Mike Denbrock Notebook | Media Day
Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock spoke on Saturday morning as the Fighting Irish prepare for Ohio State in Monday's National Title game.
Q. I think I've asked you about it before, but the competitive nature of Riley. What are the ways that you see it? I hear stories about the ping pong games. What have you seen from that regard?
MIKE DENBROCK: Just everything that he does, he competes at. Whether that's his preparation for a game, on the practice field, obviously in a game situation, and then when the guys get in the locker room, I think they compete as hard in there as they do at anything that they do in their life just from a bragging perspective so that they can kind of give each other a hard time about it.
The ping pong games in the locker room are legendary. I think everybody kind of saw probably his highlights of his basketball career in high school come up. He wanted to make sure that got leaked out so everybody saw that.
Yeah, just a really competitive guy. It's fun to be watching him kind of express that and let people kind of know who he is a little bit more.
Q. I heard specifically about the ping pong, but apparently corn hole, have you seen him play corn hole? Have you seen the ping pong?
MIKE DENBROCK: I've seen the ping pong, and especially the last couple weeks, we've had a chance, obviously when the guys have downtime in the hotel, there's a little area where they can always go and hang out together as a team. It gets pretty competitive in there. Whether it's Madden, whether it's College Football 25 or whatever it is, I don't even know. Whatever they can compete at, they're competing at. So it's pretty fun to be a part of.
Q. The offensive line, kind of how have you tried to manage that and put the pieces together? Where's Rocco at, and how's Jagusah?
MIKE DENBROCK: Everybody has had a good week of practice. We've run kind of several different combinations there trying to figure out exactly which one's best. We'll kind of let everybody know about that as we go down the road here.
I love the way those guys have worked. There's been good cohesiveness between everybody that we've put into the different spots. I know they're excited and ready to show what they can do.
Q. What about Jagusah gives him the ability after such a long time off to be your left tackle on Monday night?
MIKE DENBROCK: I think whoever we end up putting in at left tackle, even Jagusah, when he was injured, was never very far from the group, always in the mix, always in the preparation. So I think it's allowed us to kind of be maybe a little more cohesive than it might seem from the outside just because those guys have -- you know what I mean, even through the whole entire year, even the guys that have been injured have been a big piece of this.
Q. You've been around a lot of different head coaches from a lot of different styles of communication. I'm curious what about Marcus is successful as a lead? Obviously he's very young, but it seems that that does not put him back at all. What do you think of his style?
MIKE DENBROCK: There's so many things. I think he's consistent with his message of encouraging those guys in every aspect of their life to reach their full potential. I think they identify with that. I think he's a genuine person that, when you talk to him, you feel like you've known him. If you talk to him for five minutes or whether you've known him for five years, you feel like you know him, the real Marcus Freeman, because he's so authentic and he's so personable.
I think that relates to the players of today really well, and they kind of take that in and feel like, okay, this is somebody that I know has my best interests at heart and that I can trust. It allows them an opportunity to kind of give their best to that effort when they've got a leadership like that.
Q. How did you see him redirect this team after the loss?
MIKE DENBROCK: Very, very critical point in our season obviously. The mood of the team and the feeling around the team always comes from the top down. His ability to compartmentalize it a little bit, to analyze it, to kind of be willing to be vulnerable, us as a coaching staff, him as the leader of the program, and look at the things that we felt like we really needed to fix.
Not just that we lost, but why we lost, and what is it that we can change, do, repair to make sure we don't have to suffer the same consequences again. He did an outstanding job obviously of doing that and pointing the team in the right direction, and they've done a great job of following the plan.
Q. When Caleb Downs lines up, you took immediate measures for the half safety, half linebacker, what kind of challenge does that present for an offense?
MIKE DENBROCK: You have to make some decisions about how you're going to treat it. Is he a linebacker? Is he a safety? Is he something in between? It's a unique scheme you don't see a lot. I'd call it kind of a little bit of a nest look, where they've kind of got him perched up there waiting to pounce, whether you run it or pass it. He's in a position to effect the game on either side of the field.
Another brilliant scheme by Coach Knowles and their defensive staff, and it's hard to deal with.
Q. Is there an element of cat and mouse between Riley and you when he's in that position, do you think?
MIKE DENBROCK: You definitely have to account for Caleb wherever he lines up, but let alone when he lines up in that position just because of his ability, as I said, to kind of get to either side of the formation and make an impact on the play that you're running.
Q. What's Tyler Buchner meant to the team this year?
MIKE DENBROCK: Number one, he's been probably a consummate teammate in everything he's been asked to do. Came back into the program wanting to contribute in any way he possibly could, demonstrated every piece of that by his actions. When we got an opportunity to insert him in some specials teams situations as a scout team quarterback, as a wide receiver to help our defense get looks in practice, he's just been willing and able to do a multitude of things to help this football team in any way that he could.
Q. What are the comparisons when you compare this team to that team?
MIKE DENBROCK: A lot of water under the bridge since the last one, but I just think the difference in this team to the team that we took -- where was it? Was that the Orange Bowl, or was that the National Championship Game? I can't even remember anymore.
Q. The BCS Title game.
MIKE DENBROCK: The BCS Title game, there we go. Thank God.
I think over the course of the time that we spent playing that first championship game to where we are now, the evolution of the program and the commitment to Notre Dame football from the very top of the university all the way through the organization that is Notre Dame athletics and Notre Dame football has given Notre Dame an opportunity to be back in this position.
The decisions they've made to make a commitment to play football at the highest level and make sure the resources were there necessary to make sure that was a possibility, I think is what's led us to where we are.
Q. The pass play against Penn State, I think it was the longest pass play of the season. Does that have a name? Was it the biggest offensive play of the season?
MIKE DENBROCK: I think probably the drive to start the third quarter and the touchdown run by rowdy was a pretty big play as well. I think the touchdown run by Jeremiyah Love when he got hit by everybody on defense, including the guy standing on the sidelines on the bench, I think, and scored anyway was a pretty big play.
There was a lot of big back and forth in that game and a lot of big plays, but that was certainly a big play. It was great to see Greathouse get kind of rewarded for a lot of hard work. He's shown a lot of patience. He's got ability to make plays like that all the time. Circumstances haven't always called for it, but he's always been there and will always be there when we need him.
Q. Does it have a name, a technical name, that play?
MIKE DENBROCK: No, not necessarily. That just happened to be the read on that play, and that's where the ball ended up going.
Q. It looked like they had it covered. They had a press man and a safety over the top. You know what happened, those guys fell down.
MIKE DENBROCK: They fell down because of a fantastic release off the line of scrimmage. I think we caused a little confusion with motion into a stack over there and giving them a look they maybe hadn't worked on as much.
Q. You guys have now played 15 games, going into 16, what have you learned as a staff about playing this long of a season and what it takes?
MIKE DENBROCK: When you say that, it just makes me tired thinking about it. I think what we've learned over the course -- and Marcus does an unbelievable job, along with our sports performance team, of keeping up with the data, the workload of the players, how fresh they are, even to kind of looking at the numbers that they have when we do put them in the weight room and make sure that they're maintaining strength.
What's their power output? How does that figure into all this? Fortunately, we've got a lot of people a lot smarter than me making those decisions, but it alters how you practice. It alters how you approach the physicality of what you do towards the end of the season of course. You can't have the same practice week 16 as you had the first day of training camp. It's not quite as physical as it was maybe in the beginning.
But you have to be able to balance the work that you need with limiting some of the physicality but still get the speed as much as you possibly can. It's a little bit of a challenge, but we've got really smart kids, and they understand what we're after and how to get it.
Q. Are there like specific guys that you look at the data on certain days that you have to back off because they --
MIKE DENBROCK: Absolutely. That's a daily process for our sports performance team to monitor -- this guy needs a little less today. This guy needs a little more today. We've got to get this guy running out a little bit more today. He's got to reach 80 percent of his max speed.
Listen, I wouldn't even begin to explain to you that I know anything about the technology with that or how they analyze the data, but we pay very close attention to it to make sure we've got the freshest team we can have when we get ready to play.
Q. You're coaching in a pretty big game. Where are your emotions going into this, and what kind of -- I don't necessarily want to say pressure, but what feeling in terms of calling the plays?
MIKE DENBROCK: I don't know if I feel pressure as much as I do being excited for the players. The pressure that I put on myself is more to make sure I'm giving them the best opportunity I can for them to have success. The rest of it is -- this is awesome. The atmosphere is awesome, and playing in a National Championship is awesome.
If I was playing against Al Golden's defense on Tuesday in training camp and I didn't do a good job of putting the guys in position to compete against his defense in a training camp practice, I'd be upset with myself.
So I try to always keep the same mindset as far as my mind is on making sure that scheme-wise, schematically, personnel-wise, we've got the right people in the right spots, and the scheme fits what we're trying to get accomplished, and we're giving our guys the best opportunity we possibly can for success.
Q. You've been a stout offensive line all year. But going against a team that you can't attack like you may not be able to all the time against Ohio State?
MIKE DENBROCK: I think you've got to do a good job of mixing things up. I think you've got to show a variety of different things. We've been probably throughout the season probably primarily a zone team with a little bit of gap scheme stuff mixed in. I think you've got to be multiple in how you attack it so that they're not just seeing the same type of blocks every single running play that you're trying to run.
Some diversity in what you're doing with the run game, a little bit of misdirection and things like that to try to keep them off balance and keep them from really anchoring down because they are incredibly talented defensive front and you've got to be on top of your business if you're going to move the ball against them.
Q. (No microphone)?
MIKE DENBROCK: I remember fall camp and Charles getting his feet wet. He hadn't played a lot of football obviously even leading into fall camp, then unfortunately the injury that happened. I think one of the first questions that we all asked was how serious is it, how long is it going to be, is there an opportunity to possibly get him back at some point?
Then to watch him every day put in the work necessary on the sideline and in the meeting room, just in case there was an opportunity, just in case there was a chance for him to possibly contribute to the success of the football team was pretty cool to witness and watch every day.
Coming into the game, the Orange Bowl, and playing the way that he did, I thought was a testament to his preparation and a testament to Coach Rudolph and the job that he does with the offensive line. We'll see how things shake out for Thursday, but he's had a really good week of practice, and really all those offensive line have done a nice job this week.
Q. If one of those guys do go down, how do you adjust?
MIKE DENBROCK: We'll have a rotation for our inside positions with someone and a rotation at tackle with someone. It really depends on who ends up starting the game, and then we'll kind of configure the pieces from there. We've worked a number of different combinations all week with those guys. They're all locked in. They're all ready to go. We'll see how it all shakes out.
Q. (No microphone)?
MIKE DENBROCK: We definitely watched the tape. I don't know if we're exactly the same type of team as Georgia Tech. I have a great deal of respect for their staff in what they do to generate offense. I thought they did a great job with the quarterback run game in that game for sure.
Everybody that's out there that I could possibly study, I'll study. But you pointed to the Georgia Tech game against Georgia, I thought they did a really nice job of maybe even kind of revealing a blueprint, even though it's not exactly the same blueprint that we use, to give you an idea of maybe how you could not only stay in the game but win the game.
Q. Can you talk about the tenacity, going for it on fourth down that this team has had throughout the college football playoffs?
MIKE DENBROCK: It really starts with Marcus and his willingness to let these guys decide the game. It's been obviously a lot of fun to be a part of. I think the guys do a really nice job of understanding how critical those situations can be, whether that's us staying on the field, whether that's our defense getting a stop on fourth down, and what a momentum swing that can be for this football team.
We've been able to take advantage of that in some critical situations not only in the playoff but during the year. It's made a real difference, I just think, in the overall belief and attitude of who we are and what we are.
Q. (No microphone)?
MIKE DENBROCK: I think Jaden, to his credit, has been the same guy every day. He's a consummate worker. He comes to practice the right way, digs in every day, hasn't had as many opportunities as I wish he would have had because he deserves them.
Then to see him get rewarded in the Orange Bowl, the ball found him, and it was his turn. We've been fortunate over the course of the year where that's bounced around to different receivers at different times.
If he hadn't prepared the way he prepared every week, if he wasn't in the same positive frame of mind to get himself in that position to be ready for those opportunities to present themselves, maybe the outcome's different, but it's a credit to him for the way he approached it and all the work that he did to get there.
Q. Has he changed since that game?
MIKE DENBROCK: There's a little more bounce in his step for sure. I think that's because all he's ever wanted to do was to contribute to this football team's success, and he got a big opportunity to do that, and he stepped up to the moment, like a lot of guys have during this season at one time or another.
Like I said, to see him get rewarded for that, because of his approach, was pretty special.
Q. (No microphone)?
MIKE DENBROCK: It's definitely a philosophy. To not necessarily limit one guy or another, but to make sure that we've got the freshest, most explosive combination of backs that we can have at any particular time during the game and during the season, quite frankly.
I don't know that you can ever plan for making it into a 16-week season, but it obviously is a benefit as we move forward that those guys have been able to stay fresh throughout the year and kind of share the workload as much as they have.
Q. With all this hurdling, do you get a little nervous when you see him take off?
MIKE DENBROCK: Well, I've never seen him not clear anybody just yet. Until somebody catches him by the ankle and he flips over or whatever, but that's something that I think just naturally happens for him. Some guys it seems to happen, like they're running and all of a sudden they're -- I've never seen anything like it. It's pretty spectacular to watch. I'm as big a fan watching it, I think, as everybody else that sees it.
Q. What has been your favorite play you've seen your guys do during the season this year without your advice?
MIKE DENBROCK: Oh, boy. There's been several. I mean, any time -- we are a quarterback driven system. As the year's gone along, we've gotten better and better at Riley kind of recognizing things that are potential problems and fixing them as we've kind of gone down the road offensively. Any time that that happens where he takes control and gets us against a better look or a better play than any play call I could have possibly made or fixes one of my mistakes that I make, it's a proud moment for sure.
Q. What do you think the difference is with y'all versus Ohio State compared to last year?
MIKE DENBROCK: I don't know. I think every year you're a different team. You kind of start from scratch. Obviously the last couple contests have been pretty hotly contested.
They're a great football team. I know we're going to have to play at our very best to give ourselves an opportunity, and we're prepared to do that.
Q. (No microphone)?
MIKE DENBROCK: That's a nice way of saying because you're really old. Obviously we've had a nice little run here the last few years. I've been extremely fortunate to work with some incredibly talented football players.
Getting to this level and getting to play in College Football Playoff games in BCS National Championship games and things like that don't just happen because of one person or one thing or anything like that. I'm just so grateful to be in the position that I am and to have the quality of people around me from a staff standpoint, from a head coach standpoint, from a player standpoint, that gives me an opportunity to do what I love to do.
Q. Marcus Freeman, you understand Notre Dame football has been here a few times. What is it about Marcus Freeman that is allowing them to have the success at this point?
MIKE DENBROCK: I think it's a couple things. I think, number one, he has completely embraced the University of Notre Dame and the University of Notre Dame has fully embraced him, which you and I know hasn't always been the case 100 percent across the board.
I think secondly the players and the messaging that Coach Freeman has the ability to deliver and the connection between him and this football team is a pretty special thing. I think it allows them to not only trust his process but also kind of dig in wholeheartedly and gives us the best opportunity to continue to be successful.
Q. You knew what Jayden Daniels at LSU was capable of, but could you have predicted this year for him?
MIKE DENBROCK: Nothing that Jayden Daniels does surprises me at all. I say that not because it's by some stroke of luck or anything else. I know the preparation that he goes through. I know his process. I know how important playing good football is for not only himself but the people around him, how much pride he takes in helping others be better at what they do and making sure that he's on top of everything and every detail that he needs to be on top of.
So I can't say I'm really surprised by it because I know the work that he puts into being really good at what he does. I'm just really proud of him and happy for him for all the success.
Q. I wanted to ask you what's the philosophy of getting Riley Leonard, the starting quarterback, into a rhythm?
MIKE DENBROCK: I think for him in particular it's important to try to get him a throw that he feels like he's got a lot of confidence in early in the game. On top of that, it sounds a little bit probably crazy, but I think he's better when he gets hit. Getting him a carry or two early in the game to try to help him kind of settle in emotionally, I think has been something that kind of helps him get off to a better start.
Q. Your thought process around this rushing from Ohio State. They've got really good guys, J.T.T, these guys who can make impact plays. How do you plan on protect Riley Leonard in that pocket as well?
MIKE DENBROCK: We're going to have to hedge our bet a little bit with some of the route concepts we do, give the tackles a little bit of help when we can. Obviously those guys are fantastic pass rushers and really impactors on the football game.
It's not just the defensive ends. Their inside guys, in my opinion, are guys that can impact the game as well. So it's a handful of problems up there. Whether that's chipping the edges or helping with the tight end with nudging on the edge or whatever, we're going to have to have a good piece of that in what we do just to make sure we give our guys the best opportunity.
Q. What are the keys for you guys to be able to move the ball against an Ohio State defense?
MIKE DENBROCK: Let me go back to the Georgia Tech game first. What a tough football team. What a well-coached group. That was a battle. I think all the games that we played this year like that one have helped prepare us for what we're going to face against Ohio State.
Obviously Ohio State, their front seven is tremendous, and when you say, hey, while their front seven is tremendous, I'm not trying to down play their back end at all. Those guys are great cover guys, great tacklers, great at impacting the football game on their own right.
We're going to have to win the line of scrimmage and be consistent with doing it for us to be able to operate the way we need to operate offensively.
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