Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman held a press conference on Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium, discussing the team's roster churn, new wide receivers coach Mike Brown, and a look ahead to No. 16 ND's Dec. 29 bowl matchup with No. 19 Oregon State in El Paso, Texas. Here's everything he had to say. Answers are largely verbatim. Question are edited for brevity and clarity.
OPENING STATEMENT
“We met on Zoom after the bowl announcement, but we haven't met in person for about three weeks. There's been a lot of moving parts since then — obviously, the transfer portal, opt-outs, our coaching staff being able to go see the recruits, the academic requirements they have. Obviously, we had a coaching change, and so a lot of things have been just moving over the past three weeks. But I feel finally, getting back yesterday, we have clarity in our roster, clarity in terms of who our opponent is and really turned all of our attention toward Oregon State.
“And so, we added Mike Brown to our staff, which we announced last week. Mike's a guy that I worked with closely at Cincinnati, and to me the things that I remember most of our time together was a developer, that he was, of the entire room. Seeing him truly develop that room in Cincinnati. I know people look at the draft picks that came out of that room, but to me it's, from top to bottom, seeing him develop young people. It’s the recruiter and evaluator he is, really just the guys I've seen him bring into that program and develop. And the energy he brings. He brings some of that energy to this coaching staff, to that wide receivers room. And, last but not least, as the husband and the father, the person he is. I'm excited to get his wife, Dymond, here, [and] his two sons, Three [Mike III] and Drue, having joined our family.
“All year we've talked about the 12 guaranteed opportunities, and so we've obviously turned the page to opportunity 13, and we're grateful. I showed our team a couple of the videos on social media yesterday that you've seen the excitement of everybody that's involved with the Sun Bowl. And I want our team — I'm sure they've all seen it — but to hear that one more time and understand how grateful we are for this opportunity, how excited we are to bring this football program down to El Paso, Texas. And we’ve got to understand the challenge that it will be, and we have to grasp this opportunity.
“We truly began our physical preparation towards Oregon State today. The past couple of practices that we've had, we've really been just developing this team. Let's develop the team. Today we truly turn our attention to Oregon State in terms of practice. So, with that, I'll open up the questions.”
Q: You have two open spots at offensive tackle. Aamil Wagner and Tosh Baker, I would imagine, are the leading candidates. Are there others competing to get the starting nod?
Marcus Freeman: “Actually, Charles Jagusah has gotten the majority of the first-team reps at the left tackle, and then Tosh and Aamil have really been battling out at the right tackle position. And so, we've been rotating throughout the first six practices or five practices that we've had, but today we started going toward scout teams. Jagusah will be at the left, and then it will be a battle to see who's going to be the right tackle for the game.”
Q: Looking beyond the Sun Bowl, you had some announcements of Howard Cross III and Jack Kiser and Rylie Mills coming back. Could you just speak to the significance of that to your program beyond the Sun Bowl?”
MF: “It's huge, right? Not only are they great football players and productive football players and experienced football players, they're great leaders. And to have those three guys commit to coming back for another season, it speaks volumes on them in terms of what their aspirations are. They love being at Notre Dame. They’ve all restated it, that they would love to be a captain here at Notre Dame. But they also understand that there's value in terms of trying to improve your draft stock, in what coming back another year of production could do for the draft stock. So, I'm really happy with where our team will continue to be as we head into the future with those guys coming back and with the guys that we’re bringing in.”
Q: Have all the opt-outs been announced for the Sun Bowl?
MF: “Yes.”
Q: With Marist Liufau opting out, I realize Jack Kiser has great positional versatility, but there would probably be a third linebacker when nickel Thomas Harper is not in the game. Who is rotating in there to either play for Marist or maybe have to swing over to rover to play there?
MF: “You’ll see [Jaylen] Sneed in there when we play some base [defense]. You'll also see Drayk Bowen being a guy that you'll see at mike and will. And then Jaiden Ausberry has gotten reps over the course of this bowl practice. So, I can see an increased role for all three of those guys. But right now, as we go to base, Sneed will be the third ’backer.”
Q: I know you’re not able to talk about specific names, but how were you able to attack the transfer portal this early and fill some of your needs?
MF: “We've done a good job. I think our coaches, our scouting department has done a good job of identifying guys with the right fit. And then the ability to meet with them and show them exactly the plan we have for them, but also what this place can do for them in terms of this next year [and] what they're aspiring to do. It's very similar in terms of the guys that we have now that have announced that they’re coming back. There are specific reasons these guys are looking to transfer for a year. And so, our job has been to be able to just show them; Here's our plan and here's what it can do.”
Q: Do you anticipate being active in the portal pre-bowl game? And, if you can say, what positions are you still looking for?
MF: “We'll always look for ways to enhance our team. If there's a need and a fit, we're going to truly dive into it and see if this is something we want to do. So, I don't think it ever truly closes in terms of: Are you going to be active in the transfer portal? But there has to be a need and there has to be the right fit.”
Q: You mentioned recruiting. You’ve got transfers out. You’ve got transfers in, opt-outs, NFL declarations. You're managing your staff. A year from now, you could be playing a playoff game tonight. How the heck is that supposed to work with the December schedule?
MF: “Yeah, it's wild. I think about the changes in my first two years being a head coach, from what December presents to all the things that encompass college football. It's forever changing. And I remember a conversation I had with Jack Swarbrick last year at the bowl game, in terms of ‘Hey, where do we see NIL going? Where do we see just college football going? It just went right past what we thought it was going to be, and so I truly believe that we are continuing to flourish with the changes in college football.
“I believe that Notre Dame will continue to be at the front of making sure we take advantage of every new opportunity that college football presents and the changes that it presents. And so, you wear a lot of different hats, and you’ve got to figure out what it's going to take to help your program have success. And we have a lot of support. Our collective has been great with the FUND. Jack Swarbrick and Pete [Bevacqua] have been amazing in terms of just trying to continue to make sure this program is set to have success.”
Q: With looking for a quarterback in the portal, ultimately, why'd you go the way that you went? What were you looking for? What was that process like? I know you can’t say a name.
MF: “I think we were looking for something very similar in terms of Sam [Hartman]. When we looked at Sam Hartman, we were looking for a guy that was talented. He's a good football player, an improving football player, but a guy that would fit into our locker room, to fit into the quarterbacks room. That's what we were looking for when we talked about making another addition to this program.
“You’ve got to — one — be proven to be a good quarterback. Like, we owe it to our football program to find the best football player that fits our locker room that's out there. And that's what we tried to identify.”
Q: What changed with Sam Hartman choosing to opt out from the bowl game?
MF: “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Sam. He made the decision that he’s going to opt out. He talked to the people that he felt are important in his life and made a decision that he felt was best for him. As I’ve told all of the guys that have opted out, I can disagree with your decision and still support you. That’s the same thing I told Sam and everyone single other one that opted out. I disagree. I think you should play. But I love you and I support you. You’re going to do great things.”
Q: How do you compartmentalize evaluating how he plays in his first career start when the offense around him is going to look so differently?
MF: “We have to be aware of you are going to have two new tackles out there. You’re going to have two new running backs in the backfield. Audric’s not playing. So we’re understanding of that. Our thing is more than the evaluation is putting him a position to try to have success. That’s our job as coaches. We’ll get to the evaluation after the game. What we want to do is make sure we’re putting Steve in a position to have success as our quarterback as we go into this game.”
Q: How are KK Smith, Jayden Thomas and Deion Colzie coming along? To what extent are they in position to help you during the bowl game?
MF: “All three are coming along really well. You’ll be able to ask our wide receivers coach those questions. From my eyes, it’s been great to see where JT is now being healthy, Deion being healthy. We haven’t seen KK all year. He’s doing some really good things for our offense and our wide receivers room. I’m very pleased with where they’ve gotten to in these first five practices and excited to see where we go.”
Q: Can you confirm that Kahanu Kia is on track to come back from his mission in January and join the roster?
MF: “Yes.”
Q: What are your thoughts about him coming back?
MF: “I’m excited. I loved my one year with Kahanu. He played linebacker for part of the year and moved to vyper part of the year. To get him back in this program — the energy, the production, the physicality that he plays with. I’m excited to see. He hasn’t played football for a year-and-a-half, two years, so we understand that. But that was an agreement that we had when he told us he was going to go on this mission. I’ll bet you we’ll get a more mature individual. I’m excited to see what he does when he gets back.”
Q: Why has Charles Jagusah been able to ascend at left tackle?
MF: “He has natural ability. We noticed that when he got here. There was just not a need at the moment for him to play for us. We had a pretty good left tackle starting for us all year. He’s shown on scout team, he’s shown in the bye weeks and individual drills that he’s going to be a future great offensive lineman for us. Throughout the first couple of practices, we rotated guys at different positions, but he continued to flourish at that left tackle position and has done a really good job.”
Q: What’s the value to CJ Carr getting in for bowl practices as an extra early enrollee?
MF: “It’s great. I couldn’t imagine being CJ and coming in here by yourself. He was here yesterday for meetings and walk-throughs. It was like the first day of school. You’re a new guy. I was able to spend some time with him during practice and after practice. Today, he was slinging the ball around and he’s going to be a great player. It’s just good to have him here in that comfort. As you move into the winter and you move into spring ball, he’s not starting ground zero. He knows what the expectations. He’ll know where to go. He’ll be able to help those guys that are coming in January figure it out. I’m glad he’s here, and I’m excited for the future of CJ Carr.”
Q: What’s it like to prepare for a bowl when it’s wholesale changes on the offense?
MF: “It’s a challenge. First, it took figuring out who actually would be available. Who’s going to play in the game? It’s a great opportunity. It’s a great opportunity for our players, a great opportunity for our coaches to continue to develop, which we know is going to be the future of our offense in our program. But also, we have to be creative. You have some news guys in there that haven’t had a whole bunch of experience. We can’t expect them to do what the guys that had two to three years of starting experience to do. It’s a challenge for us to create a game plan that helps our guys play fast. But it’s also a great opportunity for them to continue to develop and get some real meaningful action.”
Q: What is the future for the bowl games beyond the playoff moving forward? Will teams not be able to have enough guys to field a team for a bowl game?
MF: “All postseason play is going to change now when you’re talking about a 12-team playoff. We understand that. For those teams that don’t make the 12-team playoff, we’re going to have to see how many guys you have available and guys that are willing to pay. For me, as the head coach, any time you get a chance to have an opportunity to compete, I want to compete. You need 11 on each side of the ball and some specialists to do that, but you have to be smart, too, as a head coach. You don’t want to put your team in danger. That’s something to be determined in the future. I want to make sure that we continue to build this roster that has a chance to make sure we’re in those playoffs next year.”
Q: What did you see in Steve Angeli in games and practice that gives you confidence he can lead this team into the Sun Bowl? Is there any stress to try to get Kenny Minchey in the game?
MF: “What Steve has done all year has been tremendous in terms of building confidence in the coaching staff. As a backup, you’re getting important reps in practice. Obviously, in the opportunities he’s had the game, he’s done a tremendous job. We have a lot of confidence in Steve Angeli. With Kenny, he’ll be able to get some meaningful reps, too. There’s not a plan to try to play two quarterbacks. We’re going to go with Steve. We’re going to make sure we give him the best opportunity to succeed. There’s a lot of confidence from everybody in our football program that Steve Angeli can lead us to where we need to go.”
Q: How much have you seen the scouting department grow in the last five or six years? What do Chad Bowden and Matt Jansen bring to that to help you guys be so effective in the portal?
MF: “You see the scouting/recruiting department just continue to grow. You said five to six years. One to two years, it’s still just growing and growing. But everybody has to have a role. I don’t believe in growth and not more workload. I don’t want to just spread out the workload. If we need more people in our recruiting/scouting department, everybody has to have a role. It has to be important. Matt Jansen and Chad Bowden and Butler Benton, their whole departments have done a great job of really evaluating our roster, evaluating the opponents’ rosters, evaluating transfer portal, evaluating high school kids.
"That’s important, because now you’re starting with that dialogue between coach and scouting department. What you do is there’s an understanding of, hey, here’s the things that coach is looking for. Let’s make sure we filter these prospects so that it’s efficient with the time we have as the position coaches. Hey, he’s going to want to watch five wideouts. Well, these five or six guys really fit what we know we’re looking for. That’s been so important in identifying talent but also filtering guys that we know aren’t going to fit for what we’re looking for.”
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