Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman spoke with members of the local media in a roundtable discussion Tuesday afternoon.
On OL Charles Jagusah:
“He's just continually rehabbing and trying to work on strength. When you're dealing with nerves, you've just got to let mother nature take its course. You've got to let science figure itself out.
“I do believe he will play for us at some point. I don't know when. If you ask me to bet, I would hope it’s this season. I don't know, though. That's all going to be how this arm continues to strengthen. But there's positive signs.”
Injury Update
LB Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa: ”He won’t be full go. He'll be returning to play. I don't know exactly when he'll be cleared to play in a game, but he'll be practicing. It's just, when is he 100% full go and it's not gonna be at the start of fall camp.”
WR Quincy Porter: “We'll see exactly when he's 100%.I don't know if he'll be 100% to start fall camp.”
DL Chris Burgess Jr.: “He won't be available. He won't be full go to start fall.”
Cleared for camp: Safety Joey O’Brien, cornerback Khary Adams, receiver Brayden Robinson, defensive back Nicholas Reddish and defensive lineman Tiki Hola.
On if he’s received more clarity on why Notre Dame was left out of the College Football Playoff last year:
“We left doubt. That’s the answer. I wasn't ready to accept that at that moment. My natural reaction is to blame others, blame the committee. It's not fair. By the time I regrouped and met with the team, I said, we left doubt.
Now we can use it. Now we can evaluate everything we've done from January to August. We lost two games. If we didn't lose those two games, we're in the playoffs. And so instead of blaming not making the playoffs on a committee, you put it on yourself, because if we blame the committee, now we go, we don't need to do anything different. We deserve to be in the playoffs. Why am I going to reevaluate what we're doing now that we left out?
“We lost two games. How do we fix that? So you go evaluate everything you do from January to August and try to enhance it in certain areas to hopefully produce a better outcome when you play those two games.”
On the growth of Joe Rudolph’s offensive line room and his expectations for that group in 2026:
“It's a deep group, a developed group. I think what speaks volumes over the last two years is the guys that have stepped up when others have gotten injured and performed at a high level. To think about Joe Otting last year when Ashton Craig went down to go in there and perform, and to Pat Coogan when Ashton Craig went down, and to Rocco Spindler when Billy (Schrauth) goes down, and (Anthonie) Knapp goes down and then Tosh Baker. I think about all of it.
“It talks about, one, the depth of that room, but two, the selflessness of that room. Rudy gets those guys to truly believe in one, and whoever's on the field represents us all, and how do we just continue to focus on getting better? That's what I want our team to be a reflection of. Don't worry about who's out there. Just keep getting better. And when your time's called, you've got to perform like those guys in that room have done. I'm as pleased with Coach Rudolph and that o-line as any position on this team.”
On what he learned about the defense having its ups and downs in 2025:
“You can't look at just statistics because they can kind of sway a story. You've got to look at every play, but especially you evaluate the bad ones and what happened? Why did it happen? Who was it? What do we have to do to fix this problem?
“I think you look at some of the earlier explosive plays, it wasn't a schematic thing. I know some people can disagree, but it wasn't a schematic thing. It could be technique, it could be an execution, it could be talent, it could be a couple different things.
“How do we just continue to attack some of those negative areas and just keep getting better and better and better and better and better? That's what, to me, that defense was a reflection of, but that's the reality of a career, it's a season, it's a team. Like, how do you really evaluate the big issues and identify them and come up with a plan to fix them and attack it and just keep diving in and getting better and better and better?
“That's what I think our defense did last year. A lot of times the statistics sometimes depend on the offense you go against, too. I don't know this answer, but I would look and say probably last year some of those offenses we played earlier in the season probably finished off with better numbers than the offense that we finished the season, maybe. I don't know. I can't think of anything. But it's also getting some guys healthy, too, that have played a lot of ball, and knowing that you're going to have some freshmen out there to give up some big plays. I think there's a whole bunch of different things that contribute to the improvement of our defense.”
On the influence Charlie Partridge has made on the defensive line:
“He's been amazing. He really has the buy-in from our players, right? It’s hard, man. You have the same coach for three years and he's an unbelievable coach in Al Washington, then you get a new guy, and you gotta create this belief and trust in him, and he did.
“He spent an endless amount of time with them. He's a technician. He obviously has credibility just through the proof of the guys he's coached. But what he's done with those guys, what he's done in recruiting, what he's done with the energy he brings to our staff, he's been really, really good.”
On what has allowed Notre Dame to sustain recruiting success:
“There's so many different people and departments I can point to. Our administration and support, NIL, our recruiting and scouting department led by Mike Martin and their ability to not only identify talent, but to attract the talent, to develop relationships with those guys, to our position coaches and coordinators.
“It's people misconstrued us like it's just money right now. No, it's not. It's relationships. The top teams are gonna probably offer this guy the same amount of money. When everything is equal, that's where relationships come in to matter.
“The other thing is, for me, it's a strong belief and conviction of what you're offering people. I truly say this, there's not a better place to play college football and be a student than Notre Dame. I believe that and I hope everybody that's discussing the opportunity of Notre Dame has that same conviction because we have to make sure they feel the passion we have for this place and what it can do for, I'm talking to you guys as your parents, but for your child, beyond a game of football.
“Certain kids, right away you go, he's not interested in that. He's not, so it helps us go, OK, let's use our attention and effort and energy on guys that want that, that might want this. I think the ability to identify that sooner, the quicker we can do that, the more we can spend time and energy on a guy that is interested in that. But it's a collaborative group, right? It's not me, it's them, and there's so many. It takes all of us to do this.”
On how Mike Martin and Anthony Treash’s background in analytics has helped improve Notre Dame’s recruiting efforts:
“They've used it in evaluation of the transfer portal. They use it in evaluation of high school prospects. I think it maybe can expedite the process. I don't wanna just be 100 percent depending on analytics, right? There's a human eye, an element to it, there's conversations.
“What Treash, (Matt) Jansen and Mike Martin can do in a room, and utilizing analytics to kind of expedite the process can really help us. It can help us identify a prospect who maybe it isn't well known, right? I think it is a huge benefit to what we're doing.
“We have to continue to use AI and science and these algorithms and formulas. These guys are so intelligent, my God, you know what I mean? But I trust them, I trust them and then I can watch it and say, I see why you liked him, I see why you liked him. But it speeds up time.”
On if the 5-for-5 rule impacts how they use younger players:
“I think for us, it's number one, who's the fourth-year seniors who will have an opportunity to come back for a fifth year if they want? The players that have played four years. That's number one.
“Number two, it's good for both parties, the student-athlete, but also the coaches. Coaches don't have to make a decision on what four games we are playing them. Do we wanna save this fourth game in case we need them? We gotta have a tough conversation. We need you to play game five and this kid is talking to his agent and his parents, ‘They don't want me to play game five.’ That's tough on a young person. It's tough on coaches. Now that young person has to worry about his parents saying, ‘You can only play three games or four games, don't play another one.’
“I think it's really an added benefit for all parties. It's gonna be, I think, something good moving forward.”
On what Notre Dame is doing to retain players despite other schools losing key pieces:
“You wanna believe that financially they're close to as well compensated here as anywhere else. But two, it's like, probably the second thing is understanding that I don't wanna leave Notre Dame without a degree. I want to get my degree from Notre Dame, and we have to remind them how important that is.
“Then three, it's they feel that they're valued. When you feel as though you're valued and you're appreciated, your role doesn't determine your value. I think it makes you wanna be a part of a program or something. It's not just what have you done for me, what are you gonna do for me? It's that you're valued and people appreciate you. I think that's what people want when they're a part of a team. I think our staff has been able to do that.”
On what he’s done this offseason to improve as a head coach:
“I've always talked to a lot of people. I don't have like a specific examples. I've talked to so many people, I forget. A lot of self-eval this year of what we're doing, why we're doing it.
“I've spent some time with some basketball coaches. Me and John Scheyer come pretty close just because of similar situations. I love (Micah) Shrews, but I've gotten pretty close with Scheyer just talking about different things.
“I don't have that one, I want to go see the Navy SEALs or a Navy warship. I just think there's a lot, I did a lot. That's hopefully what it becomes, there isn't just this one thing you do. It might be a cool story next year. I might be forgetting about some things I've done. There are a lot of really cool things that I did. I pinch myself sometimes, man. Like the people you get to meet and talk to, but you can get a nugget from them that can help your program.”
On the impact of Aaron Henry as defensive backs coach:
“The minute he walks in his room, the energy changes. He's a guy who can walk in the room and just raise the energy. He's an energy provider. It's infectious. That's the first thing that pops up.
“He's an extremely intelligent coach. Obviously being a defensive coordinator at Illinois for a couple years. Then the ability for him and Coach Ash to be on the same accord, know each other. It was such a no-brainer when he had mentioned he was interested in this opportunity. He, just like Coach Partridge, had done a really good job gaining the trust of guys that had a really close relationship with an unbelievable coach in Coach (Mike) Mickens. He was intentional about getting them in his office, developing that relationship, having them around his house and his family.
“Sometimes when you have new personnel coming to the program, you need it every once in a while, it's like a little spark. It's new ideas, and I would love for Mick and Al (Al Washington) to stay here forever. I love those guys, but they go on and do other things. You're able to, with an opening, bring in something new and I think it's good for our program.”
On the importance of connecting and hanging out with friends away from the football field:
“I don't have a lot of time to do that, but you have that close circle of people that love the people who call you Marcus. That could be college teammates, James (Laurinaitis), Rory Nickel, and some other guys, Ted Ginn. It could be maybe not teammates, maybe guys that grew up in high school and talked to my father.
“Usually my time to talk to people is from leaving here to home. I gotta call my kids too. I gotta call my son who's at Cornell and check on him, and so I don't get a whole bunch of time. It's important to have those certain relationships that I believe I actually take a little bit more than I give. They make me better. They give me a little rejuvenation, and I wish I could give them more, but those relationships help me be a better version of myself.”
Want the latest scoop on Notre Dame Football and Recruiting? Sign up for our newsletter and become an ISD Premium Subscriber: Sign Up for ISD
#26 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Under Armour 2026 Shamrock Series Replica Football Jersey
