Everything Marcus Freeman said at Notre Dame Club of Schuylkill County event

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman was in Pennsylvania for an alumni event last week. This is everything he said in a five-minute video recording courtesy of Shook News on YouTube.

On being the first Notre Dame coach to spent at a Schuylkill County event since Lou Holtz

“Absolutely. That’s probably the reason why I’m here. No, we know how important this place is to our football program and to our university. I’m extremely excited to be here.”

On if he’s surprised by how many Notre Dame people are in ‘Penn State country’

“Notre Dame is a national brand. You’re reminded of that in all the travel across the country. A lot of schools are territorial, based on certain territory, whereas Notre Dame is truly coast to coast. I’m often reminded of that.”

On if there needs to be parameters on name, image and likeness (NIL)

“Every year leads to change. We have some really intelligent people who are going to make sure we’re doing what’s best for our players and the game of football. We’ll see what the future holds.”

On what his team looks like this year

“We’ll see. We had a good spring. Fourteen really good practices. A great spring game. We’re trying to improve. We’ll see what that means in terms of wins and losses when we get to the season. Right now, we’re just in the process of improving.”

On the state of the Notre Dame quarterback room

“We got some guys that are young, really talented, that I think are going to do some great things for our program. There’s competition, and that’s what you want.”

On if Notre Dame can win a national championship in the NIL era

“Absolutely. We’re confident. We got there this year and we didn’t win it. Every year you try to build the program to give yourself the best opportunity to be in that position. There’s a strong belief and a lot of support that we have the ability to have success.”

On possible expanding the College Football Playoff even further

“Great. The more the merrier.”

On being excited to talk to the Notre Dame fans in Pennsylvania

“It’s great. It’s a reminder of how special, number one, the position I hold and what it entails but how passionate our university, our fans, the alumni and fans associated with this university and football program — it’s a great reminder of how passionate it is.”

On if he does a lot of these gatherings and if he gets any rest

“Quite a few … yeah, absolutely. I get enough. I get enough.”

On recruiting the state of Pennsylvania

“We obviously search the country — and the world, actually — for the right fit for our place. But the talent in Pennsylvania is tremendous. It’s a place where you know the young people are being coached really well. From youth, to middle school, to high school, there is a wealth of talent in the state of Pennsylvania.”

On the talent in Pennsylvania not being as good as it is in Ohio (in jest)

“You guys trying to get me to say something (indiscernible)?”

On if college football will ever adopt the ‘tush push’

“They could. It’s had a lot of success with the Eagles. I think a lot of teams are studying that. We’re always looking for an edge.”

On how he feels about Notre Dame coming out of the national championship game

“You can beat anybody you play but also, as you look at that journey, you could lose to anybody you play. Just continue to focus on the approach, the approach to every opportunity you have and focus on improving and the rest takes care of itself.”

On Notre Dame’s change at defensive coordinator

“I love the progression we’ve made with Coach Ash, who is a good leader of the defense. We got a lot of talent and really good coaches. I’m extremely happy.”