Everything Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden said before Irish vs. Stanford

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden spoke to reporters about the vyper situation, true freshmen making an impact, Upset Saturday and more.

Here’s what Golden had to say.

On Notre Dame self-scouting during the bye week

“You look at everything. You look at explosive passes, explosive runs, how you’re doing in the red zone, what’s your approach on third down. You look at everything. Some things you can change. Some things you have to avoid. And some things you have to add. It’s really a three-pronged approach. What do you have to eliminate, what can you improve and what do you need to add for the home stretch? That’s really what we did, keeping Stanford at the fore of it, though, moving forward.”

On what’s in his bag of tricks that people haven’t seen

“I don’t know if it’s bag of tricks. It’s just the way people are playing. Every team is different. The way Stanford operates is a lot different than the way Louisville operates, and Louisville was different than Miami (Ohio). For us it’s just what do we need to do to conduct the game. What’s made it a little bit harder is Louisville was a game behind us and they played two games that were kind of skewed, so we didn’t really get to see much. And when we did get in a competitive game with them, they went in a different approach than they had.

“Stanford has shown a bunch of different packages. They’ve had some injuries, like ourselves, so we’ll see how it unfolds. Sometimes it’s hard to look too far ahead because you don’t know what transpires, and then all of a sudden a team says, you know what, we’re better in this grouping than that grouping. Just try to make yourselves as good as you can be in each of those groupings, and we get ready for the long haul.”

On Stanford’s quarterback uncertainty, with a vastly different offense for each

“I think that’s fair. I think I said it to you guys last year: I have so much respect for their staff and the way they conduct offense and the challenges that they give you. Our guys are going to have to be sharp. We’re going to have to communicate really well pre-snap, get our cleats in the ground and play hard. That’s the challenge here today on early downs.”

On when he first noticed the variety of offenses at the college level

“I think that’s fair. There’s more guys that are game-planning now. More offenses certainly are more flexible. They can get in and out of things really well. That’s the challenge. That’s the challenge that is college football, especially if you’re an independent. There’s not one grouping of offenses or defenses or whatever. You’re seeing a lot of different things each week.”

On Stanford head coach Troy Taylor’s approach

“Just a great deal of respect for him. Different personnel. Constant change of personnel. Shifts, motions, challenges the perimeter, scheme runs, different empties he gets to, good screen game. The whole field is challenged. Last year I spent a lot of time watching all of his stuff previously, just trying to have a good idea of his background and where he goes. I saw him over the winter, and I told him: I just have a great deal of respect for him.”

On if he saw Cooper Kupp film from when Taylor coached at Eastern Washington

“No, I didn’t do that. But I saw a bunch of others.”

On the effect of losing Notre Dame’s top-two vypers on its pass rush

“Maybe you need to pressure more. I don’t know what our numbers are. Maybe we’re more four-down rush on third down, but we’ll see how it goes. I like the guys that we have. It was awesome to have the depth that we had. It was the convergence of two things. Botelho really came through for us in his final year, and here’s this young guy, Boubacar, all of a sudden kind of skipping a phase. Those two things added up to a very powerful thing.

“But in the interim, you have a lot of other guys there that have played a lot of football or can play really well. I’m excited for their opportunity and we’ve been helping them get caught up on whatever they need to get caught up on and get them ready to go. I look at Junior, for instance, the impact he made on games: The Miami (Ohio) game, how well he played; last week, how well he played. It’s a great opportunity for those guys, and we’ll just see how it unfolds. If we need to pressure more, we will.”

On how ready Notre Dame freshman vyper Loghan Thomas is

“He’s getting there. I like that. He’s got a really good get-off. First of all, he’s an awesome kid. He wants to do well. He’s a pleaser. Works really hard. Yes sir, no sir. Wants to learn, wants to be better. Gaining size, gaining strength, coming off an injury. For him to fight and scratch and claw and get back in the game this time of year, compared to where he was back in June and July, is awesome on his part. We’ll just keep getting him ready to go. Burnham looks like he’s getting closer, so we’ll see how all this evolves down the stretch.”

On watching Upset Saturday

“Crazy Saturday, no doubt. I watched Stanford, I watched Navy and then I watched Georgia Tech. I kind of watched the guys that we’re going to play. I wasn’t as much a fan just knowing that I’d have to wake up Sunday and complete the game plan for Stanford and put the bow on it and get going. That’s kind of where we’re at in college football now. We’ll see.

“We don’t know if we’re ushering in a new era yet, but I think there’s going to be a lot of parity moving forward and it feels good. It should be like that. All the games should be challenges. All the games should have a threat. Otherwise it’s going to lose its viewership. It’s going to lose its meaning. That’s the one thing I can share with you about the NFL is you’re – every game. You see it every week. If you’re not ready to play, you get exposed. It doesn’t matter what your record is or whatever the case may be.”

On if that’s coming to the college game

“We’ll see. Maybe it is. We’ll see how it finishes out here.”

On what true freshmen making an impact on Notre Dame’s defense says about recruiting

“I think we’re making progress there. Coach Freeman, Chad [Bowden], the staff, I think everybody is doing a great job of identifying Notre Dame kids and bringing them in. It’s also the transition. How do you get a young man, a young player, a young student-athlete ready to go? That’s a credit to the staff, the strength staff, our coaches, our quality control and our [graduate assistants]. There’s a lot of work that goes into that. I probably didn’t see all that coming.

“You just named a lot of guys. I probably didn’t see that, but it’s a really productive wave of young players that love the game. I’m going to be honest with you: Those guys love the game, they talk the game, they’re competitors. And I do not flinch, whether it’s Leonard Moore, Bryce Young, Kyng [Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa] — it doesn’t matter who it is. They go out there, and they’re part of the Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish defense. They’re not a freshman and they’ve earned that.”

On how much he uses visualization

“Me? A lot. A lot.”

On when he does it

“OK, so. Really? So, I never close my door except for Thursday afternoon right before the unit meetings, I try to go in and finish the call sheet. And then Friday, I watch as many TV copies as I can. It’s like game time, game speed. Are they going tempo? Are they in and out of the huddle? What are they? Get my mind right. I always try to get to the point where I don’t need the call sheet.

“The call sheet is there to kind of be like, OK, is this right? Is this correct? Are we going down the right path? Did I call that? If I had a little mark on it, did I call that last time? But I really try to call the game in my head and without the assistance of that. And then I try to walk Thursday and Friday. I try to go for a walk.

“I have my call sheet and go for a walk, and I just go through the different calls. And then why and how we’re going to execute it. You know what I mean? That’s a great question. I’ve never been asked that question.”

On clearing his head for home game day

“That’s right. Champion Walk, locker room, we do our quick prayer at midfield. Come in. Say hello to some recruits. And then I just try to lay flat on my back and just look at the call sheet and go through it again, just in kind of silence. And then I’m always going through it when the other guys are coaching their guys. I’ll go through, OK, how do I see the next third down and 3 to 6 going? How do I see the next 7 to 10 going? What’s my next 11-plus calls? It’s a great question. I’ve never been asked that, but I do try to visualize and rehearse it as much as possible so that it’s clean.”