Notre Dame football head coach Marcus Freeman met with reporters Sunday inside Notre Dame Stadium ahead of Friday's College Football Playoff first-round game for No. 7 seed Notre Dame (11-1) against No. 10 seed Indiana (11-1) in South Bend (8 p.m. EST on ABC/ESPN).
Here's everything Freeman had to say in transcript form. Answers are largely verbatim. Questions may have been edited for brevity and clarity.
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Opening statement
Marcus Freeman: "We just had a quick team meeting and, as I told the team, today officially starts game week. As we look at everything, today’s a Monday for us in terms of our preparation.
"Really the past two weeks leading up until now, the preparation’s been really good. You had some guys that have been able to recover but also you’ve been able to do your physical and tactical preparations after we found out who our opponent was last week. Really pleased with the preparation of the last week.
"Obviously, now we start moving forward with game week. We have to make some adjustments into our normal game week schedule to accommodate finals. So, we’ll practice in the morning starting Monday. We’ll practice in the morning through Wednesday. Then Thursday will be a normal Thursday, because our guys will take finals in the afternoon.
"Couple injury updates: [nose tackle] Howard Cross will be available, [running back] Devyn Ford available, [running back] Jeremiyah Love available. [Linebacker] Bodie Kahoun will still be out, [wide receiver] KK Smith will still be out and [linebacker] Kyngstonn [Viliamu-Asa] will still be out.
"Moving along to Indiana. Obviously, it’s a 11-1 football team. Very talented but you can tell they’re coached well. They play, as I often say, with the clarity that you look for when you watch film. It’s a team that plays fast, a team that understands what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, how they’re doing it. So, you can tell they understand what’s expected of them. They make quick and fast decisions. A very disruptive, chaotic defense that is number one in the country at stopping the run. So, we understand it’ll be a great challenge for us, and we’ve got to have a great week of prep as we get ready for Friday night."
Q: How do you turn your team's focus back on after 20 days without a game?
MF: "I’ve been preaching the same message. It's that everybody knows it’s a big game. But the approach to the game can’t change. What we’ve been doing in terms of our preparation mentally and physically has given this program a chance to succeed. Now, all season long we’ve talked about elevating and continuously finding ways to get better in terms of how we prepare. And that’s no different as you prepare for this one. It’s that we have to find ways to enhance the way we prepare and continue to elevate as a team with that same approach that we’ve had. And we’ll get to Friday when it gets here."
Q: How can the fact that the team has been in ‘win-or-else mode’ since September work to its advantage?
MF: "It’s something I’ve been preaching to the guys and something that I reiterated this last week was that we’ve been in playoff situational games since week three. And we understand that. Every game that we play in is a version of a playoff game in our minds. So, continue to understand that you don’t have any added pressure for this one that you haven’t had the previous 10. Our guys understand that. That’s going to be the message that I continue to reiterate. Let's just focus on the way we're preparing more than anything."
Q: You're the only College Football Playoff team that hasn't had any players enter the transfer portal since the regular season ended. What's been your message to the players about that? Why is it important to keep the team together through the playoffs?
MF: "I can’t speak for everybody. Every individual in our program makes their own decisions. I think they understand — every person in our program understands — how valuable they are to us being in this position that we’re in. We need them. We need every single person in our program to reach the goals that we have. I think when you feel like you have value and you’re a part of what we’re accomplishing, you want to continue to stay with this team and see it through. I hope that’s a reflection of it, but everybody will have their own answer."
Q: How important is it to get Howard Cross III back with him getting these two weeks off to keep healing?
MF: "Yeah, obviously high ankle sprains take time, and we knew that. But Howard Cross is an excellent football player. When you don’t have him, he’s missed. We’ve had guys step up and do an unbelievable job. Donnie Hinish has played really well and Gabe Rubio and some of those guys. But we also know the type of football player Howard Cross is, and to have him back is going to be huge for our defense."
Q: How do you combat Indiana's defense?
MF: “They do some unique things with their D-line, with their second-level defense, in terms of pressure package but also some different stunts that you don't see every week. What we can't do is try to play fit-ball. You hear me say it all the time, and make sure, 'Hey, we're scheming everything up the exact right way.' Part of this is you've got to be aggressive. You've got to establish a new line of scrimmage when you're running the football, and that's a mindset, a mentality, that we have to have. But they've done an excellent job of stopping the run all season long.”
Q: What has your thought process been over the last 10 games? Do you live in perpetual upset prevention at this point?
MF: “I would be lying if I say I don't think about that loss or being upset. Fear is a motivator. It is what it is. A lot of people are motivated by fear or greed, and there's times that I have to remind myself what's the result of not preparing the right way.
"But sometimes it takes the performance that we had versus NIU to go back and say, 'Hold on. What lessons do we have to learn?' If you knew exactly what it took, the perfect formula, you would correct it right when it's not right. But sometimes it takes going back and saying, 'OK, where didn't we prepare the right way?' And that's after a win, too.
"There's situations that happen in a win that you got to go back to say, 'OK, we didn't perform the way we needed to in this situation, third-down offense, third-down defense, first-down offense, whatever the situation may be, special teams. Hold on. Is our preparation — is this something that's showing up in practice? If it's not, OK, was this a schematic thing that we weren't ready for?'
"I think that's the mindset I have. I still believe in preparation. I choose to believe that is the No. 1 indicator that gives your program a chance to have success on Saturday. And I won't stray from that. That's what we're going to focus on right now as we prepare for this upcoming game.”
Q: Riley Leonard said he hasn’t had his breakthrough moment in college football yet. Why is he ready for a moment like this?
MF: “I think Riley's a reflection of our entire program. We all believe there's room to get better. There is. When you talk about reaching full potential, every person in that program, including me, has room to elevate, to get better, and that's what I hope that statement means for Riley Leonard.
“Yeah, he's played really well in a lot of games, a lot of big games, but he knows he has room to improve, as do I. What we have to do is now put the work in that it takes to take that next step in elevation. That's what he's focused on. That's what we're all focused on.”
Q: After giving up a lot of yards against USC, why are your young cornerbacks ready to shed that to stop Indiana’s pretty good passing offense?
MF: “Christian [Gray], there was a couple of plays they made on him that they have really good players. They had a really good quarterback. They made some plays. But again, when Christian picks off that last ball and takes it to the house, it's a reflection of one play, one life. This is one thing that matters. We have the utmost confidence in all of our DBs, Christian Gray included.
“You've got to learn from some of the things that happened, but also understand and build off the confidence that he has after that last interception he took to the house. They'll be ready to go. They'll be ready. All of our DBs will be ready for the challenge that presents itself on Friday.”
Q: When did this team make the jump from being the most talented you've coached at Notre Dame to a playoff team?
MF: “There's not one instance that I believe that I said, 'Man, here's a playoff team,' until we beat USC. But talent is one thing. I still believe this is the most talented team I've had a chance to be the head coach of, but there's the work that it takes to take talent and turn it into skill and turn it into being a great football team.
"There isn't a defining moment for that. It's a constant process from when we started in January to fall camp to where we're at now. We're still in a process of continuing to reach our full potential, as I always say, and improve. Then we'll look back when it's over. Whenever this thing is over, we'll look back and say, 'Here's the key point in this season that really helped us get to this point.'"
Q: As this team continued to face adversity with injuries, what did you learn about it resiliency along the way? What do you attribute that to?
MF: “I think we have depth more than anything. We have guys from the top of our roster to the bottom that can help us win football games. When that opportunity presents itself on game days, it changes throughout the year. But you have to be ready. You can't wait until your number's called on game day to get ready.
"That's what it speaks to is the guys that have prepared in a way to be ready. They didn't know if their number's going to be called on Saturday or not, but because of an injury, now they're thrust into action, and everybody else gets to see it. But more important than anything, it speaks to the talent, the depth of our roster but also the way those guys prepare for an opportunity that they don't know is going to happen on game day.”
Q: Do you modify or condense the playbook for one-year quarterback transfers?
MF: “Every program's different. Every offense is different. There is a process that it takes to make sure that your quarterback and your offense is performing at the highest level it can. But there's also ways to expedite that process. I think Riley and Coach [Mike] Denbrock and Coach [Gino] Guidugli have truly been intentional about doing.
"As far as us moving forward, it's not something we plan on worrying about in the future.”
Q: Coaching in the playoff for the first time, how will you handle scouting future potential opponents?
MF: “We have a group that looks at all the possible opponents we may have. Obviously, we didn't know who we were going to play round one. But once you have an opponent, your attention is specifically on the upcoming task at hand. We, obviously, have to plan forward in terms of logistically, but all of our focus is for the task at hand.”
Q: When Xavier Watts made the decision to come back for this season, did the why surprise you at all? How did that decision affect his teammates?
MF: “When he made the decision to come back, I think there were multiple reasons. One was to improve his draft stock and to give him a chance to be drafted at a higher position in the NFL Draft, but also to help this team reach the goals that we've set. Being a captain, being the leader that he's been for our defense, there is no value, no money that I can put on that. He has been amazing in terms of the value he's brought into this program, to this team.
“I just told him, 'What you've done for this program to achieve team glory is going to be bigger than you can ever imagine, in terms of the individual glory, the All-Americans, the awards that you may or may not get.' I just wanted him to know, and he knows, the value he's brought to this team for us to achieve the results that we've had has been tremendous.”
Q: Has Beaux Collins had a chance to recalibrate for a potential resurgence?
MF: “Beaux's had a wonderful few weeks of practice. He's confident, practicing fast, high-level, making some big plays in practice and that's all you can control. You learn from the things that are behind you and the mistakes that you've made, but what I've seen in Beaux Collins in these past two weeks of practice gives me a lot of confidence in what he can do on game day.”
Q: What are the challenges Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke and his offensive line present?
MF: “Every great offense is led by a quarterback, and this is no different. He's a veteran. He's been in big games. He's played a lot of football games, and he makes really good decisions. He knows where he's going with the ball. He knows what he's looking for, and he is able to execute at a high level. But more than that, I think, their offense, being able to run the ball, is something that they've done really efficiently.
“When you think about weather conditions, you think about a Friday night in South Bend, Ind., weather could have an impact on the football game. They've done a really good job running the ball. So, we have to prepare, obviously, for the things he does well in the passing game, but we got to make sure we can stop the run, too.”
Q: You've shown video of the NIU and USC losses to your team in previous weeks. Are you doing anything specific to help motivate the team for this game?
MF: “Yeah, there's always motivational tactics that I provide. Maybe it's more for me than anything. But, yeah, we'll find ways to motivate them. They're motivated by this opportunity more than anything. They're motivated to play in the first-ever playoff game at Notre Dame Stadium versus a dang good football team in Bloomington, Ind. That's where their motivation lies.
"More than anything, the ability to pull plays from IU, to show them plays from previous losses, is to learn from them. It's more than motivating. It's to learn from them. There's plays in Louisville last year that I had on a screen that hopefully they watched, and they said, 'Oh, OK, that's something I got to remember that will help us on game day.' That's really the tactic behind playing some of those things, the previous losses, and showing them around the Gug.”
Q: It's been since the Florida State game that Mitch Jeter made a field goal. Where are you at with him? Is he back to the point where he's kicking field goals as routine as he was pre-injury?
MF: "This is as close as he's been to where he was before he got hurt. He's had a really good two, three weeks of practice. Now we had to let him truly recover. He needed it. He needed a chance to recover. We've probably had more live field goal opportunities and field goal periods in practice just for him, but everybody to get their confidence back in our field goal unit, some of the protection things we have to fix. He's had a really good few weeks of practice."
Q: What impresses you about Indiana’s run defense?
MF: "They play aggressively. I often say they create chaos. They have a really unique scheme in terms of some of their twist games and pressure packages. But they're talented, and they play hard. They play hard. Their D-line is really, really good. It's hard to simulate some of the things they do in practice, but our scout guys have done a good job of trying to give us a really good look as they've done all year. They are well-coached, they're aggressive and they're a confident group."
Q: Who did you rely on to come up with a plan for playoff prep the last couple weeks?
MF: "There's part of the logistics that we had deep and long discussions about before the season even started. With the understanding that you have finals, understanding that you're gonna have Week 13 off. You're not gonna have an opponent until after the championship game. So some of those logistical things we've had a plan for.
"And then as we got closer and closer to this and once we really got an opponent, every week we get together as a sports performance group. We meet early in the week, and I have a vision that I want in terms of the practice schedules and the periods, and I bounce it off [associate athletic director for sports performance] John Wagle and [director of football performance] Loren Landow and [head football athletic trainer] Rob Hunt and that group. We meet about looking at the loads and the numbers. Hey, Coach, this will be high, this will be low. It's a collective decision.
"I have to use the wisdom that is around me. We have some of the most brightest individuals here at this university that can give me feedback. And then i gotta make a decision. I have to make a decision that I believe is best for this football team. But before I do that, I want to use all the wisdom available."
Q: When did this offensive line start to look like the one you wanted, even if the players weren’t exactly who you had in mind due to injuries?
MF: "It's a progression, and it takes time. There's not one game or one instance that I said, 'That's the offensive line that we've been waiting on.' They played well Week One. There was improvement. Week Two, there was improvement. There's still improvement that we have to make.
"But I think it's that chase of perfection. It's that chase of reaching our full potential that prevents you from saying, 'This is when it happened.' It's that mindset. We're not there yet. We're not there as a football program. We're not there as an O-line group. We're not there as a head coach. There's room for improvement. After this season, we'll look back and say maybe there was a time or two, but right now it's just like, 'How do we get better? How do we get better?'"
Q: Rylie Mills and Mike Brown had some lapses in poise against USC. Do you use that as a reminder to the group as a whole?
MF: "They'll be the first ones to tell you that nobody's worth 15 yards. We can't react to a situation in a way that could hurt our team. That's what both of them were. They were reactions that were poor decisions. Poor decisions in terms of the way they reacted to a situation. Those are the first two guys that will own it.
"That's what I love about this program. I don't need to demean you and get all over you. At times I will. But these guys own it. They understand it. We all gotta learn from it. It's a reminder for me as the head coach. Nobody's worth 15 yards. Let's make good decisions no matter what happened the previous play or the previous moment. We got to be smart in terms of how we react.
Q: With Bill Belichick being hired at North Carolina, have you spoken to him previously? He's pitched that his program will get players ready for the NFL. Is that similar to what you do here? What's your message to players who want to be prepared for the next level?
MF: "I got a lot of respect for what Coach Belichick has done for the game of football. The success he's had at the NFL level is unprecedented. It's tremendous for the game of football, period. To have somebody that has had that much success in college football and in a conference that we obviously play multiple crossover games, it's amazing. He'll do great things in college, the same way he did in the NFL. I look forward to seeing the success of North Carolina and their football program.
"Every coach, our job is to make sure that your sons are prepared, more prepared, for the NFL because of the time they spent in our program. That's a part of what our job is. Not only to help us win football games but also to prepare them to reach their full potential as a football player. If that means that they're ready to go to the NFL and have a long NFL career, then that's great. But our job is to make sure that they are the most complete football player as they can be because of the time they spent with us in our football program."
Q: It's expected to be cold and maybe snowy on Friday night. Do you pull anything from playing in the snow against Boston College a couple years ago to help with preparation?
MF: "No. We practice in it just so our guys understand, coaches understand what they need to wear to stay warm. You'll hear me say all the time, 'there's no cold tough guys.' If you don't want to wear sleeves, don't wear sleeves. But don't be on the sideline shivering either. Make sure you're warm. Whatever it takes to be warm, let's make sure we're prepared. In order to do that, coaches too, we gotta practice outside. You gotta practice in the elements so you know how to prepare for it on game day.
Q: So you don't recommend wearing no shirt during warmups like Florida State six years ago?
MF: "If they're not cold, you wear what you want to wear. Just make sure you're warm."
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