In practice, he was actually looking very good running the spread option offense. The hope was that we could use a dual package somewhat similar to what Florida did with the Leak / Tebow combination.
Make no mistake about it. He quit on the team. He would have had a chance to regain the starting QB position, but didn't even bother getting on the bus.
And, looking back on things, he regrets not staying at ND to play other positions. He could easily have had a shot as a linebacker in 2008.
I will say that Charlie's fault was not starting Evan Sharpley from the start of the season. Sharpley actually had a decent command of the Erhardt-Perkins offense, and would have been the best option that year, since Clausen was still sporting an injury.
Link: https://irish.nbcsports.com/2010/11/03/demetrius-jones-regrets-leaving-notre-dame/