Marcus Freeman Talks Notre Dame vs. Ohio State, Injuries, Defense and More
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman will lead his 5th-ranked Fighting Irish into hostile territory on Saturday night when they face 2nd-ranked Ohio State. Freeman met with the media on Thursday for a final time. Here is that transcript.
On emotions ahead of the game ....
"No, that will just be a go see, I want them to go see what Ohio Stadium looks like, and kind of get a feel for the surroundings, the locker room. How do we take the field. It won't be a walkthrough as much as just really going to see the stadium. For those guys not to be surprised about how it looks the next day and so I think it's important to just go there and get a feel for it, and then get out of there.”
On Jarrett Patterson's injury status ....
"I would still say he's questionable. He didn't do the entire practice the past few days, but he did some of the practice. You know, got some scout team reps and did a couple of team reps. And so, he's still questionable. We still got a good amount of time before Saturday evening and we'll revisit it obviously today after practice and tomorrow after practice and as we get to Saturday, but I would still say today he's questionable for Saturday night.”
On Zeke Correll making calls ....
"I think that he's shown the ability to make the correct decisions to really to execute his assignment versus multiple different looks that we've given him, as Zeke has he prepared for Ohio State. We have the utmost confidence in him. If we didn't he wouldn't be out there with the starting group at center. So I expect him to do a heck of a job and we have the utmost confidence in him.”
On the Jim Knowles defense ....
"I think they do a lot of pre snap disguises. They give you different looks. They move, one of the we call them their 'Jack' guys, they move them around in different places. They bring pressure to drop eight. They do a lot of different things. So, for us, we have to be able to pre snap wise have an idea of what we think we're getting and then be able to adapt and adjust off of it. It's going to be obviously, a big game for Tyler (Buchner) to be able to put our protections in, put our offensive line in the right protections, make the right checks and make the right decisions. But again, you can't be overly prepared for everything. You have to make sure you have a good base in terms of what you think you're going to see, what our plan is and you're going to have to be able to adapt and adjust. We have to be really good with our sideline adjustments and be able to communicate what we've seen and really what we think we're going to be getting.”
How many starters will be playing on special teams coverage units?
"Off the top my head I don't have the exact number of starters, but it's a point of emphasis for us. We're going to have to put our best players on special teams and that's because of how important that is to our program. We believe that we have to have a superior special teams unit. We have to really, really understand how important that phase of the football game is. I expect to see guys like Bo Bauer and you know some of those Jordan Botelhos, you'll see Isaiah Foskey on some units. Again, the most dependable players, the players you count on will be on all of our special teams, but especially those cover units.”
Do you still treat freshmen like everybody else in a game like this?
"No, I think you have to understand they're still freshmen. This is their first collegiate game and we have to have that understanding. Now, a lot of them (have) earned the trust in their coaches and our coaching staff that we can play them. And we will, but we have to again understand that this is (for) a lot of them, their first collegiate game and obviously going into it a place like Ohio Stadium. They got to understand the type of challenge it will be and so we got to be smart in terms of what we're asking them to do. But if we put them on the field, we have the confidence they can get the job done.”
On having his wife and kids around the program ....
"They're a part of who I am. And, my family is so important to me, as I said previously. It's a blend, right? There is no balance. I've told you guys before there's no balance between work and home and so they're a blend of everything I do and they're a part of this football program. It's been great for me, because it keeps things in perspective of importance, right? And family is so important to me, so it's been great to have them here with me.”
The “presence and energy” Jayson Ademilola brings to the defense ....
"He obviously brings an emotional aspect to the game and he plays the game with emotion. He's a high motor guy that you .... that dude's all over the field. That's what you need. You have to play this game with some type of emotion. I say all the time, we want to play the game with emotion but not be emotional. Jayson definitely brings an element of emotion to the way he plays. He plays extremely hard, and I think he raises the play of those around him. So, I'm excited and confident in what he's going to bring to the table.”
When does motivation make the biggest difference ....
"It's all in the preparation. I mean, if you're not motivated Saturday night at 7:30 to play the number one number (or) two team in the country then, we have bigger issues. But it's often man, you have to continue to motivate your guys and understand that preparation is the most important key and and as I tell him all the time, I have to find ways create this type of environment where the practices are hard practices are tough. There's a lot of pressure. Because, when you get out there in the game, you know 105 (to) 110,000 fans, that's pressure. So, how do we kind of simulate that in practice and motivate them to make sure they can give everything they have the practice. I mean, they're human you know? And not everybody is motivated every single day to go out there and practice and that's our job as coaches to motivate those guys and find unique ways to get them motivated to practice. And so, whichever ways I can use to motivate these guys to go out and really get the effort and the intention to what we need to have a great practice, then I'm going to utilize it.”
Calling recruits at midnight, September 1st ....
"I think it's mostly just the relationship. You know, being able really start to build this relationship with the next class of recruits. We understand that it's so important, right? The talent acquisition or the ability to bring in the best players in the country that fit this place is what's going to continue to help us enhance and continue to improve. So, it's never too early to start building that relationship. And that was what last night was about to start with that next class of starting this relationship.”
On being a 17.5-point underdog ....
"It was something that I brought up (Monday), just because I heard it in the press conference. Again, I'm not into gambling, as I told the team, I just said that and then we're underdogs and it's okay. So listen again, it all comes back to the motivation to prepare and that's what our job as coaches is to do is to make sure that we have the most prepared team we can and that's what it's all about. Again, I'm not using that for Saturday. If we got to go in and say you're an underdog on Saturday to get them motivated then we have other issues. So, everyday you're looking for a way to get them prepared and get them motivated to practice”
Motivation tactics as an underdog ....
"Preparation, you know? No matter if you're underdog or you're the favorite, it's about the preparation and that's what we'll continue to focus on.”
On injured players Logan Diggs, Deion Colzie and Joe Wilkins Jr. ....
"All three of them will be in a position to play for us and be able to go out there and compete. So we're not going to put them on the field if we don't think they're ready to help us and they're ready to play a game and we feel all three of those guys are ready to help us and ready to go compete on Saturday. There's some probably live reps they missed during camp, but there's no hesitation in my mind in the position coaches mind to you know, play those guys.”
The message he wants to send to recruits Saturday night ....
"I'm really focused on making sure this team goes out and competes its tail off and does whatever it takes to make sure that we're performing to the potential that we have. And so, again, that's that's my focus. It's not the recruits that are going to be there, it's this team and making sure that we go out and perform the right way. It goes back to preparation. And then on game day, we got to go out and execute. We've got to go do it. And so, more important than anything, it's about making sure that this team is ready to go. And hopefully that's something that's attractive to these recruits, you know, they go out there and they see a competitive, tough, disciplined football team. And then they have to figure out if this is something they want to be a part of, and, you know, we'll get to that, but probably the strongest message is, is a good performance.”
The importance of starting fast ....
“That's something that you've got to preach, you have to practice it. You got to start practice with situations that don't help you lose into a game. We try to start practice with some openers in different situations that the minute we're done with with stretching, the flex that we can go right into a competitive situation. It's a mindset, but also it's about execution. And it's about knowing exactly what you want to do and and going out and executing. So, starting fast has been important from us since the day I became the head coach, and obviously starting fast for the season has been important to us as we started fall camp. You can't start slow versus a team like Ohio State. So, that will be something that we're aspiring and striving to do. We'll see on September 3, if we're able to do it.”
The challenges offensive pre snap motion poses to a defense ....
“It's difficult. Those offense that do it, you can create some some eye violation, some misalignments, which can create some holes and some gaps and maybe some missed assignments on defense. But the other part of that is offensively, it's you don't want to confuse yourself either. So, it's the ability to be able to do enough of it, where you make the defense, adapt and adjust, offensively you also don't want to confuse yourself. And so, there's a fine line between how much you do and how much can be really productive for your offense and really can be counterproductive for the defense.”
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