Video of Notre Dame Coach Marcus Freeman’s Monday Press Conference
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.First-year Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman had the task of meeting with the media on Monday to explain what he plans to do about the Irish's 0-2 start, which included Saturday's home loss to Marshall.
And now he has to do it with the Irish's No. 2 quarterback after Tyer Buchner suffered a season-ending injury on Saturday.
He touched on several things, including a re-evaluation of everything and dealing with the outside noise regarding the disappointing start to the season.
His entire Monday press conference is included here, with Freeman's comments beginning about two minutes into the video:
Here are some of his main points:
"The last 36 hours have been a reality check for all of us," Freeman said, "the coaches, the head coach, the assistant coaches to our players and doing a deep evaluation of everything we're doing and to really try to figure out what our issues are.
"It is execution, but it's more than that. It's focusing on the entirety of the game. It isn't just about finishing; it's about executing the entire game. Sometimes we let the results mask the reality of how we're playing and how we're executing."
Then the staff has to discover what the precise problems are.
"Is it an understanding of what is ecpected? A personnel issue? Is it a physical or mental issue? Those are the questions we have to ask as coaches. We have to look at ourselves first, and say, 'Where is the misconnection, the miscommunication?'"
Freeman notes this is a time when the leadership of the team and the culture of the program have to take over.
"The true culture of your program shows itself when things are hard, he said, especially when there is negativity on the outside that could affect players..
"Everybody outside that locker room is feeding different things to you," he said. "That's when we've got to be strong, because probably one of two things are being said to you. Either, 'You're doing your job and the rest of your team and the coaches stink,' or, you know, "You stink; you all stink.' Neither of those things is going to help us win."
It was noted that Notre Dame, which forced 25 turnovers last season, has yet to force a single turnover this year. Freeman said his team needs to intensify the habits that cause turnovers.
"You can't just sit here and wait for it to happen," he said. "You're insane if you think it's going to happen, the good lord is going to start giving you takeaways."
No, you have to practice it and be intentional about your purpose.
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Cover photo of Marcus Freeman by Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sports
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