Marcus Freeman raves about the value Jack Kiser brings to Notre Dame's defense

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman praised Jack Kiser as a player of the BYU game, following his move to inside linebacker. Now, while speaking to the media, Freeman explained the value that he brings to the Notre Dame defense.

“I think we’re gaining more and more confidence with him,” Marcus Freeman said.

Explaining the logic behind his position change, Marcus Freeman emphasized that Jack Kiser is an athletic and intelligent player. This makes him a good option for multiple positions and can fill in where he’s needed for the Irish.

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“You know, he’s doing a good job in there and Jack’s an extremely intelligent player. He’s probably, if not the, one of the most athletic linebackers we have. That’s why we played him a lot at rover, where you’re playing him out in space, but he can do so many different things and what you’re seeing now is him playing middle linebacker and getting everybody lined up, but also just executing at a high level, and we’re gonna have a challenge. It’s great.”

Marcus Freeman then emphasized how important it was for the team’s linebackers to push one another for playing time and to be at their best.

“It’s healthy competition to say okay if we end up with two linebackers on the field versus Stanford, who’s going to be the first two going out because JD’s [Bertrand] back and he came in the second half and played really well. Jack, overall for the entire game, played really well. Marist [Liufau] is a guy we need to play better, but he’s playing well and, you know, let’s have a little competition to see who’s going to be the first to go out there.”

Notre Dame’s next game is on Saturday against Stanford.

Bo Bauer is out for the season

One of the reasons why Notre Dame needs a linebacker to step up is the injury to Bo Bauer. The defensive captain saw his graduate year end early due to a knee injury. Now, Marcus Freeman needs to find someone who can replace both his production and his leadership.

“Bo will be out for the year,” Marcus Freeman said. “Devastating because he’s a captain, provides so much, more than just production, just the energy and ability to motivate our players. It’s going to be a tremendous loss for us.”