thrived last fall in his third year in Weis' offense. Despite playing most of the season with a toe injury that required surgery in January, Clausen completed 68 percent of his passes for 3,722 yards with 28 touchdowns and four interceptions.

"I really didn't understand how great he was until my sophomore and junior year," said Seattle Seahawks rookie and former Notre Dame receiver Golden Tate. "He's always been a guy with great technique and very well-coached. When a coach can get that, that's great. A lot of times NFL coaches have to coach these guys the technique to be successful."

Draft experts projected Clausen as a first-round pick. But lingering concerns over Clausen's attitude and leadership skills caused him to slip to the second round, where the Panthers grabbed him with the 48th pick.

Panthers quarterbacks coach Rip Scherer was with Cleveland in 2007 when the Browns took Brady Quinn, Clausen's predecessor at Notre Dame, with the 22nd pick. Scherer heard similar complaints about Quinn.

"Brady Quinn couldn't have been a finer guy. And yet the reputation on him was that he was arrogant and cocky - all the same things you heard about Jimmy," Scherer said. "And neither one of them were even close to that."

Scherer said Clausen has been easy to work with.

"One of the first days of OTAs, I said, 'For a guy that has a reputation for being a real pain in the rear end, I don't see it. Why is that?' "

Scherer wondered whether there might be an "envy factor" working against Notre Dame quarterbacks. But Clausen's time in South Bend has eased his transition to the NFL.

Needing help

Scherer said Clausen arrived in Charlotte "ahead of the curve" for rookie quarterbacks because of his experience in Weis' offense. Theismann believes Clausen has a better NFL foundation than Tim Tebow, who was picked by Denver 23 spots ahead of Clausen but ran a spread offense and lined up almost exclusively in the shotgun at Florida.

Clausen said he had to learn the different nuances in the Panthers' playbook while getting used to the speed of the game.

Clarkson, who worked with Clausen before the draft, said Clausen's first series last week against Tampa Bay was evidence of a quick study.

Taking over for an ineffective Matt Moore, Clausen moved the Panthers 79 yards in 17 plays before Jonathan Stewart was stopped on fourth-and-goal from the 1. Clausen completed 6 of 11 passes on the drive, all of which were short throws or dump-offs.

There will be a lot of fans interested to see whether Clausen plays like the Pro Bowler Tom Brady or Brady Quinn, third string in Denver.

"I think everyone's kind of been watching to see what's going to happen [with Clausen]. Or in some cases, to say I told you so," said the Seahawks' Tate, who congratulated Clausen in a phone call Monday after the Panthers announced Clausen as the starter.

"Once he gets to the point where he knows the offense and has chemistry with the receivers, I don't think they'll be able to stop him," Tate said. "I don't care what kind of pressure they bring. He's one of those guys that once he masters something, there won't be any stopping him."