Notre Dame football head coach Marcus Freeman met with the media on Monday at Notre Dame Stadium ahead of a Saturday home matchup between the 10th-ranked Irish (7-1) and Florida State (1-8).
Here's everything Freeman had to say. Answers are largely verbatim. Questions may have been edited for brevity and clarity.
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Opening statement
Marcus Freeman: “Real quick, just reflecting on Navy. I know it was two weeks ago but we haven’t met since that postgame press conference. But just looking at that game, I think the key factors were one, the ability to win the turnover margin by six. But as you saw, to be able to produce 28 points because of those turnovers was huge. There was another game, I forget, that a team won the game but lost the turnover margin by six that same week. The Duke game and our players were like ‘Coach, turnover margin’s important. They lost the turnover margin by six and still won the game.’ But as you look, if you can’t turn those turnovers into points, convert to points, it really won’t have a huge determination on the outcome of the game. So, that was huge. To get 28 points out of those six turnovers was big. The ability to outrush Navy, win the explosive play battle and then we won the battle of field position by 20 yards, which is the most we’ve done all year. So, those were all key factors into the outcome of that game. We were able to put that game to rest last week and really focus on improving, preparing and recovering during this bye week. And I thought our guys and our coaching staff did a really good job at doing that.
“The players of the game for Navy were: on offense Jeremiyah Love, for defense was Jaylen Sneed and special teams was James Rendell. And then the scout players of the week, on offense were Jake Tafelski with a special shout-out to Tyler Buchner and the job he did, defensively was Jerry Rullo and special teams was Tommy Powlus.
“A couple injury updates. Tae Johnson will be available this week, moving forward. He started practicing last week and should be available this week. Mitch Jeter’s still questionable. Really has improved in terms of his recovery or his rehab from the injury a couple weeks ago. But he’s still questionable. Loghan Thomas will be questionable with a right hamstring from the Navy game.
“Moving forward to Florida State. Listen, it’s a very talented football team and it doesn’t take long to turn on the film and realize how talented they are. They might be one of the most talented teams we face all year, and that’s just what the film tells you. The record doesn’t reflect their talent. They’ve had to deal with some injuries, especially at QB, that has affected the outcome of their games. Our team must and we will respect the challenge that Saturday night here in Notre Dame Stadium versus Florida State will present. So, we have to continue to respect that by the way we prepare. So, this is a crucial week of preparation.”
Q: How important is it for you to strike the balance at Notre Dame between the right number of transfers and players signed out of high school?
MF: “I’ve said this, I think, from the beginning and I’ll continue to say it is that the foundation of our program has to be built through high school recruiting. Again, one of the greatest strengths we have is the love for this place, the love for this university, the love for each other. And it’s hard to gain that instantly; maybe if you’re only here for a year. But that’s my philosophy moving forward. Now we’ll utilize the transfer portal for very specific reasons, specific positions that we need to enhance immediately. But again, I want to continue to create the foundation of our program through high school recruiting.”
Q: Have you discussed plans with Jordan Botelho to return next season?
MF: “Yeah, he’s planning on coming back next year.”
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Q: What’s the message to the team this week with a 1-8 FSU team as the opponent?
MF: “I even heard it last week on the road recruiting, ‘Oh, you guys got Florida State. They’re struggling.’ Yes, their record might not be where they want it to be, but I’m not trying to make this team something they’re not. They’re a talented, talented football team, and that’s gonna be my message to the team is that we respect our opponent. You don’t have to watch many plays to realize how talented they are. But we’ve got to continue to do the things in preparation to make sure we give our program the best chance to have success on Saturday. And that’s what we’ve got to remember. It’s a mental preparation and a physical preparation, and we know what the result is when you don’t mentally prepare the right way. We know it. That’s why I always say keep the pain of NIU, because that’s a result of not having the right mindset. Like how you handle success. And it’s important that our guys understand that. You’re going to be presented every day with two options, right: choose easy, choose hard. My message will continue to be we have only one option: it’s choose hard. That’s what we have to do to continue to elevate as a program.”
Q: When the College Football Playoff rankings come out Tuesday, is it something you’ll ignore or address with the team?
MF: “Yeah, they’re gonna look and I’m sure somebody will tell me what we’re ranked. I’ll continue to remind them that it’s great, but that has no impact on our future. We’ve got to make sure right now we take care of what’s important. Because if we think that the rankings of tomorrow are gonna be what the rankings are at the end of the season, then we’re crazy. We’ve got to take care of what we have right in front of us and that’s this opportunity to prepare for Florida State.”
Q: Will this week’s offensive line be the same as it was vs Navy?
MF: “Yeah, it’ll be the same for Florida State as it was for Navy. That’s what our depth chart says right now. Every week the roles can change at any position, including offensive line. Now, I’m not saying every week we’re going to change offensive line or we’re going to change who’s starting. But that’s the mindset that we all have to have. Every week your role can change based on how you prepare but based on what this team needs you to do to have success on Saturday. That’s what’s important for everybody in our program to understand is that we’re not changing who’s starting just to change. If we believe this is what it takes to have success against this opponent, then we have to be willing as a coaching staff to change who’s starting and who’s playing and all those different things. But no, we’re not changing our offensive line for this game.”
Q: Is Jason Onye on this week’s depth chart? And if he’s not, is there a chance he’ll return this season?
MF: “No, he’s not on it right now. He's taking some personal time right now to get some things that he needs. So, if there’s a chance for him to return, we would love to have him back. But right now, we’ve just got to support Jason, get him the help he needs for Jason.”
Q: How do you re-recruit a current player who might not have a clear role heading into next season?
MF: “I don’t love the term ‘re-recruit’ because, when you think about recruiting, you think about trying to build a relationship with a high school recruit — or somebody — to get them to choose your program. That’s how we recruit you. We build relationships, we try to show you what’s great about this place, that you should choose this place. I hope we never lose that relationship that we’ve built. What we have to continue to do is just continue to double down on those relationships and that trust that the player has with his coach. Part of that is intentional conversations. We have a relationship, so we’re going to have intentional conversations about what you have to do to reach your full potential. Your future’s uncertain. So, I don’t know if you reach your full potential that means you’re going to start, that means you’re going to play, that means you’re going to be a backup. The future is uncertain. All you can control is your ability to reach your full potential. And that’s the conversation we have to have. It’s, ‘Hey, here’s where you’re at right now. Here’s where we as a coaching staff believe your full potential can be. And you have to embrace that too.
“No matter if you’re ceiling’s really high or maybe your ceiling’s not as high. Because sometimes if you don’t recognize where your ceiling is at, you tend to blame somebody else on the outcome. It’s important to continue to have conversations. We have relationships. I don’t want to re-recruit you. I just want to continuously have intentional conversations with you and tell you, ‘Hey, I don’t know what this means for you next year.’ Even if you’re a starter, if you’re a backup, if you’re not playing. I can’t guarantee if you reach your full potential, this is what’s gonna be the outcome of it in the future. But I can talk to you about the ways that you can improve to truly reach your full potential.”
Q: Are there freshmen who might’ve worked their way into conversation for playing time now that there are four games left? And have you discussed those not to go over the four-game red-shirt threshold?
MF: “We’ve had those conversations about guys that have played three or four games. Do we want to burn his redshirt? Here’s guys that haven’t played that we can utilize maybe in a special teams role, or offensive or defensive role. Yeah, there are some freshmen who we’ve said ‘Hey, put him as a backup on special teams right now in case a starter goes down and we need to get him in the game, because it won’t burn his redshirt.
“All freshmen will be available in that realm in terms of if they haven’t played their four or probably three, and we need to use them, especially in home games where you’re not worried about a travel roster. We gotta make sure we can utilize some of those guys.”
Q: After self-scouting during the break, where do you feel your offensive identity is and how you can enhance it?
MF: “I still think our ability to run the ball is something that we have to be able to do. We’ve done a really good job of doing that, which creates some ability to throw the ball down the field. And that’s what we have to continue to do. We still have to be able to run the ball no matter who’s the person running the ball. And be able to take some shots down the field when teams are going to add an extra hat to the box.”
“We’ve really worked on that. We’ve worked the fundamentals of every position on our team. We have to continue to enhance to improve. I still want to be an offense that runs the football, creates explosive plays down the field, takes advantage of those explosive plays. We’ve done that, but we’ve got to continue to get better at it.”
Q: Your first game as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator was against Florida State. Can you take a moment to reflect on coming full circle?
MF: “I think about 2019 when I was the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati and I faced Mike Norvell twice. He was the head coach at Memphis. I’ve had a lot of respect for him as a head coach and an offensive mind since those two games — we played them back-to-back. He’s an innovative mind. And as I got to here in 2021, again, he has a unique ability in the way to every week do something to try to put your defense in conflict. I talked with Coach Golden this morning about it — it’s even hard to say this is what they do, because every week he's trying — you can see he's trying to do whatever he can to help his offense have success. And he's not just gonna say, ‘This is what we do.’ We're gonna do different formations. We’re gonna do different concepts. And so I’ve got a lot of respect for him.
“I know that's a roundabout answer to your question for me. I continue to just stay in the moment. I know it's a cliche answer, but I've always believed you take care of what you're doing right now, and work as hard as you can and the future will take care of itself. For me, I’ve been fortunately blessed to now I’m the head coach of Notre Dame. But I just continue to stay in the moment and do what it takes to be the best head coach and best leader for this program I can be.”
Q: Earlier in the year you might’ve thought Florida State would come here at 8-1, now they’re 1-8. What are the challenges of going into that?
MF: “For them, I’m sure it’s pretty tough being a head coach and knowing you have a lot of that talent but the outcome hasn’t been what you want it to be. You just put your head down and find the ways to help your team improve.
“For us, this is one of 12 guaranteed opportunities. You’re playing Florida State at home in a night game. What a great opportunity. You have to respect that opportunity by the way you prepare. That’s what I’ll continue to preach. That our preparation, physically and mentally, has to be better than what it was in the past. Because if you do the same thing, the natural gravitational pull is going to make you worse. That’s what I told the guys last week: if we think we do the same thing this bye week that we did last bye week, and we think we’re going to get better, that’s not how God created this earth. There’s a natural gravitational pull. If you do the same thing, you’re going to get worse. We have to elevate. We have to elevate in the way our preparation is this week than it was in the weeks before. We pushed them hard. But there’s gotta be another step for this program.”
Q: What did it say about Jaylen Sneed to play the way he did vs. Navy?
MF: “It's a great example of last week was probably his best week of preparation. He had an exceptional week of preparation. Is it because he's played against Navy before? Did he have clarity in what he was asked to do? But he had an excellent week of preparation, and it reflected in the way he played in the game.
"But I think I'm going to go back to what I originally said earlier about every week your role can change. That's what I respect about Jaylen but everybody on our team. You still got to put team glory in front of yourself. Jaylen Sneed put himself in a position to have some individual glory. He played really well. But it was because we had team glory. If we didn't have team glory, nobody would be asking me about a whole bunch of individuals from that game in a positive way. Just continue to dive into team glory and what it takes. Your role might change each week, and in a snap of a finger you get individual glory like Jaylen Sneed did."
Q: What has been the biggest uptick for Riley Leonard between the two bye weeks?
MF: "I just think it's the confidence. Starting with the confidence. He has confidence in what he's being asked to do. He's making fast decisions. They're not always perfect. But he's making fast decisions and confident decisions. We all know he has the ability to tuck the ball and run and create a first down out of nothing. But he's really doing a great job of building that relationship with Denbrock so they know exactly what each other are thinking, how comfortable each one feels with each call. Then the confidence he has in those guys around him has been tremendous. It's just continuously building on week by week what he's done.
"I think for him, he's settling in. You're the quarterback at Notre Dame. In the first two weeks, he saw the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. He was able to say, 'OK, I get it.' And now put your head down and go to work and do the things it takes to make yourself as the quarterback of this place the best quarterback you can be. He's continuously doing that and doing a heck of a job at it."
Q: How does your defense still get pressure with so many injuries and regardless who's in the lineup?
MF: "It starts with those two big guys in the middle, Rylie [Mills] and Howard [Cross III]. They create some disruptions for the offensive line that really lets maybe other people get the credit for the pressure. But I think what you've seen is the production being really spread out amongst other people. You're not going to replace Boubacar [Traore] or Jordan Botelho with one person. But we're able to keep fresh guys in there. They're relentlessly attacking the quarterback, and the guys inside are really giving those guys a chance to make some plays. It's a collective group effort, but we won't be successful unless those two big guys inside are continuously playing at a high level. You go back to their stats. Their stats don't reflect the value they have for our defense. Those two guys, Howard and Rylie, are true difference makers in the run and the pass game. Stats don't always tell that story, but we know. And people that really evaluate the game truly understand the difference they make."
Q: Does CJ Carr need surgery? What's his status?
MF: "No, he doesn't have to get surgery. He's still returning to being able to throw. We'll probably see a progression for him to start throwing here soon. We've been overly cautious on his return to play. We don't need to rush it. Let's make sure he is 110% healed. If he was the starting quarterback this year, you probably would have pushed him a little bit more aggressively. But we want to be smart with making sure he is 110% healed, really rehabbing his elbow to a point where he's better than probably what he was previously."
Q: How do you treat the election on Tuesday with your team?
MF: "We talked to our guys about registering to vote in the summer. It took a lot of work. Are you going to register in Indiana? Are you going to register back home in your home state? We were very proactive in doing that for those guys that wanted to do it in the summer. Some could do absentee ballots. They all have the ability to go vote on Tuesday if they want to. That's about it."
Q: With Tae Johnson being added to the depth chart as the No. 2 boundary cornerback, what did you see in him that allowed you to put him in that spot?
MF: "It's a credit to his skill set. He can play multiple positions. Shoot, Tae Johnson could play receiver if he needed him to. He's a great athlete. We're just looking at the depth of our corners, obviously, with some injuries. What we needed for this defense right now at this time, that's the role we needed him to be in."
Q: What does a healthy Jordan Faison mean to this team? How did you see that in his return vs. Georgia Tech?
MF: "The biggest thing with him is what he puts on film in practice and in the game is a guy that does exactly what he's asked to do and really performs at a high level. The way you run routes, just because you don't get the ball or make the catch doesn't mean that you weren't doing 100% what we're asking you to do. The way he blocked. Now that he's returning to pretty much full health, we were able to get him the ball last week and create some big plays with him. He is a game changer. He is a great football player. He is tough, practices at such a high level, studies the game and is a huge part of this offense now and will continue to be a huge part of our team moving forward. He's a valuable member to this program."
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