Familiar Foes Looking for Answers with New Personnel in Week One

Marcus Freeman and Mike Elko spoke on Monday. 

If you were looking to gain confidence in the Aggies or Irish winning, it’s unlikely you gained too much from either side as both put on a clinic of swell statements about the opposition. 

Elko, who has a relationship with Freeman dating back to their time recruiting against each other in the MAC, isn’t a coach who says a ton about his own team, but he had plenty to say about Notre Dame, and it starts with his concerns about the new Fighting Irish offense. 

"Last year, they were the No. 7  scoring offense in the country,” stated Elko. “They went out and hired Mike Denbrock, who was the leader of the No. 1 total offense and scoring offense in the country. We expect them to be extremely prolific on that side of the ball.

“It starts with the quarterback Riley Leonard, who I am familiar with. He is a true dual-threat quarterback who can hurt you with his arm and with his legs. He presents a huge challenge.”

Outside of Leonard, Elko highlighted tight end Mitchell Evans, who he knows well. The 6-foot-5, 260-pounder made six receptions for 134 yards against the Blue Devils in 2023. 

“They have always had a lot of running backs and always been able to roll through guys,” Elko stated. “They've revamped the wide receiver room. The tight end Mitchell Evans is a kid I have a lot of respect for. He really had a huge game against us at Duke. He can hurt you in the run game, but can really get open in the pass game. Their offensive line has been the blood of their program. We certainly expect them to come out and be really competitive on that area of the field."

Notre Dame’s staff is very familiar with Elko. Duke took the Irish to the wire last fall and likely made life more difficult than expected with a swarming defense. Elko will now have some of the top athletes in the country available to match up against an inexperienced Notre Dame offense that also has several new faces. 

“Texas A&M, very talented team,” explained Freeman. “The guys that return from last year’s team, they’re a very talented group. I have a lot of respect for Mike Elko and the job he’s done at Duke and previously as a defensive coordinator at different places and the way he’s developed his football teams.

“We know it’s gonna be a challenge. We’re looking forward to it. It’ll be a great environment and we’re looking forward to the opportunity to facing another top 20 program Saturday night down in College Station.” 

For Notre Dame, the new faces have brought depth and more talent to South Bend, but it also means they haven’t faced adversity together when the lights come on. Sure, Kris Mitchell, Beaux Collins and Leonard have been in big games, but not to this level and not with this group of teammates. 

Freeman, who saw his team struggle on the road in 2023, has made it a point to put his team through the fire during camp and the offseason to prepare them for the atmosphere at Kyle Field despite not having years of chemistry in the bank. 

“I think you’re confident that you have a team that can do that,” Freeman said when asked if the Irish could handle the environment. “We’ve trained that. We’ve trained being able to execute your assignment in crazy conditions with crowd noise and trying to do surprise situations in practice.

“At the end of the day, they gotta do it when it matters, right? You can do it in practice. That builds confidence within yourself and with your coaching staff. But you gotta do it when it matters versus an opponent and we won’t know that answer until we get to Saturday.” 

If Texas A&M wants to keep the crowd in it, it starts with running the football as Notre Dame won’t give up much through the air. 

New offensive coordinator Collin Klein is known for his unique run game that gives defenses fits as the blocking schemes are anything but normal. 

"It'll be one of the challenges within this game,” Elko explained. “They don't give you a lot of soft surfaces to run the football. We're going to have to find some. We're going to have to make some with our offensive line. We're going to have to make some with our tailbacks.

“Some teams play you in these softboxes where you have a lot of run angles. Notre Dame won't for the majority of the night. We're going to have to get creative in how we create opportunities for our backs to get some space and get going."

Freeman is well aware of Klein’s offense, which is why he targeted him when Tommy Rees left for Tuscaloosa. Given the little film on the Aggies, preparations for Klein’s personnel and scheme are somewhat guesswork, but the Irish are gaining as much knowledge from his tendencies at Kansas State as possible. 

“He does a great job of utilizing different personnel, formation shifts,” said Freeman. “I remember at the time that we were looking for an offensive coordinator - what attracted me to what they did at Kansas State was their ability to use multiple tight ends, to have some type of what I call the pro-style offense and have success doing it.

“You see the same thing, even this past year, when you watch his film. A lot of different formations, a lot of different personnel, utilizing multiple tight ends. Very creative mind. You’re preparing for a lot more than what you’re really going to see. We have to be able to settle down and say, ‘OK, here’s the things we think we’re going to see or that we are seeing the first couple of series and here’s what we want to do defensively.’”

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