Marcus Freeman's Notre Dame Football press conference transcript for USC
Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman held a press conference Monday at Notre Dame Stadium, previewing Saturday night's home game between his 21st-ranked Irish (5-2) and No. 10 and 6-0 USC (7:30 EDT; NBC/Peacock). Here's everything he had to say. Answers are largely verbatim. Question are edited for brevity and clarity.
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OPENING STATEMENT
“The outcome Saturday, obviously, isn't what we wanted or expected. And we’ve really spent the last 48 hours or 36 hours just continuing to figure out why. We know what happened, but why it happened. And the biggest thing is you can't turn the ball over five times and expect to win a game. We can't do that. We have continued to work on the reasons that that was the result of it.
“The second thing is we’ve got to continue to find ways to establish the run, and we’ve got to be more successful in those third-and-short-yardage situations. And so, the offensive staff and everybody included will continue to find ways to attack it and to make sure that we're more efficient in those areas. Defensively, the biggest thing was the missed tackles on the second and third levels that led to big plays. It didn't happen often, but the times that it happened, they led to touchdowns. So, we have to make sure that we continue to enhance the way we're tackling at the second and the third levels.
“But I thought our defense did a really good job of battling all night, and they were put in some difficult situations and did a great job of just continuously battling. Most importantly, what we can't do is make excuses for why the outcome was what it was. And we can't let others make excuses for us. And it's my job to make sure this team is ready to perform on the stage that being a part of the Notre Dame football program presents. Every week it’s going to present this stage and this opportunity, and I have to make sure his team is ready to go.
“And so, the best thing about this week is we’ve got to get back to work and get prepared for a great opponent in USC, coming in here Saturday night. We expect it to be an electric atmosphere, a great environment and a great opportunity for this program to use the adversity we face from this past week and to use it as energy and motivation to get back to work and to prepare for this great opponent, USC.
“So, as I told the staff, if you're an elite competitor, which I know I am and we are, that you don't pick and choose when you get ready for an opponent. And you have to continue to get ready the way we're supposed to even after a loss. And I know our staff will, and we've been doing it and we'll continue to do it as we prepare for this game. So, with that I'll open it up for questions.”
Q: With regard to the third-and-short situations? I know there was one time where Louisville had 10 in the box and the play wasn't changed. How much leeway does Sam Hartman have in making a decision in those situations?
Marcus Freeman: “We give him freedom in certain aspects to change the call, but sometimes there's no option to change the call. If we want to run the ball, we’ve got to run the ball. And a lot of times in those situations, I’ll tell [offensive coordinator Gerad] Parker, ‘Hey, this is a four-down situation. And you’ve got two plays to get the first down here.’ But then, all of a sudden — twice it happened — we got tackled for a loss. And when we get tackles for loss, then I have to decide to punt or take a field goal.
“So, what we’ve got to do is figure out why those tackles for losses happened, and that's what I told coach Parker and his staff. It's not as much the play call. It’s how do we make sure that if we call this play, we can execute it? Because if we can't and we don't have an answer for what they're doing, then we probably shouldn’t call that play.”
Q: What concerns do you have with the offensive play-calling? When you do bog down like this, do you get guys like your quarterbacks coach and your offensive line coach — with previous play-calling experience — involved in the process?
MF: “Yeah. Everything we do as an offensive staff is a collaborative effort, and when we talk about it. And so, I have no issues with the play-calling. I have issues with the execution. And that's what we have to attack. We can blame it on a call. We can blame it on anything we want, but the reality is if we feel strongly enough to call that play, then we have to have answers for why it did or doesn't work. And so, that's where I'm attacking — why didn't it work? If this guy was supposed to do that and he was supposed to do that, then that's the issue. We have to make sure our guys are crystal clear on what they need to do and don't make mistakes.”
Q: I know you said you wanted to look at film first before you evaluated how the offensive line rotation went Saturday night. So, having done that, how did the offensive line rotation go? Also, why did Tosh Baker come in at right tackle at the end of the game?
MF: “Tosh coming in was [a product of] Blake [Fisher] had a right-hand or left-hand injury that [he] just couldn't really feel like that last series he could perform the way he needed to. And [offensive line] coach [Joe] Rudolph didn’t [think he could either]. So we put Tosh in that last series to finish the game. The performance of the offensive line was decent. We've got to get better. That's the reality of it. We’ve got to get better.
“We had a plan going into that game to roll guys in, to see if we could elevate the play as a whole. I was really pleased with the way [center] Zeke [Correll] stepped up and was challenged and, obviously, from the week before with a couple of false-start penalties. And he really stepped up. The guards were solid. We have to continue to get better. But across the board we have to continue to improve, and so I can't say it was great. I don’t want to say it was terrible. It's just solid, and we’ve got to get better.”
Q: Where are you with Billy Schrauth? Where are you, moving forward, with trying to, again, re-establish continuity and all the things that you look for in offensive line play?
MF: “Again, we had a plan for two reasons last week to roll guys in. [Pat Coogan] had a knee injury that he really didn't practice Tuesday. He practiced Wednesday and Thursday, but he didn't do everything we needed on Tuesday. So, we had a plan to kind of roll Billy in there, and wanted to get [Andrew] Kristofic a couple of plays at center, really, to create competition but also again to see how Zeke and those guys would respond. And so, they responded well. Billy played well. He was in there, and I felt the guards played well. And so, we all have to continue to improve.”
Q: You knew the schedule coming into the season, but is there a thought that maybe you guys are mentally or physically tired, seeing that they're going seven, eight straight weeks without a bye week?
MF: “I don't use that as a reason for a lack of performance. Every week you evaluate how you prepare, and that's something that we’ll continuously do. What do we feel is best to get our guys prepared for this game? So, as the head coach, I take ownership in saying, ‘They weren't prepared the way we needed to be to be prepared to play Louisville.’ And so, as I go back to this week and the preparations, OK, what do we believe it's going to take to make sure Saturday night at Notre Dame Stadium that we're ready to go? What I don't want to do, honestly, is use being tired as an excuse. And I don't want our players to use that as an excuse.
“We're not tired. You play Saturday night. You’ve got all day to rest. That's what a part of being at Notre Dame is about. We’re fortunate. We get four primetime games, and that's how we’ve got to look at it. We get another primetime game versus USC at Notre Dame Stadium. And if you don't have the bubbles in your stomach, then you're not the elite competitor that we need you to be. I think when you say that, ‘Man, maybe we’re tired. It’s our fourth primetime game versus a ranked opponent and all these are things,’ that just leaves room for excuses. And that's something that I will not let our guys do.”
Q: What are some of the things that led to Jordan Faison getting in a game for the first time last Saturday?
MF: “Jordan had gotten scholarship offers out of high school by a lot of different football programs, but he is a national lacrosse prospect, and he was committed to Notre Dame to play lacrosse. And we wanted him as part of our football program. And so, he's been a talented individual from the moment he stepped on this campus, in fall camp. And he has shown that he has a lot of ability. He's continued to improve throughout the first six, seven weeks of the season. And because of some injuries, we moved him up. Three weeks ago, he was on scout team. And then we had some injuries, and we started moving him up with the travel squad, and he's continuously gotten better and gained the trust of his coaches. We knew going into this game, ‘We’re going to play him.’ I couldn't tell you that I knew he was going to go and score a touchdown and have another big catch, but we had a lot of faith and trust that he could perform or we wouldn’t have put him in there. And so, it was really good to see him make those plays. To do it in practice is one thing. To make them into a game is another thing, and he did it.”
Q: Is he part of the plan going forward? And could you clarify his scholarship status?
MF: “He’ll be on a football scholarship, moving forward. So, [men’s lacrosse coach Kevin] Corrigan doesn’t have to worry about that anymore. That's what that means. He’s on football scholarship.”
Q: But he's still playing lacrosse too?
MF: “Yeah, yeah.”
Q: You’ve said several times that part of the identity of this team is you want it to be O-line- and D-line- dominant. Do you feel like you're where you want to be in that respect right now?
MF: “Are we dominating the line of scrimmage? No. We didn't do that offensively. I thought defensively we did a really good job. You always say if we didn't give up the two explosive runs for touchdowns, but [if] is a good and a bad word at times. But I thought our D-line played well. I thought they got after the quarterback. I thought they put pressure [on him]. I thought, for the most part, we were able to stop the run — for the most part. Again, you take away those two big runs, but I was pleased with the play of our D-line. And because there are big. long runs, that doesn't mean it's the D-line's fault. Those were fit issues. We got to fit right. We’ve got to tackle right, and so I don't blame that on our defensive line. But offensively, if you're not able to run the ball the way we want to, then we didn't dominate the line of scrimmage, and that's where we have to improve.”
Q: You said you've spent a lot of time trying to identify why you didn't execute, whether it's run game turnovers, etc. What are two or the three the biggest whys that you find that you guys need to attack this week and then how will you attack them?
MF: “I think if you look at the turnovers, each one had a different reason. You know, the very first one by Sam, and Sam will tell you he wishes he threw a better ball, but Rico [Flores] has got to do a better job of not letting that ball get caught. You turn into a defender. And so, it's not pointing the finger at anybody. It's pointing the finger at everybody. And that's what we have to do. I can't remember the other four. The next one was an exchange issue, in between Sam and [Chris Tyree]. And that's got to be executed better in practice. So, no matter what happens in the game, it was a look that we have seen in practice. We talked about it, and we’ve got to execute that better in terms of not letting that end put pressure on Sam and [make him] feel like he's got to get rid of the ball so fast, and continue to make sure that no matter what that ball’s not on the ground.
“And then we’ve got to protect Sam. We’ve got to protect him better and not let him get hit on the one that was a sack/fumble. We’ve got to make sure we protect him. So, a lot of different areas. Each play there can be a different reason for why we didn't execute, but that's the reality of it. Instead of just saying, ‘Hey, we can't have five turnovers.’ Yeah, everybody knows that. But how do we continue to make sure that we don't do it, just like we said with the pre-snap penalties two weeks ago. We can't use crowd noise as an excuse. We’ve got to continue to figure out why and have a plan to address those things. And so, the same thing will happen this week.”
Q: What makes Caleb Williams elite?
MF: “He’s one of the guys who are as good as advertised. There’s a reason why he’s a Heisman Trophy winner. He is very elite with arm talent, with decision-making, with the ability to extend plays. He is a well-rounded, very talented football player. Our defense will have its work cut out for it, for sure.”
Q: When you put on the film of USC, what gives you confidence that your team will beat USC on Saturday?
MF: “We don’t worry about beating USC as much as how do we continue to focus on reaching our full potential. That’s the pressure I’ve put on our team and our program. What are we doing to make sure we reach our full potential? The result of that will be the result of that. That’s my concern and that’s my focus. What do we have to do as a program to make sure we’re performing the way we need to on Saturday night? Part of that is game planning for an opponent.
"It’s a truly challenging team to prepare for. We know offensively they are probably the best or one of the best in the country and the most challenging you’ll have to prepare for. Defensively, I’ve heard the things that, ‘Hey, maybe their defense isn’t as good.’ Their defense is talented. All you have to do is watch the film and see how they play. They have an extremely good football program. They’re 6-0, and it’s a tough challenge for us. But we’ll be ready.”
Q: What explains the ineffectiveness of Audric Estimé the last two games? Is it as simple as the offensive line? Is there some predictability within the offense that defenses are doing a better job with?
MF: “We keep saying the word predictability. If we’re going to call a play, there’s a reason we call it. We feel like it can have success. We have to execute it. A lot of offenses are predictable, but you can’t stop them. We can say we know what USC’s going to do, but you have to stop them. The same thing with us. We have to find ways to continue to get the ball in Audric’s hands. What we can’t do is put our team and our offense in a position where we feel like we have to throw the ball all the time because we’re down 10, down 14, down 21. We can’t do that. But we have to block better, and it’s not just the O-line.
"Our perimeter, our wideouts, our tight ends, everybody has a piece in blocking. We have to make sure we’re blocking. And a lot of times if you don’t have success running the ball, everybody says it’s the offensive line’s fault or it’s predictable or whatever term we want to use. But there’s a lot of people involved with making sure they get their job done so we can have success running the ball. So, it all boils down to coaching. I’m not going to point my finger at the players. It’s coaching and making sure that our guys know exactly what to do and then they go do it, so we can execute on a play that maybe you can predict what we’re doing.”
Q: Then how do you explain the difference between how well it was being executed in the first five or six games and how it’s been executed the last couple games?
MF: “That’s the thing, right? Where’s the confusion happening? Where’s the lack of execution? Why are we making mistakes? That’s what we have to continue to figure out and attack. No matter who’s in the game, we have to attack that and figure out why is this person not doing his job or isn’t he. That’s what we have to continue to work on.”
Q: Where’s Thomas Harper in concussion protocol?
MF: “He’ll be back.”
Q: And Gabriel Rubio?
MF: “He’ll be back.”
Q: When you need someone to help a position group that came up from the scout team and he has success like Jordan Faison did in the game, is it difficult to continue to rolling him through in the game because he probably doesn’t have the full package of knowledge of everything you want to do? Or is it something that you have to force because of that success?
MF: “It starts with talent but then the ability to play fast. The ability to play fast is the ability to understand what you’re doing. When we brought him up from the scout team, it was because of talent level. Then the ability in a couple weeks to show that he can play fast, play to the talent level that he has, because he can understand what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, how we’re doing it. He’s shown the ability to learn it, grasp it, what we’re doing each week in our offensive game plan and then go execute it.”
Q: So there’s a natural progression to play more after playing in one game off the scout team?
MF: “Yeah, absolutely.”
Q: Is Blake Fisher’s hand injury expected to be an issue this week?
MF: “No.”
Q: Was Jaden Greathouse 100% against Louisville?
MF: “He was practicing but not to the full extent. I would see him having an increased role as long as he continues to practice the way we need him to practice.”
Q: What needs to improve in tackling at the second level to have a chance against USC?
MF: “You have to make them, and you have to keep working on it in practice. That’s the only thing we can talk about is making sure how do we work on it in practice, still be safe and get to the game, but also make sure that attributes to Saturday making the play. We have to continue to work on it and continue to talk about angles, talk about fundamentals, talk about putting guys in positions where they can make that play.”
Q: When you talk about execution in an offense that’s versatile and multiple, does that put an undue pressure on those guys to execute if you’re doing so much stuff?
MF: “We have to simplify so our guys don’t have mistakes. To make sure that our guys — when we have mistakes, you have to look at yourself as a coach and say, ‘Why are our guys having mistakes?’ If we have to simplify, we have to do it. That’s the biggest thing when you talk about the difference between two weeks ago till now. It’s like, ‘OK, we’re making mistakes ID’ing in the run game, and why aren’t we blocking this guy?’ We have to simplify to make sure there is crystal clarity on what we need to do.”
Q: As you’ve audited last week’s preparation, what did you find out that you want to change for this week?
MF: “Every week you plan. We didn’t change the total amount of time we practiced. We changed exactly what we’re doing within those periods. You can have periods that are run-through and periods that are actual full speed. This week we looked and said, ‘OK, what do we think we need in a Tuesday, in a Wednesday, in a Thursday to be prepared for Saturday night?’ Each week changes by a period or two in terms of where you put that period. Is that a run-through period? Or is that a true, physical, get-after-it period? We’ve tweaked it for what we feel like is best for this week. I’m always going to go back and say, ‘OK, if we didn’t play well, it’s got to be a preparation issue.’ What I can’t do is get up there in front of the room and say, ‘Hey guys, we’re going to do the exact same thing we did last week,’ but expect different results. That’s insanity.”
Q: Would it be fair to say more full speed this week?
MF: “There might be one, two.”
Q: But not a big change.
MF: “No. We’re not drastically changing. Not at all.”
Q: What are the biggest reasons why the offense isn’t executing the way it was the first four games outside of playing three better opponents?
MF: “You have to establish the run game. We have to find different ways to do that. That’s why we haven’t been as effective as a complete offense, because you’re putting yourself in third-and-long situations, which are really hard to execute in college football. We have to do a better job of putting our guys in place to be able to run the ball with more efficiency.”
Q: Do you have effective plans in place for third-and-long? How have you tried to attack that differently?
MF: “I would hope that we want to be more effective on first and second down. I don’t want to spend more time saying let’s get more third-and-long calls. I would rather spend more time saying let’s be more effective on first and second down.”
Q: What is Deion Colzie’s injury timeline? When do you expect him back?
MF: “It will be something maybe post-bye week.”
Q: How useful could Jaylen Sneed be as a pass rusher against Caleb Williams?
MF: “Jaylen did a good job in third-down defense in passing situations versus Louisville. He brings a burst and explosiveness that we feel we need in those situations. But on first and second down, you can run the ball too. I don’t know if we want Jaylen Sneed in there playing D-tackle right now. Do I think he can help us in passing situations? Absolutely. But we have to understand we have to control our rush this week. You can’t end up behind the quarterback, because he’ll extend plays and expose you as he did last year at times. We have to be really disciplined this week.”
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