Mar 18, 2015 02:28 PM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Notre Dame Fighting Irish head football coach Brian Kelly is going into spring practices in a similar position with his two quarterbacks than he was one year ago.

Kelly gave his spring press conference Tuesday previewing the upcoming season, according to the team's official website. One of the questions he tackled was in regards to his starting quarterback.

Like last season, Everett Golson seems to be heading into the competition as the favorite over Malik Zaire, but likely only because of his past experience.

"We need to see [Golson] continue his development in the disciplined approach of playing the position, right? Taking care of the football," Kelly said. "Take the last drive in the LSU game, for example, some of the plays he made there. Poised in the pocket. Checking the football down. Staying within the realm of the offense. Much of that needs to continue."

After a full year away from the Irish serving an academic suspension, Golson led the team to a 6-0 start. During that stretch, he threw 16 touchdowns, more than he threw the season before, against just four interceptions. But Notre Dame finished 1-5 before going into their bowl game against LSU.

During that stretch, Golson threw 10 interceptions and was pulled in the Irish's season finale against USC for Zaire. Though Zaire, going into his sophomore season, was ineffective against USC, he completed 12 passes against LSU in 15 attempts, while throwing for 96 yards and a touchdown.

But as Kelly said, Golson came in on Notre Dame's final drive and executed some key passing plays to set up the game-winning field goal. If nothing else, Golson has extensive knowledge of the Irish's offense, but Zaire's potential is still untapped at this point.

"Once we see how they're going to compete, I think we'll have a better understanding of answering that question," Kelly said. "It's one thing to go out there and compete without footballs. It's another thing to put the football in their hands, go run the offense, then we'll have a better sense.

"Based upon what we saw in our bowl preparations, based upon what we saw in the LSU game, I think they're both going to compete. I think they're both very much going to be part of our success in 2015."

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