SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Question everything?

Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman’s mantra applied to this offseason prompted a pronounced lean-in to sports science, from the way the second year Irish head coach approached preseason training camp to the finer details on how to mitigate jetlag and other other travel travails in opening the 2023 season five time zones away in Dublin, Ireland.

Perhaps the most notable tangible results to date, heading into said opener, is a reduction of injuries during the 20 practice sessions that preceded game week.

“It's something that I looked at the injuries from last year in fall camp. I said, ‘We’ve got to find a better way to do this.’” Freeman said at the first of his weekly Monday press conference to be staged this season. “And so, I think we were down over half of the concussions, and I know we just decreased in every soft-tissue/ligament injury in all facets of any body part. So, we really decreased the injuries.

“And I know the weather helped, but I think we're 79% down in dehydrations for fall camp. So, our team did a great job — just the sport-performance team, the medical trainers, our coaches really did a great job of keeping the guys healthy and making sure we have everybody we need as we get ready to go to Dublin, Ireland.”

The 13th-ranked Irish and Navy meet at Aviva Stadium on Saturday (2:30 p.m. EDT; NBC/Peacock), clashing for the 96th time since 1927 and the third time in Ireland.

Even when the team flies out and when it comes back were diligently calculated to maximize performance and minimize the negative effects the following week.

In 2012, for example, an Irish team that would rise to the top spot in the polls late in the regular season and play for the national championship mauled Navy in Ireland in its 2012 team opener, then played tired in nearly losing to a middling Purdue team the following Saturday before escaping, 20-17.

Back in their rhythm the next two weeks, the Irish knocked off a 10-ranked Michigan State team on the road (20-3) and 18th-ranked Michigan at home (13-6).

“[The 2012 team] didn’t stay the night, so they came back right after the game,” Freeman said. “Whereas we’re going to stay the night, get up early in the morning and fly back. I’ve always been told coming west, you should be better because you’re gaining hours. So I’m less concerned with the trip back.

“But still, everything’s been planned out to the minute: what time we’re leaving, when we’re getting back, what are we doing when we get back. All those things have been planned out to the minute.

“Then you have to think about the next week of practice. Understand there still is going to be some fatigue when you travel from a different country back to here in Indiana. That has been taken into consideration in terms of the practice schedules for the following week. How do we make sure that we get out what we need, but take into consideration it’s going to be a full week of school, we played in a different country the previous Saturday and we have to be ready to perform?”

The Irish host Tennessee State, its first-ever football matchup with an FCS school, Sept. 2 at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

“It all goes back to, ‘Let’s look at the end result.’ We have to be ready to perform Saturday at 2:30 or 3:30, whatever time we play. OK, now how do we make sure we have a plan that our guys feel physically ready to perform that next Saturday?”

The practice schedule this week has been modified, with, for instance, a lighter practice than usual Tuesday, but a heavy, physical one Wednesday to help tire out the players to get them to sleep on the plane during their Wednesday night/Thursday morning flight.

The training camp practices were adapted too, sometimes on the fly. And John Wagle was a key figure in those decisions. Wagle was named associate athletics director, sports performance in May of 2022 after serving in a similar role for baseball’s Kansas City Royals organization.

“If there’s a better way to do it and somebody can explain it to me in a way that makes sense and I understand and agree with it, let’s do it,” Freeman said of altering the training camp practice routine. “It’s a part of growth. Sometimes I think that’s what prevents people from growing. Head coaches need to be coached too. I need to be able to grow. I don’t have every answer.

“The ability for somebody to present something to me and say, ‘Hey coach, from my expertise, this is what I think will help you perform.’ Because that’s what I want. I want high performance on game days. John Wagle and some of that sports-performance team were able to present to me: If this is what you’re looking for on Saturdays, here’s different ways to get to that point.

“I was able to adapt and adjust myself as a leader and not just say, ‘No, this is the way I want to do things.’ I just want to do what’s best for the players. At the end of the day, that’s what matters.”

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As a freshman early enrollee back in the spring of 2021, offensive guard Rocco Spindler was more than living up to his pedigree as Notre Dame’s third-highest-rated recruit in the class and the No. 68 player nationally overall.

He took first-team reps for most of that spring, while admittedly the Irish offensive line was missing some pieces due to injury. And in the fall he became a backup and stayed a backup.

Until now.

On Saturday, the 6-foot-5, 314-pound junior will make his first college start, having overtaken grad senior Andrew Kristofic and his seven games of starting experience. Spindler will be starting at right guard, next to five-star classmate Blake Fisher at right tackle.

In the spring of 2021, they were manning the left side of the line, with Fisher eventually starting the season opener at left tackle, before suffering a knee injury that wiped out the rest of his regular season.

Perhaps the bigger surprise is that fellow junior Pat Coogan beat out sophomore Billy Schrauth so far for the starting left guard spot. The Navy game will also be Coogan’s first start and give the junior class four starters among the five offensive linemen.

“Our guard battles were really, really good,” Freeman said. “The competition amongst those guys was what you want to see. I think Rocco and Pat both just — the confidence they built in our coaching staff, the trust of them being able to do their jobs on a consistent basis was why they'll be in there to start the game.

“I feel really good about the depth of our guard position. You know, Billy [Schrauth] had a great fall camp. But those two guys, man, had a really good fall camp in terms of just the execution. All of them are physical. All of them have the traits that you look for in offensive guards, but the overall execution of what they were asked to do on a consistent basis is why those guys will be starting for us.”

Grad senior Zeke Correll is still expected to start at center, though an ankle injury kept the incumbent out of practice a couple of days last week.

“He'll practice [Monday], and we expect him to be able to go,’ Freeman said. “He's progressing really well. We kind of held him out last week, but today we are pushing to go. And he's been doing a great job in rehab and recovery. So, I think today will tell us a lot.”

Sophomore Ashton Craig had been working with the starters in Correll’s absence.

As expected, senior tight end Kevin Bauman and sophomore defensive end Aiden Gobaira recently underwent surgery for torn ACLs. Both players had previously been announced out for the season.

“Both recovering well,” Freeman said. Just starting her rehab toward getting back.”

Senior backup offensive tackle Michael Carmody, Freeman announced, underwent surgery on his right hand last week after breaking it in practice. He is scheduled to make the trip to Ireland, though, with the rest of the team.

Freeman and assistant coach Gerad Parker have a coaching history together, but not one that involves Parker calling offensive plays.

That will change Saturday in Dublin, when Parker serves in his first game at ND as offensive coordinator. He added that title in February to his tight ends-coaching duties after OC/QBs coach Tommy Rees left for a job at Alabama.

Parker’s only experience calling plays was a somewhat limited one in 2020-21 at West Virginia.

So how did Freeman help Parker get up to speed? But scripting those opportunities into some of the training camp practices.

“It was something that me and Gerad talked about at length,” Freeman said, “about making sure, ‘Hey, coach, let me have some unscripted periods, so I can get used to continually calling plays.’

“And I've been really pleased with the growth of him as a leader — him as a leader of a staff, him as the leader of the offense. He's done a tremendous job. His players truly buy into who he is as a leader.

“That's, to me, the reflection of a great leader, when your players start to speak the same language. When your players are acting very similar to the leadership in that offensive room or defensive room, it's a reflection of leadership. So, I'm really pleased what he's done.”

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