Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman met with the media Sunday via a Zoom conference call after the College Football Playoff selection committee seeded the Irish No. 7 in the 12-team field and paired them for a Dec. 20 first-round game against 10 seed Indiana.
Here's everything the third-year Irish coach has to say. Answers are largely verbatim. Questions may have been edited for brevity and clarity.
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OPENING STATEMENT
“Extremely excited for this opportunity to play the first-ever home playoff game in Notre Dame Stadium. First, a really good opponent. We haven't been able to study much on them yet — just briefly started looking at them — but obviously to go 11-1 and done a great job in the Big 10 and as a program this year. So, exciting times. Our guys are a little bit relieved that we have direction into who we're playing, now as we get back into preparation mode for an opponent. So, great opportunity. With that, I’ll open it up for questions.
Q: Could you update us on the status of Jeremiyah Love, Howard Cross III and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa?
Marcus Freeman: “Kyngstonn he'll be out for right now. I don't know when, right now, he'll return. He'll be out indefinitely right now, but Jeremiyah and Howard are both expected back.”
Q: The exam schedule, at least traditionally, is right before when you would play the playoff game. So, can you give us some insight into how you'll work that and what your practice schedule will look like around the exams?
MF: “Yeah, it's obviously been something we've been working on from the beginning of the year, even in the summer. We started to have conversations with the academic side, the provost, and we have exams during the game week and we'll also be able to practice like we would any other week. So, it's just understanding it's a little bit different week with you having your block for when you'll be able to practice and then knowing that you have exams in the afternoon to make sure you're ready for. So again, that's one of the challenges of playing in the playoffs the week of exams. But again, our guys will be prepared for both their exams and the game.”
Q: How much of a relief is it to simply be at this point and be in the College Football Playoff after everything that's happened this season, but then also knowing the overall goal of what's ahead and trying to win a national championship?
MF: “We've always had a goal of reaching our full potential, and that doesn't change. And our mindset is to prepare in a way that on Friday, when we play, we're ready to play at the highest level we can. And we're prepared to play against a really good opponent. And so ‘relieved’ isn't probably a word I've used just as much as we have direction in terms of who we're playing. As we started the season, we know that making the playoffs was a goal of ours, but it's here. We knew that after the USC game. And I think, more than anything, there’s a direction now because of an opponent that we know we have to play.”
Q: Could you detail a little bit about the conditioning/strength plan director of football performance Loren Landow put together from when he got on the job to today, sort of pacing yourself through a season that could be longer than anything that Notre Dame has ever played before and the way that part of the program has managed a unique season?
MF: “I think you look at it as in different cycles or different seasons throughout the year. When he was first hired, you go through winter conditioning to get them ready for 15 practices of spring ball. And getting them as strong and as fast, but also in football shape. And then after spring ball, you give them a couple weeks until the end of school to get some workouts in, some testing in. And then the summer conditioning and summer workouts get you ready for a season.
“And he's done an unbelievable job, the ability to tailor our workouts based off the loads from games, based off of: do we have a bye week coming up and all those different things? They’re situations that he's stayed ahead of the curve. I wouldn't say we've changed anything in terms of thinking about, ‘Hey, let's tailor this workout for the playoffs.’ What we had to do was as soon as the USC game was over, say, ‘What are we going to do this week?’ We didn't really get on a practice field until Saturday, but we needed to make sure that physically, they were staying in shape in the weight room, running on a practice field, so that we didn't lose all those gains we've made during the season.
“So, now we're into practice mode. Obviously, we'll get back to practicing for an opponent, starting this week, but Loren's done an unbelievable job at really making sure our guys are ready, but also not just ready, but physically and even mentally ready for the week and ready to maximize their physical bodies.”
Q; With regard to Riley Leonard, what do you think the biggest gains he's made since Texas A&M to today have been, and I ask that more in terms of command of the offense as opposed to maybe a physical thing?
MF: “One is the confidence, and it might not be the answer you’re looking, but I think going from where you were week 1 to where you were week 2 and in realizing, ‘OK, this is the best it's going to be and this is the worst it's going to be.’ And in understanding like, ‘If I can put that stuff behind me and really focus on enjoying and maximizing this opportunity as a quarterback at Notre Dame, then I should.’ And that's what he's done.
“His confidence has grown. His understanding and knowledge of the offense, but also the understanding knowledge that [offensive coordinator] coach [Mike] Denbrock has in Riley in saying, ‘OK, how do we do what your players do well?’ And I've always said that our job as coaches is to put our guys into the position to have success based off of their athletic skills, their mental and physical talents. And I think all those things combined have really put Riley in the situation that he's in, in our offense.”
Q: I know you said that you guys want to chase your potential and I know the job’s certainly not done for you guys, but I'm curious if you could just speak to any sense of accomplishment you feel at the moment, or at least getting to this point, because I know that was important for you guys this year?
MF: “I think you took a little bit of time after the USC game to reflect on the season, obviously how it started, the highs and the lows, but the ability for this team to improve. And I think we have improved. As you watch us throughout the season, all three phases have continuously improved, no matter who the opponent is. And that's what you truly aspire to do. You talk about a 12-game, regular-season schedule. As far as this season, yeah, we wanted to obviously make it to the playoffs, but we understand that this team has an opportunity to do some great things. And we just have to focus on really giving ourselves the best opportunity to do that. And that's in how you prepare, physically and tactically, for a game, and that's what we’ve got to do. So, at some point, we'll look back and say, ‘Wow, look what we accomplished this season.’ But right now, I think we're all just focused on preparing for this next opponent.”
Q: I don’t imagine you've spent a whole lot of time looking at Indiana yet, but just your thoughts on how impressive it is for them to be able to go from changing coaches to the playoffs in one year? How difficult must that be?
MF: “I mean, coach [Curt Cignetti] has done a wonderful job to take this program to win 11 games in a Big 10 season. And to have this team ready to make a run in the playoffs, it's a credit to coach. I didn't know much about him. I took a minute and Googled him and looked at some of the things he's done in the past at his other places. I mean, he's won everywhere he's been. So, he's done a great job, and we expect a great opponent. I've just briefly started looking at them.
“They're a talented team that really takes care of the football. They play complementary football. Their defense is a pressure/attacking defense that really makes you earn everything you get. And the offense has done a good job taking care of the football, being consistent at what they do and [has] done some really good things in the red zone. So, that's just my initial look at them. Obviously, we have a few days to really take a deep dive and figure out a plan of attack as we get ready for a Friday game.”
Q: IU is the No. 1 team in the country and passing efficiency. What's the value of coming off a USC game where that team has some success throwing the ball against you guys?
MF: “USC was a really good offense. It did some good things in the passing game, made some plays. I think our guys are able to look at that game and see where some of our mistakes were and some of that you have to take your hat off to that opponent and to those players and that team. But our guys will be ready to go. The stats show that this offense has done a really good job at the passing game and a passing attack, and so it'll be a great opportunity for us to come up with a good plan and go compete on Friday.”
Q: I know you mentioned you guys practiced on Saturday. Did you spend any time watching college football on TV?
MF: “I did. I got a little bit of time to watch the Texas-Georgia game. It's hard to just truly focus on a game when you have six kids running around the house and being crazy. But I did get a chance to peek at some of that game, the ending of that game. And then I started to watch some of the Big 10 game, but I couldn't stay up too long. I was starting to get tired, so I went to sleep.”
Q: How have you guys handled the possibility of maybe being the 5 seed but really didn’t know until the Sunday selection show?
MF: “I think at first you thought you had a good idea of: if there's no upsets, here's probably where we'll be seeded and where we play, who we’ll play. But, as you started thinking about it, this team wins and this team wins, like it became too confusing to figure out who you're going to play. So, we had a brief scout report on everybody that we thought possibly could make the playoffs, but we did not dive in too much into it. As you got into today, you started to understand there’s probably about three teams you’ve got a chance of playing, and Indiana was one. And as soon as we got the official announcement, we started getting to work, getting prepared for these guys.”
Q: It's kind of impossible to ignore some of the stuff with the Chicago Bears rumors that are going around. I'm curious if that since the last time we talked has it popped up on your personal radar a little bit more in the last couple weeks?
MF: “No, the same. It was brought up a couple weeks [ago] in a press conference. You know, again, with team success comes individual success, but that's nothing that has taken any of my attention away from preparing for these playoffs.”
Q: You're playing against Indiana, a team from the state of Indiana. What's it like to have an opponent for the fans to not have to travel so far and get to come to South Bend, coming all over the state of Indiana?
MF: “Shoot, man, if we could have chosen, I think you would want a team that maybe comes from 80-degree weather, but, listen, we'll have a home-field advantage just because of the first ever playoff game in Notre Dame Stadium. And our crowd is going to be crazy. I can't wait for it. The weather obviously isn't going to give us a huge advantage with them not being too far south from here, but what a great storyline, what a great opportunity it's going to be to have two in-state teams playing each other in the first playoff game on a campus. And it's going to be an exciting time and a great game.”
Q: When Jeremiyah Love went out in the USC game, what was it like to have Jadarian Price and Aneyas Williams to step up and succeed?
MF: “I think it speaks to the depth of our team, the depth of our running back room. We’ve got talented individuals that when their number is called, we have a lot of confidence in them to be able to get their job done. Jadarian has done a wonderful job all year with opportunities, and Aneyas is a guy who is just continuously getting better as a true freshman and continuously earning the trust of his teammates and his coaches, but also making more plays and getting his job done in the protection aspect. So again, it's a wonderful job by [running backs] coach [Deland] McCullough having those guys ready and a great job by them of when their number is called, getting their job done.”
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