Everything Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said in CFP first round (Indiana) press conference

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman addressed reporters Sunday to begin College Football Playoff game week. His normal weekly press conference day is Monday, but because the Irish face Indiana at 8 p.m. ET on Friday in South Bend, everything has moved up a day early.

Here’s what Freeman had to say.

Opening statement

We just had a quick team meeting and, as I told the team, today officially starts game week. As we look at it, today’s a Monday for us in terms of our preparation. Really the past two weeks leading up until now, the preparation’s been really good. You have some guys that have been able to recover but also we’ve been able to do physical and tactical preparations after we found out who our opponent was last week. Really pleased with the preparation of the last week. Obviously, now we start moving forward with game week. We have to make some adjustments into our normal game week schedule to accommodate finals. So, we’ll practice in the morning starting Monday. We’ll practice in the morning through Wednesday. Then Thursday will be a normal Thursday because some guys will take finals in the afternoon. 

Couple injury updates: Howard Cross will be available. Devyn Ford available. Jeremiyah Love available. Bodie Kahoun will still be out. KK Smith will still be out and Kyngstonn [Viliamu-Asa] will still be out. 

Moving along to Indiana. Obviously, it’s a 11-1 football team. Very talented but you can tell they’re coached well. They play, as I often say, with the clarity that you look for. When you watch film, it’s a team that plays fast. A team that understands what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, how they’re doing it. So, you can tell they understand what’s expected of them. They make quick and fast decisions. They’re very disruptive, chaotic defense that is number one in the country in stopping the run. So, we understand it’ll be a great challenge for us and we’ve got to have a great week of prep as we get ready for Friday night. 

On flipping the focus switch back on after 20 days without a game

I’ve been preaching the same message, it’s that everybody knows it’s a big game. But the approach to the game can’t change. What we’ve been doing in terms of our preparation mentally and physically, has given the program the chance to succeed. Now, all season long we’ve talked about elevating and continuously finding ways to get better in terms of how we prepare and that’s no different as you prepare for this one. It’s that we have to find ways to enhance the way we prepare and continue to elevate as a team with that same approach that we’ve had. And we’ll get to Friday when it gets here. 

On Notre Dame finding itself in a “win or go home” situation

It’s something I’ve been preaching to the guys and something that I relayed this last week was that we’ve been in playoff situation, really since Week 3. And we understand that. Every game that we play in is a version of a playoff game in our minds. So, continue to understand they don’t have any added pressure for this one that you haven’t had the previous 10. So, our guys understand that. That’s going to be the message that I continue to reiterate and that’s just focus on the way we prepare and we’ll handle it. 

On Notre Dame being the only CFP team with no transfer portal entries since the regular season ended

I can’t speak for everybody. Every individual in our program makes their own decisions. I think they understand — every person in our program understands how valuable they are to us, being in this position that we’re in and we need them. We need every single person in our program to reach the goals that we have. So, I think when you feel like you have value and you’re a part of what we’re accomplishing you want to continue to stay with this team and see it through. I hope that’s a reflection of it but everybody will have their own answer. 

On Notre Dame getting Howard Cross III back for Round 1

Yeah, obviously high ankle sprains take time, and we knew that. But Howard Cross is an excellent football player. When you don’t have him he’s missed. We’ve had guys step up. Donnie Hinish has played really well and Gabe Rubio and some of those guys. But we also know what type of football player Howard Cross is and to have him back is going to be huge for our defense.

On preparing for Indiana’s defense

Yeah, they do some unique things with their D-line, with their second-level defense, in terms of pressure package, but also some different stunts that you don’t see every week. What we can’t do is try to play fit football. You hear me say it all the time, and make sure, ‘Hey, we’re scheming everything up the exact right way.’ Part of this is you’ve got to be aggressive. You’ve got to establish a new line of scrimmage when you’re running the football, and that’s a mindset, a mentality, that we have to have, but they’ve done an excellent job of stopping the run all season long.

On if he still lives with a mindset of perpetual upset prevention after NIU

I would be lying if I say I don’t think about that loss or being upset. Fear is a motivator. It is what it is. A lot of people are motivated by fear or greed, and there’s times that I have to remind myself what’s the result of not preparing the right way. But sometimes it takes the performance that we had versus NIU to go back and say, ‘Hold on. What lessons do we have to learn?’ 

“If you knew exactly what it took, the perfect formula. You would correct it right when it’s not right. But sometimes it takes going back and saying, ‘Okay, where didn’t we prepare the right way?’ And that’s after a win, too. There’s situations that happen in a win that you got to go back to say, ‘Okay, we didn’t perform the way we needed to in this situation, third down offense, third down defense, first down offense.’ 

Whatever the situation maybe; special teams. Hold on. Is our preparation, is this something that’s showing up in practice? If it’s not, okay, was this a schematic thing that we weren’t ready for? And I think that’s the mindset I have. I still believe in preparation.

I choose to believe that is the No. 1 indicator that gives your program a chance to have success on Saturday. And I won’t stray from that, and that’s what we’re going to focus on right now as we prepare for this upcoming game.

On Riley Leonard saying he hasn’t had his breakthrough moment in college football yet

I think Riley is a reflection of our entire program. We all believe there’s room to get better. When you talk about reaching full potential, every person in that program, including me, has room to elevate, to get better, and that’s what I hope that statement means for Riley Leonard. 

Yeah, he’s played really well in a lot of games, a lot of big games, but he knows he has room to improve, as do I. And so what we have to do is now put the work in that it takes to take that next step in elevation. That’s what he’s focused on. That’s what we’re all focused on.

On preparing to play Indiana’s top-ranked pass efficiency offense after playing its worst pass-defense game against USC

Yeah, I mean, again, Christian [Gray], there was a couple of plays they made on him that they have really good players. They had a really good quarterback. They made some plays, but again, when Christian picks off that last ball and takes it to the house, it’s a reflection of one play, one life. This is one thing that matters, and we have the utmost confidence in all of our DBs. Christian Gray included. 

You’ve got to learn from some of the things that happened, but also understand and build off the confidence that he has after that last interception he took to the house. So they’ll be ready to go. They’ll be ready. All of our DBs will be ready for the challenge that presents itself on Friday.

On when the program went from being the most talented he’s coached since he’s been at Notre Dame to a playoff team

There’s not one instance that I believe that I said, ‘Man, here’s a playoff team,’ until we beat USC, but talent is one thing. I still believe this is the most talented team I’ve had a chance to be head coach of, but there’s the work that it takes to take talent and turn it into skill and turn it into being a great football team, and there isn’t a defining moment for that. 

It’s a constant process from when we started in January to fall camp to where we’re at now, and we’re still in a process of continuing to reach our full potential, as I always say, and improve. Then we’ll look back when it’s over. Whenever this thing is over, we’ll look back and say, ‘Here’s the key point in this season that really helped us get to this point.

On Notre Dame’s resilience to overcome significant personnel losses early in the season

I think we have depth. More than anything is we have guys from the top of our roster to the bottom that can help us win football games. And when that opportunity presents itself on game days, it changes throughout the year. But you have to be ready. 

You can’t wait to your number is caught on on game day to get ready, and I think that’s what it speaks to is the guys that are prepared, in a way, to be ready, and they didn’t know if their numbers is going to be called on Saturday or not, but because of an injury, now they thrust in action, and everybody else gets to see. But more important anything, it speaks to the talent, the depth of our roster but also the way those guys prepare for an opportunity that they don’t know is going to happen on game day.

On Notre Dame’s trend of taking one-year quarterbacks and if it’s best to modify or condense the playbook for them

Every program is different. Every offense is different. There is a process that it takes to make sure that your quarterback and your offense is performing at the highest level it can, but there’s also ways to expedite that process. I think Riley and coach [Mike] Denbrock and coach [Gino] Guidugli have truly been intentional about doing. As far as us moving forward, it’s not something we plan on worrying about in the future.

On navigating his first time in the playoffs and how he’ll scout future potential opponents

Yeah, we have a group that looks at all the possible opponents we may have. Obviously, we didn’t know who we’re going to play in round one. But once you have an opponent, your intention is specifically on the upcoming task at hand. We obviously have to plan forward in terms of logistically, but all of our focus is on the task at hand.

On Xavier Watts coming back for a fifth season at Notre Dame

He made the decision to come back. I think there were multiple reasons. One was to improve his draft stock, right, and to give him a chance to be drafted in a higher position in the NFL Draft, but also to help this team reach the goals that we’ve set, and being a captain, being the leader that he’s been for our defense, there is no value, no money that I can put on that. He has been amazing in terms of the value he’s brought to this program, to this team. 

I just told him, ‘What you’ve done for this program to achieve team glory is going to be bigger than you can ever imagine, in terms of the individual glory, the All-Americans, the awards that you may or may not get. I just wanted him to know, and he knows, the value he’s brought to this team for us to achieve the results that we have has been tremendous.

On if Notre Dame wide receiver Beaux Collins had a chance to recalibrate for a potential resurgence in the CFP

Yeah, Beaux has had a wonderful few weeks of practice. He’s confident, he’ practicing fast, higher level, making some big plays in practice and that’s all you can control. You learn from the things that are behind you and the mistakes that you’ve made, but what I’ve seen of Beaux Collins in these past two weeks of practice gives me a lot of confidence in what he can do on game day.

On the challenge Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke and the Hoosiers’ offensive line presents

Every great offense is led by a quarterback, and this is no different. He’s a veteran. He’s been in big games, he’s played a lot of football games and he makes really good decisions. He knows where he’s going with the ball. He knows what he’s looking for, and he is able to execute at a high level. But more than that, I think, their offense, being able to run the ball, is something that they’ve done really efficiently. 

“You think about weather conditions. You think about a Friday night in South Bend, Ind. Weather could have an impact on the football game, and they’ve done a really good job running the ball. So, we have to prepare, obviously, for the things he does well in the passing game, but we got to make sure we can stop the run.

On if he’s showing his players certain game clips or anything specific to help motivate the team for this game

Yeah, there are always motivational tactics that I provide. Maybe it’s, for me, more than anything, but yeah, we’ll find ways to motivate them. They’re motivated by this opportunity more than anything. They’re motivated to play in the first-ever playoff game at Notre Dame Stadium versus a dang good football team (from) Bloomington, Ind., and that’s where the motivation lies more than anything. 

Again, the ability to pull plays from NIU, to show them plays from previous losses, is to learn from them. It’s more than motivating, it’s to learn from them. There’s plays in Louisville last year that I had on a screen that hopefully they watched, and they said, ‘Oh, okay, that’s something I got to remember that will help us on game day,’ and that’s really the tactic behind playing some of those games, the previous losses, and showing them around the Gug.

On Notre Dame kicker Mitch Jeter

This is as close as he’s been to where he was before he got hurt. He’s had a really good two, three weeks of practice. Now we got to let him truly recover. He needed a chance to recover. We probably have had more live field goal opportunities and field goal periods in practice just for him, but everybody to get their confidence back in our field goal unit, some of the protection things we have to fix. He’s had a really good few weeks of practice.

On Indiana’s run defense

They play aggressively.  They (inaudible) create chaos. They have a really unique scheme in terms of some of the twisting and pressure packages, but their talented and they play hard. They play hard. Their D-line is really, really good. And it’s hard to simulate some of the things they do in practice, but our scout guys have done a good job of trying to give us a really good look as they’ve done all year. They’re well-coached, their aggressive and they’re a confident group. 

On coming up with a plan for unprecedented College Football Playoff prep

There’s part of the logistics that we had long discussions about before the season even started. Understanding that you’ve got finals, understanding that you’re gonna have Week 13 off.  You’re not gonna have an opponent until after the championship game. So some of those logistical things we’ve had a plan for. And then as we got closer and closer to this and and once you really got an opponent, every week we get together as a sports performance group, we meet early in the week, I have a vision that I want in terms of the practice schedules and the periods and I bounce it off John Wagle and Loren Landow and Rob Hunt and that group.

We meet about looking at the loads and the numbers: ‘Hey coach, this will be high, this will be low.’ It’s a collective decision. I have to use the wisdom that is around me. Those are some of the most brightest individuals here at this university that can give me feedback. And then i gotta make a decision. I have to make a decision that I believe is best for this football team. Before I do that, I want to use all the wisdom available .

On when he saw the Notre Dame offensive line play like he thought it would this year, even though the players aren’t necessarily who he envisioned

It’s a progression and it takes time. There’s not one game or one instance where I said that’s the offensive line that we’ve been waiting on. We did play well Week One. There was improvement. Week Two, there was improvement. There’s still improvement that we have to make. But I think it’s that chase of perfection. It’s that chase of their full potential that prevents you from saying, ‘This is when it happened.’ It’s that mindset. We’re not there yet. We’re not there as a football program. We’re not there as an O-line group. We’re not there yet as a head coach. There’s room for improvement. And after this season, we’ll look back and say, you know, maybe there was a time or two, but right now it’s just like, how do we get better? How do we get better? 

On Rylie Mills throwing a punch (which was not caught) and Mike Brown being called for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty against USC

They’ll be the first ones to tell you that no one is worth 15 yards. We can’t react to a situation we’re in and hurt our team. That’s what both of them were. They were reactions that were poor decisions. Poor decisions in terms of the way they reacted to a situation. And those are the first two guys that will own it. And that’s what I love about this program. And I don’t need to demean you and get all over you. At times I will. But these guys own it. They understand it and we all gotta learn from it. It’s a reminder for me as the head coach. Nobody’s worth 15 yards no matter what happens on the previous play or the previous moment. We got to respond in terms of how we react. 

On North Carolina hiring Bill Belichick and Notre Dame’s pitch of preparing players for the NFL

You know I got a lot of respect for what Coach Belichick has done for the game of football. The successes he’s had at the NFL level is unprecedented. It’s tremendous for the game of football, period. To have somebody that has had that much success in college football and in the conference that we obviously plays multiple crossover games. It’s amazing. He’ll do great things in college, the same way he did in the NFL. I look forward to seeing the success of North Carolina and their football program.

Every coach, our job is to make sure that your sons are prepared, more prepared for the NFL because of the time they spent in our program. That’s a part of what our job is. Not only to help us win football games but also to prepare them to reach their full potential as a football player. If that means they’re ready to go to the NFL and have a long NFL career, then that’s great. But our job is to make sure that they are the most complete football player as they can be because of the time they stay with us in our football program.  

On if the Boston College game two years ago helps prepare Notre Dame for the cold and snow

No. We practice in it. Our guys understand, coaches understand what they need to wear to stay warm. You hear me say all the time. There’s no cold tough guys. You don’t want to wear sleeves, don’t wear sleeves. But be on the sideline shivering either. Make sure you’re warm. Whatever it takes to be warm, let’s make sure we’re prepared. In order to do that, coaches too, we gotta practice outside. You gotta practice in the elements so you know how to prepare for it on game day. 

You don’t recommend wearing no shirt during warmups like Florida State six years ago? 

If they’re not cold, you can wear what you want to wear.