Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly addressed the media today to talk about his team's development this year and preview the upcoming matchup with Stanford.
He touched on the development of fifth-year senior linebacker Asmar Bilal and senior wide receiver Chase Claypool, what it would mean to the program to win 10 games in a season again and more.
Kelly: "Okay, just a quick comment about our seniors playing in their last home game. Certainly the ability to carry two years of winning at home, a great achievement and accomplishment that they can certainly leave feeling great about and be part of something that they built. That's a legacy. Those are hard to build here at Notre Dame and that they can feel great about that.
"Winning the football game allows them to certainly move on and focus on this game, a game that obviously we have not won at Stanford in quite some time. So the focus is on playing well on the road against an opponent that certainly has our respect. As I mentioned, they have beaten us at Sanford Stadium and certainly have beaten us here.
"So our guys will have to play well. They're very talented on offense. Outstanding receiving corps. Two quarterbacks and obviously it seems as though either quarterback is extremely capable of playing well. Costello hasn't played the last few weeks, but it really hasn't slowed down their offense at all.
"Mills is extremely talented as well, puts the ball -- I'd say his accuracy is as good as we've seen this year. And then to have such versatility at the wide receiver position and probably one of the best catching tight ends in the country in Parkinson.
"We love our tight ends. But this is a special player, too. Wedington, Fehoko, and I think Wilson, all of them are as talented of a group of receivers that we'll see. So, we've got our hands full with this group.
"They've had to deal with a number of injuries as well and playing some young players on the offensive line that are now no longer freshmen. They've played a lot of games and gotten better each and every week.
"Defensively a similar structure. They've lost a lot of players from last year. Toohill really stands out in terms of his ability to get after the quarterback. I think he's got eight sacks. A very active player, really like the way that he plays.
"And again I think from our perspective, it's been a stingy team against the run, and that's an area that obviously we've got to be able to run the ball and continue to run the football.
"Again, injuries have beset them. They lost their starting kicker as well. So a football team that's certainly dangerous, one that is playing in their last game. They're not going to play another game after this. So we'll get their very best. And one where we'll have to meet that and exceed it because it's a dangerous football team."
On Tommy Kraemer’s recovery:
Kelly: “Yeah, I think he's somebody that we expect to do something in the spring, but he's in the weight room. He's already working around the injury. No setbacks from the surgery -- not from the surgery, but from the rehab. He didn't have surgery, obviously, but he's doing quite well.”
On if Kraemer could play in a bowl game:
Kelly: “Doesn't appear that's going to be the case.”
On Asmar Bilal’s development:
Kelly: “Well, I think there was a hint of that in his special teams play. There was a physicality, and he wasn't -- afraid is not the right word -- but there was never a time where we felt like he wasn't willing to really mix it up and play physical.
“So we knew there was a guy that was willing to get in there and be physical. We saw that in his special teams play. And then in his limited snaps that he did, in fact, have out there, I thought we saw some glimpses when Drue Tranquill went down, that he could do some things even though Jim Larkeith was in there and we saw Asmar a little bit, too.
“And I just think, based upon his physical traits, I know that Clark felt like he could get him to do the things at the linebacker position that we needed.”
On freshman defensive end Isaiah Foskey’s development:
Kelly: “We think he can be a very special player. Certainly we wouldn't have saved him for this game. We feel like the pass rush is going to be very, very important. We held him out of a couple of games for that reason. We think he can impact our sub package in particular.
“He'll be a starter in that subpackage. And we think he can influence the pass rush for us in a positive way.”
On the development of Phil Jurkovec and Brendon Clark:
Kelly: “Yeah, I think they do -- they're here every step of the way with meetings and the ups and downs. So they're pretty sharp and astute. They see the scrutiny of the position and understand how important it is to be prepared and be ready.
“There's great conversation that happens in those meetings that require you to stay on top of things, so when we're evaluating film in practice, Coach Rees is really holding Ian and Phil to a high level. So Brendon understands that you can't just come in here and just throw your way to the starting position. There's a lot of work that has to go into preparing.
“And, so, I think Brendon minimally walks away going, wow, there's a lot to this. There's a lot of preparation that goes into being the starting quarterback as well as all the expectations. So I think they leave this first year, and Phil does in particular, one step away from being a starter, knowing how much preparation goes into being the starting quarterback.”
On Chase Claypool’s development:
Kelly: “Yeah, it was. There's no doubt about it. And there were some growing pains along the way. I give him credit and his mom credit. Growing up he's had to overcome a lot of adversity as a young man. And I think that he's a strong young man in a sense that the adversity that he's had here, I think he's been able to fight through those things because of what he's had to experience growing up as well.
“So, look, we all have our stories. I think Chase's story will be one where he got knocked down a couple times and he got back up and he kept fighting. And that's what I like about him. He has had every opportunity to go in another direction and he has chosen the path that is going to make him successful. And that's a great story.”
On when he realized Claypool would become such a dynamic player:
Kelly: “Well, I think that once he was going to get an opportunity to be featured, that was going to allow him a chance to break out a little bit more. You had Boykin getting a lot of the one-on-one opportunities. And he was a lot of times to the field where he didn't get those.”
“Once he was moved into that W receiver position, I thought it would be a breakout opportunity for him. And it turned out to be that.”
On if he thinks Stanford quarterback KJ Costello will play this weekend:
Kelly: “I don't know. Obviously, we'll prepare -- both quarterbacks are outstanding and so we can't change what we're doing. We can only go on who they are as a football team offensively at this point. And it's one that is -- it is going to be successful through the air. And both of those quarterbacks can throw the football. So we'll have to prepare as if either one of them is starting and set our game plan accordingly.
On using the clap cadence to snap the ball and false starts this season:
Kelly: “We've used it prior. It's easier when you're dealing with a first-year center. Takes a little bit off of him. But it really has no bearing on false starts.
“The false starts are staying locked in, staying focused. The week before against Navy, we had a defense that was moving on every snap. We didn't have any false-start penalties.
“So it's a group that just has to stay locked in on every play. And sometimes we're thinking about too many things instead of staying on what's important. And we sometimes get away from staying on what's important.”
On if offensive lineman can get distracted by noise from the opposing team’s sideline:
Kelly: It happens, occasionally. You'll hear some ambient noise of a move call or things of that nature. But we duplicate that in practice as well. So I just think it’s getting comfortable, be in the right emotional optimal zone. And that stuff really should be as I mentioned secondary.
It shouldn't be primary noise for you. Your focus should be on what your primary responsibility is and that is block the guy over you.
On how the offensive line responded to the pressure Boston College was bringing:
Kelly: “I'll give them credit. Their defensive structure was about as far removed from what they had shown in the previous eight, nine weeks than what they showed against us. And so we had to make some adjustments. Our offensive line had to make some adjustments in what they were doing. Ian had to make some adjustments.
“They had been a cover one, cover two team, and they went to a fire zone combination coverage and did some things up front they hadn't done before. And quite frankly you have to make some adjustments, and we did.
“And I thought they did a nice job of, after being kind of uneven start, they hung in there and sorted it out and figured it out as the game kind of moved on.”
On how the team as improved the most this season:
Kelly: “I think consistency in execution. And we had a lot of younger players that really are just younger in terms of developing in their particular positions, whether it be Owusu at rover or Drew White or any of the offensive line from Eichenberg to Jared Patterson. Those guys obviously have developed.
“So there's been development across the board in every position. But I think as a unit, as a whole, on both sides of the ball, including special teams, just the way that they have gone from practice to a practice mindset to a game mindset in the sense that getting ready for games is a whole lot different.
“You have to play physical. You have to play fast. There has to be a discipline. It's so much different than practice. And they really understand how to do that now. And that takes time.”
On if kicker Jonathan Doerer made any mechanical adjustments before the season:
Kelly: “No, it's been more of a mental adjustment that he has made throughout the course of, I'd say, six to eight months. And there's always little tweaks when it comes to the kicking game. If you get outside yourself a little bit, it might be your stride's a little bit off or things of that nature.
“But most of his success from last year to this year is the mental performance piece. He's done an outstanding job there.”
On the best Thanksgiving side dish:
Kelly: “I'd say for me it would be, I'd have to go with it's a toss-up. I'm going to go with squash.”
On how the defensive line has responded to all of the injuries its sustained this season:
Kelly: “Yeah, the first guy that hasn't really gotten much -- talked about, we haven't talked a ton about, but he's been just there each and every week doing a great job is Kurt Hinish. He's been steady, taking every snap, every rep. And you can't play the kind of defense that we're playing unless you have somebody that you can count on at that shade position like we have with him all year. He's been outstanding for us.
“As we've shuffled guys in and out of the lineup, the various positions, losing two really good edge players in Daelin and Julian, having guys banged up, obviously Myron, requires young players to step in. And Ja'Mion Franklin, we mentioned him, he's had to play quite a bit this year after an injury. Jacob Lacey has been outstanding for us. Spears got his first chance to play a little bit this past week.
“On the outside, Ovie has played a little bit for us and has shown some traits that we really like, some physicality this past weekend, really showed up for us. So to have that kind of depth -- and we haven't even talked about guys like Ade who was all over the field for us and was a really special player.
“You can't have the kind of success we've had defensively if you all of a sudden have this huge drop-off. We've had a number of players step in and play at a high level.”
On when players can receive NFL evaluations
Kelly: “The NFL is, that piece is generally the second week in December. We're always fighting against the time, the clock there, relative to gaining that information. And what was the other part of the question?”
On when the players need to decide if they will be going to the NFL or not:
Kelly: “Yeah, I think it's January 19th is the -- somewhere around there. I could be corrected there as well. But it's usually about the second week in January. So there's a tight window in there.
“Certainly, we're doing work prior to that. I've already mentioned we've had conversations with a number of our players regarding what we think and what they think are in their best interests as it relates to those that have another year of eligibility remaining.
“Those that are not, you know, it's pretty clear what they're doing. So we had 30 players that are going to be graduating at the end of the year. Some of those guys have eligibility remaining. Those are the ones I've sat down and for the most part had conversations with.”
On the behind the scenes development that’s allowed the team to do well despite so many injuries”
Kelly: “I mean, it's everything. It's not just about next man in. It's about building a championship defense. And you just don't do that in August. You're building relationships and trust and accountability and you're doing that, after this season's over you're doing it when you get back in the weight room in January.
“So this is a year-round process. It takes an army to build it, an army in the sense of not one person. But a lot of people have to put a lot of time in -- support staff, strength and conditioning, nutrition. There's a lot of people that have a lot of hands in helping build a championship program. And I'm very lucky to have a great staff as well.”
On what the team has done to build better depth:
Kelly: “I think we've built better depth -- better depth in the sense that we have 1 through 85 in our scholarship. We started to look at from 50 down to 85 and how important those numbers were in terms of developing those players so they could step in and keep this thing at a high level.
“So just recruiting, recruiting depth in your program and developing that depth to be at a high level.”
On turning his team into a contender on a consistent basis:
Kelly: “Yeah, I think that's what everybody's trying to build consistency within their program that where's the bar, where do you set the bar relative to expectations and what are your standards.
“And so our standards here are to clearly we don't play in a conference. So we set high standards for the kind of play that we want from our football team each and every year.
“And we don't put a number on it. We simply say that we want to graduate champions. And we want champion performances from our football team in our program each and every year. What that looks like sometimes we don't have control over that. We don't have any control what bowl game we go to per se. We don't have control over who the top four teams would be even if we felt like we had a championship football team.
“So, it's building a standard and what that expectation should look like in terms of how your team plays week in, week out.”
On if back-to-back-to-back 10-win season would be meeting his standards for the program:
Kelly: I'd say that's a pretty high bar. You know, to win 10 out of 12 games each year, given the kind of schedule that we play, I think that's -- yeah, if you had that stock, you'd probably be pretty happy.
On how the team has been able to make sure a few failures hasn’t define their season:
Kelly: “It's an ongoing goal, as I said to you earlier. Outwardly, graduating champions outwardly is a degree and a ring. Inwardly, it means so much more. And you can continue to work on that every single day.
“So when we talk about failure, we also talk about the other side of that and that is this elusive thought of perfection. Because we're not after that either. And we're after excellence. And so sometimes our guys think perfection is what we're after. And we're not. We're after excellence.
“And so we just try to keep it real as it relates to, in life, there isn't perfection. You strive for perfection. Never really getting there. And there's always going to be failures. It's how you deal with them.
“And so it's real talk. It's about how we handle those things and grow from them.”
On what his week of practice will look like with Thanksgiving on Thursday:
Kelly: “Well, we'll have a short week in the sense of classes, too, because Wednesday there are no classes. So we'll try to keep our practices about the same time because we're going to play at 1:00 pacific standard time, which is 4:00 back here. We'll try to keep our practices around 4:00 to keep the clock the same. But it will be a little bit lighter in terms of their load.
“So they'll come in earlier, get some treatment, watch film on their own, and then we don't want to upset the routine. We did that a little bit earlier in the year and that didn't seem to work out very well. So we're going to keep the routine about the same and then Thursday go earlier because we're going to be departing after Easter dinner which we'll have together at the Morris Inn as a team.”
On what the schedule will be like the week following the Stanford game:
Kelly: “The coaches will be recruiting for the week. We'll get back in on Friday. And I'll do some meetings on Friday with players and staff on Friday and Saturday we will then prepare for what our schedule then starts to look like. Coach Balis will lift the team and have them in the weight room next week.”
On if he will be out recruiting as well:
Kelly: “Yes, I will.”
On if he will recruit California:
Kelly: “I'll actually travel further west and then come back and kind of keep checkerboarding as I work my way back to South Bend.”
On what he needs to do to get a faster team:
Kelly: “I think it's not just on offense. It's defense too. We want to continue to look at speed at the defensive back position. Speed at the running back position and wide receiver position. All those skill positions I think we have to continue to aggressively recruit that position of speed. Make up speed in particular at the cornerback position I think is one of the traits that can overcome a lot.
“I think the charge that I've given Coach Polian and the recruiting staff is to let's not get too caught up on what position they play; let's really focus in on that speed element and those position groups because I think that that's got some room for growth within our program.”
On the impact a win at Stanford will have on recruiting:
Kelly: “I think those things always help when you win the game. But I think there are some clear distinctions between the two schools that we have seen over the last few years that start to separate the recruit as it relates to whether they go to Notre Dame or whether they go to Stanford.
“But there's no mistaking a win over a school that you're recruiting some players is going to be helpful but I think what we've seen more than anything else is that there is -- there are different distinctions between the two schools as well.”
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