Transcript | Marcus Freeman Speaks Following Day One Of Notre Dame Camp

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman spoke to the media Wednesday following the team’s first practice of fall camp: 

"Typical first day, a lot of good, a lot of things you can improve on. It's just good to be back out there with the guys, with our coaching staff, and actually practicing football together. I think we had a great summer. I was really pleased with the summer and Coach Landow and his team and and how prepared our guys were for this upcoming training camp, and I'm just make sure to give them a special shout out for job they've done, you know, I'm excited about the coaching staff that we have, as we had, you know, a chance last week to really spend some time together and get back into football mode. We called it the coaches retreat. But the ability to, you know, get back into football mode. I just kept taking note of, you know, how great of a coaching staff this is, in terms of teaching, but also motivating is also working together. I'm excited to be with this group of guys. Just a couple injury notes, Kahanu Kia is out, he tore his ACL this summer and had surgery, and so he'll be out. Mitchell Evans and Kevin Bauman and Benjamin Morrison, all returning to play. They all practiced today in a limited role but, but all are in return to play protocol." 

You just touched on Loren Landow, but specifically, when you got the team out there today, what did you see that let you know he made an impact, and in what areas did you most notice that?

"I don't know if it was today, as much as these last couple weeks since I've been back just watching them train, watching them gel together, right? There's a true brotherhood that's formed, formed in the summer, through tough times. I was really pleased by the brotherhood that was created this summer, and their capacity, their lung capacity, how they run, how they're able to condition. You know, I was able to watch a little bit of that in the past couple weeks. And they're a well conditioned team, and they showed it today. We got a little winded at the end of practice, but can never truly be ready for practice until you start practicing."

It's obviously Year Four for you here at Notre Dame, third year as head coach, but you've had your fingerprints on the defense that entire time. Al Golden his third year. What ways do you see that continuity and what does it allow you to do immediately from the start of camp moving forward?

"I think for our defense, they're able to start at a place that they haven't been at the past two years, because it's the third year in Coach Golden's system. It's also a veteran group that has learned, you know, the details of every defense that he wants to run. And so they're starting at level 500 and that's great, because now you continue to harp on the little intricate details of what makes a successful defense. So, I'm excited for the future of this defense in this upcoming season because of what they've built over the past two years, right into where it's at now. And so look forward to seeing how it progresses."

What did you think of Riley Leonard and Steve Angeli today? And what is your plan in terms of naming a starting quarterback? 

"Riley's going with the ones, Steve's going with the twos. I didn't get a chance to watch a whole bunch of seven on seven. I was with the other group, but I'll go back and watch film. But the time I was over, I was pleased with both of them. They both made some good plays in those last team periods. And again, this is day one, and I'm sure there's a lot of learning, but I'm excited for what they'll do." 

To follow up on both Morrison and Evans as guys that were starters. How much time do each need in terms of being ready to be ready, is one farther ahead than the other in terms of being able to be cleared in time for the season opener?

"Yeah, everybody will be cleared by the time we get to game week. I just don't know exactly when it will be over these next upcoming weeks, but they'll be good to go."

What has Aamil Wagner done throughout the off season to run with the first team? 

"I think it went back to spring ball, right? There was competition in spring ball, and what he's done over those 15 practices and progressed throughout the summer. He gave Coach Rudolph the confidence to say he should be our starting right tackle as we start fall camp."

What's the balance when you are as experienced as you are on defense, and you're breaking in so many new starters on the offensive line, of judging this offense early on when they go 11-on-11? 

"It’s just Practice One man. And I think as you look at it, you evaluate it for what it is, and you continue to find ways to improve. I have a lot of confidence in what our offensive line is going to be able to do. And you know what, iron sharpens iron, and so if you're going against a really deep defensive line, and also an experienced defensive line and a defense that's running a lot of pressures early in practice and stuff like that. You got to know that it's going to make them better. And so this is a journey to get ready for the season, and I'm very confident in the play of our o-line."

You talked a little bit about the conditioning, and were pleased with it already. I'm curious, where do you balance working out in the heat on a day like today, and wanting to be smart about that, but also realizing that in a month, you're going down to Texas where it's probably going to be hotter. Where do you want that line to be as you get ready? 

"Yeah, as much as we can practicing the heat we're going to today was a good, hot, humid day, and we know that's going to be the atmosphere week one, but I think it's for our guys, the ability to understand what they need to do to replenish and hydrate for a practice like today. And there's no nothing else that gives you experience but practicing in it. So what they're going to learn today post practice is okay, is the routine I have to get me ready for tomorrow, exactly where it needs to be, and you don't know until you have practice tomorrow. And so we have to really help them figure out their routine, to replenish and rehydrate, to make sure they're ready to go in any temperature."

Did any of the older, yet newer wide receivers stand out to you today?

"I saw Beaux Collins make a great play in team, I'm trying to think back. I'm watching so much stuff that it's hard to truly tell you without watching practice. I haven't watched practice yet, but I did see Beaux Collins make a good play. I'll let you know next time I'm up here."

There are metrics out there that say only USC is less experienced than you guys among you and your 12 opponents, based upon returning stats and starts. Did you sense that in the spring? Do you feel that, or has your culture risen to a level that you feel, that games played isn't necessarily a measuring stick for where you are as a program this year? 

"I mean, we have to have a process that we believe is going to get this group ready to perform these 12 guaranteed opportunities, and that, to me, is something that we spend enormous amount of time making sure that our process, that what we'll have them do, from starting January and we first get together till we go out there on the field, versus a and m is the right one to make sure they produce the the output that we want. And so experience, experience matters. But to me, more than anything, is your routine and your process and in the way you prepare to get your guys ready to play, is more important than anything.”

It sounds like the news on Morrison is good moving forward, but what's your level of concern as far as depth there, and do you feel like you're going to have to push the two freshmen to get prepared to play this year?

"Yeah, I do. I think we're going to need one of those two freshmen to step up and to be ready to go early in the season this year. If they're not ready, then we have enough versatility in the back end to move somebody else to corner. But I think right now, our plan is to say, Okay, we know who the top three four guys are at corner. Let's, let's really try to develop these young guys to see who can be somebody that can help us."

It feels like the assumption that when Rod Heard announced that he was coming here, that he would start at safety, and he got a lot of the one reps today. But what can Adon Shuler do to kind of push him for that job?

"Yeah, they both had reps with the ones a day. You know, I'm trying to do a really good job of getting our guys to focus on every day right and each day, and care who's with the ones today and who's with the twos today. Like, if you're rotating, focus on your reps. We'll get to tomorrow, and it'll be another guy and another group, like, focus on your opportunity. I know that's coach speak, but it's reality. Like them worrying about who's going to be the starter in Texas A&M doesn't matter. It really doesn't take advantage of today and and, and and if Adon does that, Adon's gonna be the best version of him. If Rod does that, Rod's gonna be the best version of him. And we get to Texas A&M week, we'll figure out who's going out there with the first group, both of those guys are gonna play for us. I'll tell you that right now. And you know, I just want to make sure their mindset is right, like, it doesn't matter who goes out with the ones. Take advantage your opportunity today."

Another group where it seems like that coach speak might be reality is linebacker. We saw a ton of different combinations. How excited are you about that? And I guess, how confident are you that no matter who you throw out there, whether it's three or four, maybe even five of those different guys, they're all going to get the job done? 

"Yeah, I'm very confident in that linebacker core. There's five guys in that room that have shown us, you know, they can play right away. And you know, Max Bullough has done an unbelievable job of really developing those guys. Kiser’s an old head. He's a six year and he's been through a lot of these training camps. But those other guys, you know, Sneed has been here a while, but, you know, to see what Sneed and Drake and Ausberry and and Kyngstonn and even Preston Zinter and those guys like, it's a credit to max, and his development, development of that room, and I have a lot of confidence and and whoever comes out of that room that's going to be on the field."

We saw Faison outside today. Is that kind of a permanent mood? And what's Jayden Harrison giving you at slot?

"Yeah, Jayden is doing a great job. He did a great job in the spring. Had a really good summer. We're trying to figure out what's the best six, and to put them in whatever positions we need to put them in to get them on the field. And we know what Jordan can do in the slot. We're trying to give him a chance to go outside and see what he can do outside. But at the end of the day, we're going to play the top six, seven wideouts. We just didn't want to have three deep in the slot and not get Jordan the reps that he needs to make sure he's ready for this upcoming season. You know he missed, obviously, spring ball. So, he's going to play a lot for us. Where he plays is still to be determined."

Are Rocco Spindler and Pat Coogan still competing? And what do you need to see out of the unit as a whole as you go through the camp? 

"Yes, there's ongoing competition at the O-line, especially with Rocco and Coogan and some of the guards. But you know, we still have an identity on offenses, still being able to run the ball, and we have to be able to run the ball. And one of the challenges we've had for the offensive line is to create a new line of scrimmage. We want to play football on the defensive side of the line of scrimmage, and so that's what I want to see. More than anything can we get movement against the D-line? I feel like if we have the ability to do that, we will have the ability to get moving on any defensive line we play. But that's the challenge, right? So we have to be able to create movement in the run game to make sure we can run the ball effectively. And then the second part will be to protect the quarterback. We have to protect the quarterback. We know that, but the mindset of this offense, we have to be able to move the ball and run it." 

The competition at cornerback between Christian Gray and Jaden Mickey. You said in the past that both guys are going to play. But what boxes do they kind of need to check in fall camp, as they kind of hope to earn the starting job? 

"Just continue to build trust. That's how you earn playing time, is trust. And you know, can you do exactly what your coach tells you to do over and over and over, like everybody has ability but, we will play the guys that we trust more than anything to get their job done. And so that's what you want to see over the course of now to the end of fall camp, who at every position is going to continue to build that trust with their position coach."

Now that he's been on campus for a summer, and you got to see him in full pads today, what have been your impressions of James Rendell? 

"He's awesome. Man. Glad to have him. He had a good summer, just kind of adjusting to American football. Had some good kicks. It was up and down, right? I haven't really watched the punts yet, but just being out there, he had some really good punts and some points that he's got to improve on, but that's going to be anybody, but he's going to be a weapon for us. Told him that early on, when he got here, he's going to be a weapon for us. I look forward to seeing him progress over this training camp."

Is there a happy medium in terms of the structure, the pace, the intensity of camp that you can take from year one and year two, considering the opponent is a little bit more like Ohio State? 

"I mean, it wasn't like we didn't prepare hard in training camp last year because we played Navy. You prepare to win whoever you play against, no matter it's Navy, if it's Ohio State, it's Texas A&M, and so we have a plan, I think, a great plan that we put together that will will make sure this group is is, is prepared one, but also healthy enough to make sure we go out there and we compete versus Texas A&M. But you know that that I believe in our plan and what we have, but again, the focus has to be on taking care of right now and what's right in front of us."

I think in normal circumstances, you know, you’d maybe divvy up the reps more with the quarterbacks, but Riley missed spring, he probably needs to get caught up a little bit. How do you balance getting Riley the work that he needs, but also you got three other quarterbacks that probably could get in normal circumstances, a little bit more work at this time of year? 

"It's something we have taken into consideration. Riley got a lot of reps this summer in terms of just what he missed in the spring. We got to make sure he gets enough work to make sure he's prepared to go. But we got to give these three other quarterbacks a chance to develop and continue to improve also. It's not a perfect formula, but I think we do have a good plan for that."

You kind of talked about this in the spring, about Denbrock’s intensity, verbally. I'm curious now, on the first day of fall camp, how is that intensity in your eyes? How's it going? How is that helping verbal accountability helping your offense?

"Coach Denbrock brings an intensity, but leadership to our offensive side of the ball. And I think great leaders understand when things need to be said, right? It's not just yelling and screaming over and over and over that makes you a great leader. It's understanding, ‘okay, at this point, this needs to be a point emphasis. I need to get these guys going, hold them accountable.’ And I think he has a great feel for that. And you can see, you can see our offense respond to that. And this isn't something that just happens in practice. This is something that happens over the course of a year, and I've definitely seen a level of leadership in our total offense, coming from Coach Denbrock, but on down, has really risen." 

Riley said at the end of spring if the Blue-Gold game would have been a real game, he probably would have played. I'm just curious, he obviously had a pretty active summer. Were there any limitations, restrictions that he or was he just pretty much free to cut it loose all summer? 

"Cut it loose the whole summer. Yeah, he was free to cut it loose."

I wanted to ask you about the roster limits of the NCAA, the 105 . You guys had like, around 120 out there today. What do you think about the 105 and what potential impact do you see with that? 

"Yeah, that's something that we've been planning for and having discussions for, you know, if the NCAA sets the roster limit, we'll make sure we adjust accordingly. I've always had this response to questions that, when people ask my opinion on these things, it really doesn't matter whether I like 105 or I like 120, they passed a ruling and said it's gonna be 105, how do we come up with a plan to make sure this group, these 105 guys in the future, are ready to roll and can really reach their full potential. And so we have a great plan, right? That we've been preparing for for months, that if this was going to be the case, we know exactly the way we want to structure our roster."

You made some promotions in your recruiting operation and the overall kind of mid-management. What's it say about the group and the program and the design for this that women are being empowered? Can tell us a little bit about how Olivia and we know Olivia (Mitchell), but Zaire (Turner) as well. What kind of edge does that give you against programs that are generally male dominated?  

"Yeah, I think it gives us an edge because they're really good at their jobs. And this wasn't a decision that was to create publicity. It wasn't to do anything but to promote two people that really give us an advantage to have the best football program we have. Olivia has done a terrific job and deserves her promotion. And the same thing with Zaire, she's going to do a wonderful job as our director of player personnel. And we're just grateful to have them here, have them a part of our staff, and to be able to keep them, they're going to be a vital part for us really achieving the goals that we have."

With the headset communication, that's something that everyone's learning on the fly. How satisfied are you where you’re at now? What's going to be the key to making that all be seamless by the time it needs to be? 

"It's something we started in the spring, so we've been working on it throughout the spring and, I think we have a really good plan. We'll have to continue to do it throughout training camp. It's just something new. It's going to be a relationship between the coordinator and the quarterback, right? And what amount of information do they want? What's too much? What's too little? Obviously, it cuts off at 15 seconds so but it's been something we've been practicing since the spring, and I truly believe that our offense specifically has a great plan, and defensively, we've done the same thing. Coach Golden obviously had experience being in the NFL with the green dot, and I feel really confident about our plan." 

You mentioned you didn't spend a lot of time with the ones and twos today. What were you looking for as you walked the field today? 

"I think day one, you're looking for the flow of practice. You're looking for, you know, guys having the urgency that you want. I think head coaches have to be master observers. You have to be able to observe and see everything. And that's what I tried to do early in practice. And I spent some time with the younger guys during seven on seven, you know, to me, to make sure they understand how important it is, right? And we did a lot of two spots today, which is something new for us, but I wanted to spend some time with those younger guys, and really, you know, yeah, I get it. When the head coach is over there, it creates a little bit more sense of urgency, and then I have no problem being over there,  when that happens. So again, just my job is to be where I'm needed.  I have a plan every day as I go into practice, but I think as a head coach, you have to be able to make sure that you're where you're needed during the duration of practice."

With those younger guys, especially the freshmen who are trying to make an adjustment, and especially the ones that weren't here during the spring, how difficult is that to get them ready for what they need to do?

"Yeah, it's a challenge. You know, it goes fast, especially practice, when you can tell the guys that weren't here for spring ball, those young guys, it goes really fast, and you can do all the summer walkthroughs that you want in meetings. There's nothing like getting out there the first day and actually seeing it at practice speed, but they'll be better, right? I've always had this belief in you know, people always ask me, Do you think it's better to come in early or come in in June if you want to play as a freshman? Some of the best freshmen that I've been around that have played as true freshmen have come in in June, right? And I've been around some that have come in in January. If you're good enough to play as a freshman, we'll know. By the time we get to Week 1, we'll know. To me, it's the ability for those guys to play fast, right? When we evaluate you in high school, we evaluate you playing as fast as you possibly can, right? And so all of them are good, right? But the guys that are able to play fast. Faster here, right? Like sooner, are the ones that are probably gonna have a chance to play early. And so that's the challenge, you know, it. Can I process all this information and with emotions and everything that's going on and still play fast? If you can do that, you got a great chance to play early." 

You mentioned trust. They all have talent, but trust is important. I think at running back, that's a pretty important situation. What do you need to see from people we look at Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, but also someone that can kind of augment that room going forward?

I think you talk about in the running back room number one is ball security, right? They got to be able to take care of a ball. They got to be able to protect the quarterback and pick up the different pressures, and then, yeah, we want them to make plays with the ball in their hands. But to me, it's all those different things that we actually do, one, without the ball in your hands, and two, being able to protect the football when you do have in your hands that are going to really help earn the trust of Coach McCullough and the offensive staff that gives him a chance to play early. So it's a talented group, especially a talented group of young guys, that I'm excited to see what happens in the next couple of practices. 

Follow up on Love. This is probably better for down the road in camp, but he's got some time at wide receiver, at slot receiver. In the spring, you have 11 receivers. You said you're already kind of three deep in the slot. How do you keep working him in with his responsibilities at running back and all the guys, six, seven guys you want to play at receiver? 

"You have to find ways to get Jeremiyah Love the ball, and that's where we have a creative offensive coordinator and a creative offense that will do that. And so as we get towards game week and those types of things, we'll game plan specifically how we get the ball into his hands. But, I mean, you don't have to be a rocket scientist, in our offense, you have to find ways to get Jeremiyah Love the ball." 

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