Notre Dame football head coach Marcus Freeman spoke to reporters for nearly 30 minutes following Wednesday's first preseason camp practice at Notre Dame.
Below is a transcript lightly edited for clarity. The wording of questions may be summarized.
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Opening statement:
Freeman: “Welcome back. Good to see everybody. I'll start with today. I thought it went really well for a first day, what you thought you would get out of a first day. I think we see we have a veteran group and a lot of positions, especially with the 1s. We’ve got to continue to develop those younger guys, but I really was pleased with the first day of practice. I think I've learned a tremendous amount from last year, preparing for the first day of practice, to this year. You understand the emotions of the young people are going to be crazy. So, we try to really structure the practice to be safe and also make sure they understand, like it's a process to get to where we want to go.
“Next thing I want to make sure we send our condolences to Johnny Lujack and his family and friends. He's one of the most prestigious and accomplished Notre Dame football players in history. And so, just want to make sure I do that.
“I'm going to address Matt Balis, and then I'm sure we’ll have questions. And I want to just be as transparent as I can. I don't know what's being written and everything. But Matt called me on Sunday and informed me that he was wanting to resign, and I was caught off guard. We met on Monday and talked about it, and ultimately his reason was that he couldn't serve the players in the capacity that he felt he should in his position. It's a personal matter. And that's how he left it with me. And I tried to talk him out of it. I have the utmost respect for Matt Balis. And we have a great relationship, but, ultimately, it was a personal decision.
“And it came down to: ‘You know what, I can't serve the players in the capacity I feel like I need to, being the head strength coach.’ And so, we accepted his resignation. And, as I said in the press release, Fred Hale will lead the strength-and-conditioning program moving forward. And we'll go forward from there.
“Circling back to football. Listen, I told the group yesterday, when we checked in today, it's two things as you look at from now until we get to Dublin, Ireland. You look at it in the macro picture, in the big picture, it's a process. It's a bumpy road to Dublin, Ireland. And I want the coaches to understand and the players to understand it.
“But when we look at this in a micro view, we have to look at this thing as, ‘one day, one life.’ And we have to have an urgency to fix the mistakes. And so, I want our players and our coaches to have such urgency in fixing and correcting mistakes. But I want them to understand that after practice, that mistakes happen, and we're going to improve from them. And don't let what happened in the last practice affect the next practice, because it is a bumpy road to Dublin, Ireland. So with that, I'll open it up for questions.”
I noticed that you were pretty animated with the team in your pre-practice address. I was curious what you told them if it wasn't what you just told us, and what did you want to communicate? And do you think you got the response you wanted to get from that message?
Freeman: “Yeah, usually I don't have them take a knee. But I wanted that for the first day. Like, I know their emotions were high, so catch your breath. It was pretty warm. And basically, I told them two things: I wanted to really focus on learning today, really focus on listening and the intent to learn. We have to understand that we have to correct mistakes, maybe without getting physical reps. Like mentally, we have to listen, take coaching from our coaches. And then the second point was, there's going to be mistakes. I'll tell you right now, I get it, but I want to see guys that play with the effort and attitude that we only accept here at Notre Dame. And that's, we say, ‘through it, not to it.’ But as hard as you possibly can go. I don't want you to slow down because you are uncertain. Just go as hard as you can, and we’ll correct the mistakes. That's kind of what I told them, pre-practice.”
Fred Hale is a guy who we've noticed over the years. He's a pretty energetic guy, and I'm curious what his role now becomes and what’s his background? What are his qualifications to kind of pick up where Matt Balis left off?
Freeman: “Fred was the only guy in the strength and conditioning program who has actually led a program. He was the head strength coach at Eastern Michigan before he came here. And so, he has the experience of doing it. And so, the plan has been already created. And as I told those guys, we don't need to reinvent the wheel. We need to continue to carry on a plan that's been really created from myself, coach Balis and our whole strength-and-performance staff. And so, I think they'll all do a great job. I told everybody, ‘Your job is to make sure that our strength-and-conditioning program has no dip.’ That we’ll continue to excel and make sure our guys are ready to play these 12 guaranteed opportunities that we have.”
You referenced the fact that it is a veteran team, especially among the 1s. So, when you have sudden change like the Matt Balis situation, how much do you challenge those veterans and how much do you lean on those veterans? I guess it's similar to losing Tommy Rees basically on the eve of spring camp?
Freeman: “Change is inevitable. As I told the group, I was as hurt as anybody by losing somebody I respect and enjoy working with. That hurts, but time doesn't stop. That's the reality of this thing, is that we have to continue to move forward. Leaders lead. Leaders continue to lead. I don't care if Matt Balis is the head strength coach or Marcus Freeman is the head strength coach. Leaders lead. And that's what they'll continue to do, because time is not slowing down. And we understand that we have an objective in front of us in making sure that we're ready for Dublin, Ireland. And so, our guys did a great job of refocusing themselves. Listen, I’m not saying it doesn't affect them. But we have to continue to move forward.
“And this won't be the last change. This won't be the last thing that happens to this group. And I don’t know when the next thing or change will happen, but time doesn't stop. So, we have to move forward. And we have to do a good job as coaches to be there for our players. I'm not saying we're not there for players —you’ve got to move on. No, we’ve got to be there to listen to them and be there to support our guys. Coaches have got to support each other. But we have to continue to move forward.”
It's your second first day of fall camp as a head coach. So, did you notice that the guys were more attuned to your expectations, to your foundation, to the culture that you've been instilling since you took over?
Freeman: “I tried to structure practice in a way to get the results that I wanted. I thought back to last year, my first practice, and I was just like the kids [amped up]. And I'm not saying that I'm not excited [this year]. It's the first day of practice. Everybody's excited. But I was probably like the players in terms of it’s the first day of practice — I'm like, ‘Go, go, go.’ And I looked back at the results of that practicing, and it wasn't what I wanted. And so, I wanted to structure practice in a way that really could get the results that I really wanted. And so, I think experience for myself was most important and then I reiterated to the players, ‘Guys, there are periods that are meant for this and periods that are meant for that. This is a run-through period or this is a full-speed period, and they understand the expectations. And so, it is a mature group. A lot of those guys, especially the older guys, have been here with me through one season, so they understand the expectation. I thought they did a good job of practicing that.”
At some point this summer, Sam Hartman was talking about the difference between guys playing with you and playing for you, as a quarterback. And I was interested in sort of how he's tried to get guys to play for him here. It's still somewhat a short amount of time, but he's familiar now. How does he try to get the ‘for’ part of it?
Freeman: “I think what he's talking about is leadership. I've talked with him about it's hard to truly lead when you’re in a quarterback battle, to be the leader. And what you've seen from the time that he's realized he's the quarterback is his leadership amongst that offensive unit has continued to just excel. And what that creates is what we call that unit strength. And it's buy-in. It’s that emotional factor that, ‘I don't want to let this guy down. I don't want to let this leader down.’ And I see that amongst the offense. I said this probably two weeks ago, in my two years here, man this is maybe the closest group of players I've seen. And you can see there's different examples. As a head coach, you can just watch and see it, and that's important. When you have that emotional bond, that's when great things really are achieved. And so, we have to continue to create that amongst our team, amongst our offense, amongst our defense. There has to be an emotional bond amongst this group of men that they don't want to let each other down.”
Not to get carried away on day one, but the group of corners that you have, when they're all available, how good can that group be?
Freeman: “Really good, really special. You know, you look at Cam Hart, who’s the veteran. He's made a huge jump in a year. I'm just saying a guy that has been a starter, he's made a huge, huge jump this summer, just in terms of his work ethic off the field. I think his film study, he's made a huge jump. Benjamin Morrison, we know had a great year last year, has done some really good things. Clarence Lewis, his experience, and then Jaden Mickey's experienced. And so, as I challenged coach Mickens a little bit, Clarence Lewis will play some nickel for us. So, who will be that next corner? We know Jaden Mickey will be there, but who’s going to be that next corner to emerge? Is it a Christian Gray? MIcah Bell? One of those young guys? Ryan Barnes? Chance Tucker? Somebody's got to emerge as that fourth corner when we’re in nickel.”
Among the guys that came in in June, like Antonio Carter and Devyn Ford and the freshmen, who's impressed you this summer?
Freeman: "Running or after today?”
Both.
Freeman: “Jeremiyah Love can fly. I mean, he can fly. It’s impressive to watch him run. Micah Bell is a track kid. He can run, but it's been really impressive to watch Jeremiyah Love just this summer, being able to move. Now, that type of velocity we talked about versus velocity on the field are two different things. We've been talking about this in our meetings. Like, clarity equals velocity. So we’ve got to get those freshmen or those new guys, to be crystal clear on what they're doing, how they're doing it, why they’re doing it. So that they can play with that same velocity that you see in summer conditioning or you see it in their high school film, because, listen, they're great players. They're some of the best players in the nation in high school. But that’s because they're crystal clear on what they’re doing. And so, our job, as coaches, is to make sure how do we catch some of those young guys that just got here in June, catch them up so that they can play with that same velocity that we saw.”
Matt Balis wasn't just the guy blowing a whistle. He set a culture for the program. I would imagine Fred Hale has some of his own ideas or is this a matter of staying with Matt's culture during the season and then re-evaluating later? And will Fred Hale have a chance to be in the mix when you make a permanent hire?
Freeman: “Yes. … And the head coach and the strength coach, their culture has to be the same. We can't have a culture in the weight room that's different from the culture of the head coach. And so, that’s the universal Notre Dame football program’s culture. It’s not Balis. It’s not Freeman. It's our culture. And that culture won't change. Those standards won’t change no matter — well if there’s a new head coach, maybe they will.
“But no matter who’s the strength coach, no matter who’s the position coach, we have standards for our football program in a culture that everybody has to make sure is clear. I said this to our staff, I can get in front of the team and say, ‘This is our culture. This is what we want.’ But the most powerful voices for those young people are going to be those position coaches. So, they have to speak the exact same message with the exact same clarity as I'm speaking. So, I don't care if you're a strength coach, I don't care if you’re a position coach. We have to have a clear message that's driven from the head coach.”
To follow up on the cornerbacks, I just wondered if over the course of the summer when the DBs were going head-to-head with the wide receivers and the DBs are the more experienced group, were they ahead of the young wide receivers? Did you get indications of that this summer?
Freeman: “You talk to the wideouts, they killed the DBs. If you talked to the DBs, they did well. Listen when we were out there 7-on-7 with no ball, it’s awesome work. I saw Tobias and Ben Morrison in a play today, 1-on-1, for a 50-50 jump ball. And Morrison came down [with it]. That’s going to make us better. That competition of two elite competitors that are ultimately super talented is going to make this team better.
“And so, I want it to be back and forth. You know what, Benjamin Morrison got Tobias Merriweather today in 1-in-1 ball. I hope Tobias, and I’m sure Tobias, will get him back.”
Will you monitor Jadarian Price’s return from an Achilles injury with limited reps?
Freeman: “If necessary, absolutely. We'll monitor all of our guys, but especially those guys coming off of injuries. We’ll monitor their workload to make sure that we’re giving them the best chance to perform at their full potential when we play in Dublin, Ireland.”
How have you seen CB Jaden Mickey grow?
Freeman: “I had a conversation with him and actually his father. He started for Notre Dame as a true freshman, especially when we played USC. That’s hard enough to do. That’s accomplishing some things that not many freshmen do. I thought he did terrific. Did he get some balls caught on him? Yeah. That’s OK. What Jaden Mickey can’t do is compare is journey to maybe Benjamin Morrison’s. He just has to focus on him. That’s what I’ve had deep conversations with him about. You’ve done unbelievable as a true freshman at Notre Dame to go out there and start vs. USC and play. I wrote it down. Jaden Mickey played 248 snaps last year. That’s a huge accomplishment. For him it’s just continue to gain that experience, continue to improve at your craft. He won’t lack confidence. He doesn’t lack confidence, and that’s huge. Because at that position, you’re going to get balls caught on you. You’re going to miss a tackle, but you have to make sure you have the confidence that it takes to have success.”
What are your expectations for the running backs behind Audric Estimé?
Freeman: “I talked to coach McCullough about this. We’ve known about JD Price. He’s been here a year. He did a heck of a job last spring before he got hurt. Gi’Bran Payne did a great job this spring. Devyn Ford’s a transfer from Penn State, and then Jeremiyah Love is an incoming freshman. I think out of that whole group at Notre Dame we have two snaps. There’s experience for us but there’s two snaps. Devyn Ford played a little bit more at Penn State, but he also had a year where he didn’t play. It’s really inexperience on the field. So we have to get those guys as much as experience here in these however many practices we have before we play that first game, so we can know who we can truly count in. It’s a deep group, a talented group, but it’s just inexperienced.”
What do expect to see from the younger linebackers in their growth behind the veterans?
Freeman: “That’s a challenge. It’s easy to just throw Marist, Kiser and JD in there and feel really good about calling all these different defenses, but we’re going to have to count on Sneed. We’re going to have to count on Ziegler and count on a couple of those young guys who just got here in January. I’m going to challenge coach Golden. Maybe get some of those older guys the reps they need, get them out of there and let’s put the younger guys in with the ones and see how they’re able to perform. You can’t simulate the pressure that’s going to be on with the stadium packed in Dublin, Ireland. But we have to try to find ways in practice instead of making them comfortable with the twos, get them in there with the ones and see if they can perform. We have to develop that group. We know the older guys can do what they do. But we have to develop the middle part of that group.”
In what ways have you challenged CB Benjamin Morrison to expand on what he did as a freshman?
Freeman: “What I’ve talked with Ben about is that there is no finish line. His goal probably as a freshman were come in and play for Notre Dame. He ended up starting and ended up being a Freshman All-American. We just new challenges. For him it’s what’s the next challenge for you. How much are you going to continue to improve at your craft? The greatest example for him is his father who played in the NFL for many years. You don’t stop getting better. One of the things I talk to the group about is challenge everything. You guys have heard me say that plenty of times. What does that really mean to you, Benjamin Morrison? It’s a growth mindset. Are you going to come in every day and choose hard and do the things it takes to become a better football player? Because there is no finish line. There isn’t a finish line. You just have to have constant improvement, and that’s what we focus on.”
What kind of injury is WR KK Smith dealing with?
Freeman: “He had a shoulder surgery. I don’t have a timetable on his return. It won’t be for a couple months. But he got surgery in the summer.”
What are the innovative things you’re trying to implement in your strength and conditioning program this season?
Freeman: “Ultimately when you look at this in a big-picture point of view: How can you help your players reach their full potential? That’s the ultimate goal: to give our players a better chance to reach their full potential. Part of that is the sports science. It’s using the feedback, the technology, the Catapult, the different GPS systems we use to give us information. That’s something I’m big on. If there’s relevant information that I believe will help our players reach their full potential, give it to me. It’s something I really didn’t understand last year, and trust me, I’m still learning. It was something me and coach Balis were talking about. We’ve had these meetings. We have a sports performance staff led by John Wagle that gives us feedback. I can tailor practices or different things based off what those numbers are telling us. What is their workload? What’s their max velocity? What are we expecting to get out of them? If we’re able to get some type of feedback, we can tailor certain practices to ultimately get the outcome that we want. It’s something that I’m still growing in, but I’m definitely leaning into.”
How do learn more about that?
Freeman: "John Wagle’s the expert in the sports science, in the numbers. Then he can give us his recommendations. I have to make the decisions if this is what we’re going to do or not. Hey, this person might need to be pulled back over. I might say, ‘No, he needs to get more reps.’ It’s all just receiving recommendations from him that can really understand and crunch those numbers and for us to be able to say is this something we need to implement or not. That’s kind of how we work.”
What do you like about DB transfers Antonio Carter II and Thomas Harper?
Freeman: “Obviously, Thomas Harper has been here longer. Even though he didn’t practice in the spring, he’s gotten to really understand the defense and the expectations. He’s played a similar position when he was at Oklahoma State. So his transition probably isn’t as drastic as Antonio Carter, who played corner at Rhode Island that we’re playing at safety. A little bit of a transition for Antonio, and he just got here in June. Two kind of different situations, but both of them I expect to help us this year.”
Did you or will you entertain bringing in another quarterback prior to this season?
Freeman: “We had long discussions about that — myself, Coach Parker, Coach Guidugli — and we came to the decision that we would rather invest those reps in Steve Angeli and Kenny Minchey. We believe that they’ll develop to be exactly what we want as backups as we go into the season. To go and try to find somebody out of the transfer portal, we felt like we’re going to invest in those guys who have been here. We think their upside is tremendous. So no, we’re not going to go get another one to answer your question.”
Did you have any prior hint that this decision might be coming from Matt Balis?
Freeman: “No. Part of it is personal, and he didn’t really tell me exactly what those personal reasons were. But at the end of the day, when he says this is what’s best for me and my family, you have to respect that. But no, I had no idea that he was going to resign. We’ve always worked together and talked about how to continue to get better and things like that. Never did I think that I was going to get that phone call on Sunday.”
Where does this rank amongst the adversity you’ve faced as a head coach?
Freeman: “They all sting. It’s all hard. I can’t say this one was harder than that. The losses hurt. Anytime you lose staff members, you lose games, you lose players to the portal, those losses they’re never easy to get over. But you have to. You have to move forward. And you always have to have a plan in place for anybody. I didn’t foresee coach Balis leaving, but I’ve always had plans in place. What happens if coach Balis leaves? What happens if this person leaves? What happens if a player leaves? You have to make sure you have a plan. You’re proactive instead of being reactive. It never gets easier, but the ability to move forward faster is what has to happen.”
Where is Chris Tyree right now as a wide receiver in comparison to the spring?
Freeman: "He’s even more experienced. I talked to coach Stuckey. We had a staff retreat. He gave me the amount — I think 18,000 balls. Coach Stuckey can give you the right number. I think it was around 18,000. All those wideouts have really done a good job of working at their craft. Give credit coach Stuckey for really helping develop those guys and pushing them this summer. He’s just gotten better, better and better. Then the confidence and trust between Sam Hartman and our quarterbacks and Chris Tyree. Trust is built over time. That’s not going to be because I said you guys have to trust each other to throw the ball right there and he’s going to catch it. It’s over time, repetitions of both guys constantly doing it right builds that trust. They’ve worked tirelessly this summer, and you’ve seen the improvement from spring till now.”
Where do you think QB Steve Angeli is in his development? Can you see him as the potential future of this program?
Freeman: “Yeah. If we didn’t, we would have went and got a transfer portal quarterback. That’s the conversation we had. We believe Steve Angeli, Kenny Minchey — both of those guys — can be the future of Notre Dame football at the quarterback position. I’ve seen a couple things. He’s continuously, constantly hanging out with Sam Hartman. Really learning the habits that Sam has as a starting quarterback, as an elite quarterback. That’s helping Steve. But also, last year if you think about it, it was game two he’s going from being on scout team as the third-string quarterback to you’re thrusted into being one play away. He knows he’s one play away now. His mindset is different from last year than where it is now. I’ve seen him continuously improve. I look forward to seeing what he does the rest of camp.”
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