Notre Dame football head coach Marcus Freeman spoke to reporters following Friday's 40-8 Sun Bowl victory over Oregon State at El Paso, Texas.
The No. 16 Irish finished the season 10-3 and move into the offseason with some positive momentum. Here's a lightly edited transcript of Freeman's postgame press conference. Questions may be paraphrased for brevity and clarity.
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Opening Statement
“No. 1, I’m just so proud of these players, the commitment to grasping this special opportunity that we have in front of us. It’s not because they wanted to. It's because they put the work in. That’s what I kept challenging them on: We have to put the work in that it takes to grasp this great opportunity. So, I’m so proud of them.
“A guy like Javontae [Jean-Baptiste] had an opportunity to go and not play in this game. And him and a couple of other guys to come back and commit to this thing, I’m proud of all these guys. Every single one of them, I could go on and on about.
“Oregon State is a good football team. I told coach [Kefense] Hynson after the game, ‘Don’t be discouraged.’ He’s a heck of a coach, and that’s a good team. Our guys played really well. They played motivated, and they executed. And they battled. It wasn’t perfect. The final score isn’t always a true teller of how the game went. But there was some adversity, and they battled. And I’m proud to coach them, and I’m proud of the way they represent our university and the way they represent our athletic program.”
Q: What was working today?
Marcus Freeman: “I think about the first half, defensively, we just did an unbelievable job. I mean, [defensive coordinator Al] Golden has had that defense prepared all year long. And I'd be lying if I said I was surprised. I wasn’t. I expect a lot out of that defense. And when you’re playing well on defense, now it gives your offense a chance to have some confidence and move the ball.
“The first series, they put the ball on the minus-4, and we go 96 yards and score a touchdown. That was huge. The second series, I think we had to punt the ball. But then to go up 14-0, again, as you play well on one side of the ball — you’re dominant on that defensive side — it helps everybody build confidence.
“I’m proud of the way they executed, [of] the game plan, [of] the work they put into this opportunity we had to play in the Sun Bowl. Kudos to our coaches and our preparation, and to our players in what they did to prepare and to execute.”
Q: Not to push too far ahead, but did the performance they had today make you more excited for next year at all?
MF: “Yeah, you have a lot of young guys — guys that didn’t have the opportunity to play much all year — get a chance to go play and compete. They really, to me, displayed the execution that you see in practice. Take Steve Angeli. He’s a really good football player, and he’s shown that in practice. I’m just using him as an example, but we have some guys who are really good football players that didn’t get the opportunity to do that too much throughout the season because of the guys they had in front of them. But I’m confident in the direction of this football program, with the guys that we’re bringing in, the guys we have, the coaches that we have on this staff. I’m really excited as we move forward.”
Q: Winning in the Sun Bowl 13 years ago started a trail to a national championship game appearance in 2012. Can life repeat itself?
MF: “Sounds good to me. And we just don’t want an appearance, we want to win it. But this is an unbelievable bowl, and the production that was put on this week, you understand why the Sun Bowl is so historic. As I said yesterday, we are honored to be a part of this bowl game. It was first class, and we’re grateful for this chance.”
Q: What does a 10-win season mean to you as a coach?
MF: “A 10 looks better than nine. But every opportunity you play, you want to win. And to me it’s a reflection of the direction of this program. Nine wins last year and 10 wins this year, we just want to continue to improve. And we’ve got to find a way, as you look back on this season, to win those close games that we didn’t end up winning. That’s the challenge of college football. How do you progress? How do you continue to take this group of football players and coaches and get us to a place where we can win those close ones and win the ones we’re supposed to? So, I’m just really pleased with our program, where we’re at now, and the direction that we see in the future.”
Q: The way your special teams players reacted to the fake punt. It looked like you were prepared for that. Were you anticipating it at that moment?
MF: “Yeah, [special teams] coach [Marty] Biagi called ‘spy,’ expecting something was up, something in that area. He said he had seen some discussions on the sidelines, and so we end up calling ‘spy,’ which was a great call. So, our guys weren’t out of control and were prepared for that moment. Again, I love to give all of our coaches credit. Coach Biagi has done a wonderful job. And to stop that punt fake was huge for our team, because I think that turned into points.”
Q: You’ve had Jordan Botelho for three years (of his four at ND), and this is the first time he’s had a set role. Where do you see him growing if he comes back for a fifth year?
MF: “He just continues to improve. He and [D-line] coach Wash [Al Washington] have a great relationship. He works at it. He’s done a heck of a job at the vyper for us, and I see that being his role as we move into next year. My challenge to Jordan is: Let’s continue to get better, continue to be consistent in our preparation. But he is a talented football player, and he showed today how good he can be.”
Q: Has he indicated he wants to come back next year?
MF: “Yeah.”
Q: You don’t get that kind of performance from your team unless it’s bought in. At what point during bowl prep did you sense the guys who were with you were are all in on this, as opposed to: What are we doing?
MF: “I think the first couple of weeks [of bowl prep] we were recruiting. We had meetings with our guys. You practice on weekends. And there were still a couple of guys who were trying to figure out, ‘Am I going to do this or not?’
“At some point, I may have said it, or somebody said it, ‘Are you in or are you out?’ It’s nothing against the guys that didn’t play. It’s just that we need to know the direction we’re going. And you saw the guys who said ‘I’m going to play in this game’ who maybe had the option to opt out or to go to the NFL. Like you saw that ownership. ‘OK, let’s get to work. Let’s make the most of this opportunity.’ And they were committed to it. This group was committed.
“And all I kept trying to get them to understand was how important this game was for so many different reasons: The Sun Bowl. Ten wins. The chance for back-to-back bowl wins. This was a great opportunity against a good opponent. And so, they owned it. They bought in. They prepared the way you have to prepare.”
Q: So, what did that ownership look like that you felt good about?
MF: “It’s a commitment to the preparation. And if you’re all in, you’re going to do the little things it takes to be successful. We’re all going to practice. You get a certain amount of practice, but the intentionality of that practice is, to me, what makes a difference. And I challenged them: If you’re all in, we have to stay focused on every moment of this practice.
“We talked about having this battle of choosing. We choose hard. We have to choose hard every play, stay in the moment. And that, to me, is the intentionality you have to have if you want to have the outcome that we had today. And the preparation off the field. I tried to promote a little bit of free time outside of bowl practice — like, get away. We’re not going to stay here all day long. But when we’re in the building, we have to prepare the right way. That’s what you saw today.”
Q: What do you expect to see from your new strength and conditioning coach, Loren Landow, next year?
MF: “I think I said in my statement that he’s going to be, No. 1, a reflection of the head coach. I've met with him many times for long hours. We've talked. I love the mindset that he has for preparing a football team in the weight room. And so, that’s the start of it. To me, the individualized approach to certain guys and how to get those guys to reach their full potential is really what coach Landow’s about. And the experience he has in group settings, but also individual settings, and to truly make sure our guys maximize their potential.
“I’m excited to get him started, which he’ll start here in January when our guys get back from the break. And I’m excited to see the direction our strength program goes in.”
Q: You said at halftime you wanted to stay relentless and wanted to attack. What was that like in the locker room and how did you get that out of them?
MF: “I challenged them and I challenged the coaches. I didn’t like the way we started. We ended up scoring on that first drive, but it was sloppy. And I remember after we scored on the field goal on the first drive [of the second half], I kind of said, ‘All right. We’ve got to clean this thing up. Our communication, we’ve got to clean up. We can’t take delay-of-games. We can’t take unnecessary timeouts.’ And I think that’s where it was like, ‘OK guys, let’s get back to what we need to do.’
“But I challenged them. This opportunity, man, it’s not just one half. It’s not a score. You’ve got 60 minutes to play this game, and I wanted our mindset to be relentless — and that’s coaches and players. It’s one thing to talk to an 18-to-22-year-old playing the game to be relentless, but us coaches have to be relentless, and focus on getting the outcome we wanted.”
Q: With Jordan Faison playing so well, do you kick yourself for not playing him from the beginning?
MF: “He’s a really good player. And he probably didn’t get the opportunity to show us that as early as maybe he could have or maybe we should have given him, but we’re grateful to have him. And I see him building on the performance that he had today and throughout the season.”
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