In so many ways, the Brian Kelly era at Notre Dame has been the Everett Golson era at Notre Dame.

Kelly's first true quarterback signee was Golson, in December 2010. The dual-threat, strong-armed kid from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, would be just the guy to operate Kelly's vaunted spread attack, which at Cincinnati had produced nearly 40 points per game during the coach's 12-1 final run there in 2009. And sure enough, after a redshirt season spent behind three older guys with more experience, Golson emerged as the winner of the Fighting Irish's 2012 QB race.

The youth was obvious, the offense was simplified and the defense was dominant, but a lack of rookie mistakes, a few strokes of Irish luck and flashes of greatness here and there resulted in a perfect regular season for Notre Dame, which played for its first national title in 24 years.

All this, and the kid had upward of 41 starts remaining in a college uniform. The future seemed bright.

How things got to this point -- with Golson starting just 12 more times for the Irish after the 2012 campaign and with Kelly still searching for a single season of consistently strong QB play at Notre Dame, nearly six years in -- could be a lesson in placing too much on the shoulders of a college kid who, like most of his peers, is fallible. But Golson's decision Thursday to play his final season of eligibility away from Notre Dame could end up being beneficial for both parties.

For Golson, it is a chance for a fresh start. As one coach has remarked in the past, Golson is good enough to win a team a national championship. The coach immediately added, of course, that Golson is erratic enough to cost a team five games. A 17-6 record in two very different seasons as the starter is enough proof of that. With no shortage of elite programs having quarterback questions this spring, Golson will have no problem finding a suitor for his talents.

For Notre Dame, the loss could mean addition by subtraction. The program moves on to summer workouts and fall camp without the weight of a quarterback controversy. Malik Zaire is now the starter, Kelly announced, and for a guy as outwardly confident as Zaire has been over these past two-plus years, the distinction should only help him become the kind of offensive leader needed for a program with playoff aspirations. And any Power 5 program that returns upward of 20 starters has playoff aspirations.

The 6-foot, 222-pound Zaire is more of a rushing threat than the 6-foot, 200-pound Golson, something that ought to be utilized behind the deepest offensive line of Kelly's tenure. In his two most recent live appearances in front of outsiders, Zaire has looked tailored for just that -- tallying 96 rushing yards in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl victory over LSU and rushing for 40 yards in the first half of last month's Blue-Gold spring game.

A simplified attack for a relatively new starter could mean fewer mistakes, as in 2012. And given the experience surrounding Zaire on both sides of the ball, the quarterback's impact this fall should be minimized to some degree.

Last season, Golson was trumpeted around as the program savior and was showered in Heisman-contending praise after racing to a 6-0 start -- even as that quick success seemed to hinge as much on an overperforming defense and an underwhelming early schedule. Yes, give Golson some credit for working his way back to Notre Dame in 2014 and for not opting for a quick fix elsewhere. (And no, leaving Notre Dame now is not the same as it would have been then, considering he is walking away with a degree from a world-class university.) But for an Irish program that had already seen its 2013 season severely hampered before it began because of Golson's academic suspension, its investment in Golson's comeback always seemed like a bit too much.

Defensive injuries came at the same time as a tougher stretch of the schedule, which became Golson's undoing. Mistake after mistake mounted -- 22 turnovers in all -- and while plenty of criticism was tossed Golson's way, not even a hint of job insecurity came until the fourth game of the Irish's four-game slide to end the regular season, at rival USC.

Golson finally lost his job for the bowl game, and that just happened to be the Irish's most impressive performance of the season. If that wasn't a harbinger of things to come, winter reports of transfer interests and ensuing spring silence from Golson further unmasked the unrest.

Now Golson and Notre Dame can both get on with their seasons, each bursting with potential and, finally, liberated from each other.