Everything Notre Dame DC Al Golden said before Irish host Miami University

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden addressed reporters Tuesday evening as the Irish get set to take on Miami (Ohio).

Here’s everything Golden had to say.

On leaving Notre Dame’s young linebackers in for extra reps late in the Purdue game

“Not only did they answer it, but they really got better as the game went on, especially those young guys that went in late in the third or into the fourth. It’s always tricky as a coach. Who do you sub for? Who do you play? We just had so many young guys that needed those reps and we got better doing it. We really improved in the second half as the game went on.”

On balancing versatility with narrowing down the linebackers’ roles

“Again, we like the linebackers being versatile and being able to play a multitude of positions. It leads into the bigger picture of we’re not, ‘He’s Mike, he’s Will, he’s Sam.’ We don’t really believe in that. That part of it’s good. Obviously to have the intelligence that they do and the preparation they put in really helps.”

On Notre Dame vyper Boubacar Traore building on game reps in practice

“I would say that’s it: Practice always precedes results. For him, last week was an excellent week of practice. He gave us the confidence to play, and then you just never know when that opportunity is going to arise, and it did for him and he responded. He played with great effort. His mental errors are down, and he’s bringing energy and speed to the game. That’s palpable. You could feel that. Really pleased with him. He works hard. He’s a great young man. Excited about him.”

On if he remembers the last time he held an offense to six first downs

“I don’t, but it’s so long ago now that it’s history. I don’t really get into the stat part of it. We turn the page fast. We graded it on the way home. Woke up Sunday morning, put a couple bullets on things we did well, things we have to do better, had our staff meeting and moved on. This is an excellent system that awaits in Miami, and it all goes through the most veteran quarterback I’ve seen in quite some time. I’m sorry. You just can’t look backwards.”

On how Notre Dame turns page quickly while building on the good and correcting the bad

“I think that’s right. What are the standards and principles we can carry forward and not lose that. The most challenging thing about college football is there are no two game plans that are alike. You look at each one of our three game plans: They’re all different. And this one is going to be different because each week is a different challenge, especially if you’re not in a conference. You’re not in a conference where eight of the 10 teams play a certain way. That doesn’t exist here. You need a very pliable defense and you need guys that move forward quickly.

“If anybody’s not prepared for Tuesday practice, you’re behind the 8-ball the whole week. Because it’s a different attack. We’re getting more spread than we’ve seen since last year. That’s what we’re getting. They do a really good job with it.”

On if he likes the challenge of all those different styles

“I’d rather go to sleep, you know what I mean? (laughs) But it’s tough. This is dramatically different this week than what we’ve seen so far, and week two was different than week one and week three was different than week two. But I think your point of what things, what principles can you carry forward? We tackled better. I say ‘fit the runs,’ but we fit runs better. We have to move those forward knowing it’s a new set of runs and a new set of principles we’re going to see this week.”

On Traore’s love of practice

“If you have a real passion for football, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a 90-degree day like today and that’s what I sense from Boubacar. And it shows in the way he plays, the energy he plays with. There’s a lot of plays that are 30 yards away from him and he’s trying to get there. That can be infectious. I saw Jason Onye get to a couple balls late in the game. Luke Talich, Kennedy [Urlacher], Kyngstonn [Viliamu-Asa], Bryce [Young]. That can be infectious. He’s playing with a lot of passion, which is great.”

On if he agrees with Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman that Traore has a chance to be a great player

“I do. I think he does because he loves it and he’s not afraid to work. He’s not afraid to humble himself. He’s got a great family background, industrious background, and he’s not afraid to just go to work every day. Kids that do that consistently over time and don’t go through those peaks and valleys, if you will, they’re just steady and consistent, a continuous improver – those guys have a chance to be great.”

On if Traore was like that as a true freshman

No, I think there was a learning curve there. I see maturity now, I see purpose now. I see him trying to be a total defensive end now. As a freshman, we asked him to pass rush and he did that for us, but I see a different person now.”

On if Bryce Young can play Vyper

“I don’t know. We’ll figure out who’s playing where. We feel like we have five [edge rushers] and Loghan Thomas would be the sixth. We still feel like we have five that can go in. We just have to figure out if Burnham’s healthy, who’s playing where. We have the pieces. They’re all great kids, they’re all smart kids. We’ll figure out where we want to put them moving forward.”

On Urlacher improving throughout the Purdue game

“He ran into one of his own guys. It was friendly fire, and it was a 52-yard [reception]. That’s the first time they were in that setting and came over to the sideline and they had those, you know, eyes. The coaches, the veteran players, kind of got on everybody. And then I was really pleased the way they settled in. They needed that.  They needed that. And they grew up. They grew up right there in front of 60,000 people. They grew up. Him and Luke and Bryce and all those guys. You could see them playing together and that was great to see. Hopefully we can move forward with that.”

On Urlacher’s instincts

“I thought that was a little more like he was freed up and not trying to do X, Y and Z. I thought he played freely but within the structure, which was awesome.”

On Notre Dame nickel back Jordan Clark’s traits from film last year

“Just savvy. Obviously a football kid, instinctive kid. However you want to phrase it: savvy, moxie. Just a guy that can figure it out. Knows what’s occurring to him. We trust him to make some quick decisions, and his instincts are generally right. Really glad we have him and really proud of the way he’s worked to improve. It’s not easy to do that at his age, and he’s done a great job with it.”

On Viliamu-Asa’s progression

“I just see a young man that practices with a purpose every day, and I mean detailed. I could talk about 6-7 instances today where maybe the average player or the slightly above average player would tag off. I see him trying to work to break down a stiff arm, I see him working a stab, I see him understanding the fit or when to leverage and when to go backdoor. He uses every rep in practice. The one thing that stands out in practice with KVA is he uses every rep. He maximizes every single rep with every fabric to get better.”

On Miami (Ohio)’s offense

“Just a different approach. I think the quarterback is excellent, the slot is excellent. ‘8’ out of the backfield gives you some matchups. Big, strong offensive line. Really good at running the zone. Try to stay in front of the sticks. Confident in their ability to convert shots on the perimeter, on the edge. Those are the things that keep you up at night right now.”