SOUTH BEND (AP) — After working under Nick Saban, Mack Brown and Charlie Weis, Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Haywood is going to finally have a chance to show what he's learned.

Haywood will be calling plays for the first time when the Fighting Irish take the field Saturday for their season-opener against San Diego State. He's confident he is ready.

"I have been basically spoon-fed through coach Saban, through Mack Brown to coach Weis, I've been spoon-fed for the position," he said.

Haywood is approaching the opportunity methodically, saying he's not feeling any special excitement as the day nears.

His role with the team hasn't changed much. Most of the day he does the same thing he's done for the past three seasons, although he frequently spends a couple of extra hours at the office coming up with ideas to talk to the staff about.

"The only difference is I call the plays," he said. "Everything else is the same."

The biggest difference will likely be the microscope Haywood will be under.

It's tough enough following a coach known as an offensive guru who won three Super Bowl rings as offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots. Haywood has to do it with Weis looking over his shoulder, and the move happens coming off one of the worst offensive seasons in Notre Dame history as the Irish went 3-9.

Weis decided to move away from play calling after meeting last December with his old boss, Patriots coach Bill Belichick. Weis believes he needs to be more involved in all facets of the Irish game. But he also believes Haywood is ready for the job.

"When you have been together for a while, it's really not that big a turnover," Weis said. "I think Michael thinks a lot like I do. It's never going to be exactly the same. That's why I'll have to let him do it."

Haywood, 44, worked as running backs coach under Saban at LSU for three years and under Brown at Texas for two years before returning in 2005 to his alma mater, where he played flanker as a freshman before moving to cornerback during 1984-86. Haywood interviewed this past winter for the head coaching job at Houston, where he is from.

Saban, now the coach at Alabama, calls Haywood "a bright guy and very capable."

"I think he'll do an outstanding job," he said.

Brown said Haywood's best attribute might be his confidence.

"Mike does not mind you getting after him. That play-caller better not be sensitive because he's going to get some help (from Weis)," Brown said. "There's no doubt that head coaches who have called plays are harder to call them for than guys who haven't. Charlie's going to have opinions and Mike is going to have to say 'yes sir' when Charlie says 'No, call this.'"

After three years working under Weis, Haywood knows who is in charge. Still, he has been asked repeatedly about what will happen when Weis tells him to run a certain play — even if he disagrees with it.

"He's the general. I say, 'Yes sir' and I march up the hill," Haywood said. "That's just the way it is."

Weis, though, said he won't be calling plays. He might tell Haywood the Irish should run or pass, but he said he won't be telling him which play to run.

"It will allow me to get fresh bodies on the field, and be able to look in the players' faces and see what we need to do," he said.

One of the main things Haywood learned from Weis is to be consistent in play-calling and to make sure players understand what the team is trying to achieve with each play.

"We're teaching them that on first and 10 when we call this play, we're expecting four yards on this play to make it second and six. On the next call, we're making a call to get us in third and short or to pick up the first down," he said.

Haywood has waited patiently, trusting this chance would come.

"I always tell people, 'God gives you things at the right time, not necessarily when you want them,'" he said. "In talking with some of the coaches I've coached with in the past who are coordinators now, in their first year as a play-caller or defensive play-caller, they felt they were somewhat thrown under the bus because a lot of things may have happened they may never have been prepared for."

This season, he will get to show how well he has prepared.