Everything Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said Saturday

Mike Denbrock brings the energy as offensive coordinator at Notre Dame. He demands the same from his players — and even the local press corps.

Watching reporters question Irish head coach Marcus Freeman and defensive coordinator Al Golden, Denbrock felt a certain something lacking.

“You guys got any juice today?!” Denbrock said after he stepped up to the lectern. “Or are you kind of like, ‘Oh, it’s another press conference.’ Let’s go!”

It’s clear that Denbrock loves being back at Notre Dame, and he’s excited about what his offense can do in Year 1 of his third stint in South Bend. Here’s everything he said in his press conference Saturday afternoon.

On Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard’s development in fall camp

“Well, he’s 100 percent healthy. That’s No. 1. But I think for him, the process continues a little bit. We’re trying to give him as many answers as we can while we’re going through this process but some of it is he’s going to have to learn in this system how to figure out for himself. 

“What I like about him is he’s not afraid to try and fail, and then learn from it. He doesn’t usually get too bad at paralysis by analysis, which is easy to do going against what our defense does, where you’re standing there just kind of wondering what is the right thing to do. He makes a decision and lives with it. Then if we need to fix it or adjust it, we can do it from there.

“His overall understanding of what we want to eventually become offensively, I think he’s got a clear vision of that and he’s done a good job of running with it. Probably the most important thing to me is once I think our football team got a chance to really get to know him and be around him even more than they did in the spring where he was actually in the weight room, he was actually on the practice field, he’s actually taken the snaps. I think the respect that has grown for him within our locker room is pretty cool to be a part of.”

On how young offensive linemen Sam Pendleton and Anthonie Knapp have put themselves in the conversation to start Week 1

“It’s what we ask for as coaches. They consistently perform at a high level and stacking periods together and stacking reps together and stacking days together. This isn’t anything we’re rewarding them with. They’ve earned opportunities to be seen against the things our defense can provide us. Then we’ll make our final decisions and evaluations from there.

“But it’s because of the work they’ve done, because of the consistency that they’ve show and the ability that they’ve shown quite frankly to put them in the position to do it.”

On Saturday’s scrimmage

“I’m really hard to please, so I didn’t really like it, to be honest with you. I thought — do you guys know what the score was?”

Reporters: “42-40.”

“I mean, if you were asking me if we would have played the way we’re capable of playing, I would have hoped that there would have been a little bigger margin there. But there are a lot of things we’re still growing from and cleaning up. I’m not going to sit here and say we’re any sort of a finished product in any way, shape or form.

“But what I’m most proud of with this group is their expectation for themselves has begun to grow, almost like they require it from one another. When we actually make that leap where that’s our mentality offensively, we’ve got some pieces, we’ve got some people up front, we’ve got some people on the perimeter, we’ve got some people throwing it and catching it.

“We’re going to continually get better. The faster we can speed that process up, fine. But today for me, 42-40 to me is kind of like, ‘Yeah, we won 50 percent of the time and we weren’t as successful 50 percent of the time so we’re going to have go back, analyze the tape, learn from what we did wrong and fix it so it doesn’t have to be close next time.’”

On Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden

“Al’s fantastic. The whole defensive staff. The communication piece of all this between the two staffs in particular is vital to what we’re doing because we’re building a football team here and I need to know information from him and I hope he knows that when he needs something from me, he’s going to get it so we can make each other better.

“If there are adjustments to be made, if there are tells in what we’re doing, do we need to disguise this, that or something else better, or are we doing too much of this. What really stings you when you’re in this coverage.

“All those types of questions are going back and forth, or he’ll say, ‘Man, when you do this certain thing and Riley is back there, it’s a problem for us.’ And then when I get in scrimmages like today, I go ‘ding’ and I make a mental note and it ends up on the call sheet. No, I’m just kidding. That interaction with the defensive staff is so vital to our development and hopefully it helps him a little bit as well.”

On Notre Dame’s players adapting to his intensity

“I hope that they can feel through how I coach them how important not only they are to me but how important this university and this football program are to me. That’s where it really comes from. It’s a passion about helping them be better. Sometimes it’s a little direct but as I needed when I was a young person, sometimes I needed to be snapped back in the right direction. Hopefully, they understand it comes from a good place and they’ve done a great job with that.

“What’s great about it and what I really like about it is they’re starting to take that from me and I can’t wait for that to happen. So when I don’t have to be a lunatic in situations and they kind of fix it themselves, then we’re really going to be moving in a positive direction.”

On the ceiling for Notre Dame’s offense in 2024

“I don’t know that we have one. I think right now we’re still in the process of finishing developing what it’s going to look like week one and I think as the season goes along, this development that’s taking place right now offensively can continue to get better and better and better.

“Where we’re going to be week one and where we’re going to be at the end of the season, I hope everybody in here can report that you can visibly see how much better they are from where they started. I think you can see that from spring ball to where we are now and it’s up to us as coaches to make sure that process continues.”

On trusting young offensive linemen in Week 1

“Those are tough ones. It’s almost like when you have your own children. At one point do you trust them to themselves? You’re ready for this. Or do you hold on and say this may not be the best place…those are hard decisions, within families and obviously trying to construct an offensive line that can match up against our week one opponent and all the ones down the road and be the type of force we’re going to need that group to be. So those are not easy scenarios for sure. We’re trying to work through them and make the best decision that’s best for the football team.”

On what can Knapp and Pendleton can do over the next two weeks to win starting spots against Texas A&M

“The benefit those guys have every day is who they’re going against. We’ve got a pretty good defensive line of our own around here. So it’s not like they’re out there just measuring themselves against average players. Those two boys in the middle and some of those guys on the edge are pretty good players. So at least we have that as a reference point, and I’m not comparing our D-line to anybody else’s D-line, I’m just saying we’ve got some really talented players on the defensive line here at this university and they get to match up with those guys every day.”

On if Notre Dame has a true No. 1 wide receiver, and if not, does it have the pieces to win without one

“I think the answer is yes, we do have the pieces to be more dynamic at the wide receiver position than over the last few years. I think it’s gonna be a combination of guys. I don’t know if there’s necessarily one alpha that has kind of separated himself in that room. There’s a bunch of really talented ones. And at times, they’ve flashed here, flashed there. They’ve all had their collection of different guys making good plays at certain parts of the scrimmage or a practice or whatever.

“So I think at least in the beginning, it’s gonna be a little bit more of a mix and match. And the depth there obviously helps, there’s some good depth there. And we’re gonna move those chess pieces around — Coach Al kind of talked a little bit about the same thing, right? It’s fitting the system to the players, and fitting the positions within the system to the players’ abilities, right? And that’s what we’ll be, and that’s how we’ll go about it.”

On having star tight end Mitchell Evans at full strength

“Yeah, I’m so excited about where Mitch is going. He’s gotten involved a lot more last week, and we’ll ramp him up a little bit more headed into this next week and try to get him toward the finish line and ready to go. I will echo again what Coach Golden said about where Coop [Cooper Flanagan] and Eli Raridon are and the things they’ve done.

“I like that room. Jack Larsen’s done some good things. Woody [Davis Sherwood] is a tough, solid player that has a role. Kevin [Bauman], coming off two back-to-back knee surgeries, is in there in some short-yardage situations, letting it rip. So I’m proud of those dudes in that room. I don’t tell them that very much, but you know, I like that collection of people. And they, Mitch included in that group, have an opportunity to take a lot of pressure off a lot of positions.”

On letting quarterbacks figure things out themselves in practice, rather than just giving them the answers

“I think you’ve gotta use practice for the way practice was intended. You can’t be afraid to let the defense kick your butt while you’re learning how to adjust what you’re doing, right? You’ve gotta give them an opportunity to fail or succeed, and stay out of the way. Then go back and fix it, with the expectation that we’re not going down this road anymore. ‘This is fixed, right? And you understand it? Okay, fine.’

“And I’ve seen that so much from the quarterbacks in particular. And if anybody’s trying to fix them on the field, I’m probably the most guilty of that, because I can’t keep my yapper shut half the time. Gino [Guidugli] does an unbelievable job of staying back, letting them figure it out and then correcting it afterwards. I think that has benefitted not only Riley, but Steve as well and the other quarterbacks.”

On getting to the line and pre-snap motion improving to the point where it no longer feels like a fire drill

“In the spring, I thought we were awful at it. I’m a big believer that if you’re gonna use motion, it should actually be done with some urgency instead of a slow jog, and ingraining that. Whether you’re shifting formations or whatever, let’s keep some pressure on the people we’re trying — and then make them adjust to what we’re doing. And instead of — you might as well line up there. You’ll hear me say that a lot to the guys. ‘You motion over there so damn slow, you might as well line up over there. What’s the difference?’ So we’re trying to get that part of it.

“I thought towards the end of the spring and really over the summer, one of the things Coach Golden and I talked about doing — just to help both of our units collectively — was to have maybe a 5-10-minute period every day built within practice, and even the summer practices, where basically I just could ‘mad scientist’ motions and shifts so he could get adjusted defensively and we could learn how to do it the right way. So that it is actually a weapon, and that’s how we want to try to use it.”

On Notre Dame sports psychologist Joey Ramaeker

“Yeah, one of the things that I really have enjoyed from him in particular is his approach to understanding how to get yourself back centered. Whether that’s meditation, whether that’s breathing techniques, all of that can kind of bring you — whether you’re having success or failure, right? And Coach Freeman has said this to you guys, I’m sure, many times, our mentality of ‘One Play, One Life’ means whether or successful or unsuccessful, put it away, re-focus yourself, re-channel your energy on what you can control, which is the next play. And let’s go on.

“With a system offensively that wants to play with some tempo to it, nothing’s more critical than that. Whether you make a good play or make a bad play, it’s gotta go bye-bye. And let’s move. It’s next, next, next, next next. And the ability for the guys to kind of learn how to use their breathing to help them do that, or refocus themselves or reload, as we say as a program, is a really, really strong way of getting them back focused on what we’re trying to get done.”

On the ND swimming scandal 

“It’s absolutely terrifying, right? I mean, one of the most prominent networks — and all the prominent networks have their own thing you can go on on a mobile device, little mini computer, and do something that could cost you your career as a football. It’s absolutely something where we do what we can to make sure we’re all over it as far as our communication with the players, with the staff, everybody, to make sure we’re doing things the right way.” 

On comparing Jayden Daniels to Riley Leonard

“I look at those guys so similarly in a lot of aspects. And I’m not saying physical characteristics are exactly the same, but situationally, from coming into a program and into this offensive system in particular, if you think back, and you guys probably didn’t study this at all and no reason that you should, but 2022 at LSU when Jayden started, I think it was the third game of the season, we go to Auburn and we just, we can’t move it. I want to say we threw for like 90 yards maybe. 82? 87? I don’t know. It was under 100, which my boss at the time reminded me of about 100 times on the way back.

“That process that he was going through was me getting familiar with him, him gaining trust and camaraderie with the wide receivers, that process hadn’t run its course yet. Even though there were receivers running open, he was more entrusted in himself to put the ball down and run it then he was to let go of it. I see some of that same process going on with Riley at times. If you’re a competitor, and this is how I view Jayden and I view Riley the same way, if you’re the competitor that should be the starting quarterback at the University of Notre Dame, then you’re going to do whatever you can in your power to make sure we’re successful. And if you believe in yourself more than you trust the people around you, that can be a little bit of a detriment at times, right? So working through that where that trust gets built, and I think the guys have done a great job of it, it’s getting better all the time.

“He knows he can run and make plays. How far can we get him as he goes through his development here to now trust the people around him to do the same things that he knows he can do himself? That process, when I talk about us getting better and better as the year goes along, I think that’s going to be a piece of it.” 

On Kyle Field

“It’s a hornets’ nest. It is loud. Chaotic. Warm, I think someone brought up. All of those things are true. And it’s a very, very difficult, hostile place to function, especially as the visiting team on the offensive side of the ball. We’re going to have to, and we’ve already done this, work on different cadences and snap counts and things like that to make sure we’re clued in. We’re going to have to be careful about how much motion and shifting and different things we build within the game plan because you can’t hear. It’s hard. Communication is hard.

“The work we’ve done with a good doctor about focusing and blocking out the noise, if you will, literally the noise at Kyle Field, is going to be a huge factor in how we perform. I think some of that too is the confidence and calmness that we can walk into that stadium with as a program and that comes with being successful on the practice field and building that confidence in one another.”