Skip to main content
notre-dame logo

Live updates: Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman pre-Indiana press conference

IMG_7504by:Jack Soble•12/18/24•

jacksoble56

Marcus Freeman
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman. (Chad Weaver/Blue & Gold)

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is set to address reporters for the final time before Friday’s College Football Playoff first-round game vs. Indiana. The Irish take on the Hoosiers at 8 p.m. ET in South Bend, and the game will be broadcast on ABC and ESPN.

Here are Blue & Gold’s live updates from Freeman’s Wednesday Zoom press conference, which begins at noon ET.

What Freeman is saying

**Keep refreshing this page for real-time, written updates from Notre Dame’s Zoom press conference.**

• Asked if this game might be a little more chippy than a normal game, Freeman said that’s possible but it will come down to execution.

• Notre Dame does have new jerseys for this game, but the head coach has not seen them. He’s wearing a black hoodie on Zoom, for what it’s worth.

• Charles Jagusah is still in “returning to play protocol.” He will not be available to play against Indiana, but he’s getting closer. He has not practiced “full-go” yet. He will absolutely be back in time for spring practice 2025, though.

• Freeman said every individual has the choice to “turn down the noise” that surrounds a CFP game at Notre Dame Stadium and the possibility of making a run.

• The team is still “fresh” mentally, despite it being finals week. That’s part of what comes with playing at Notre Dame, Freeman said, and he does not anticipate it being an issue. “They’ve done an amazing job all year to balance the two. This week’s no different.”

• Asked about how he deals with his staff looking at other jobs (in relation to Deland McCullough interviewing for the Ohio job), Freeman said he’s always supporting Notre Dame’s coaches being able to “elevate.” He said McCullough has not “strayed away” from his preparation for the playoff game after interviewing.

• Interesting answer from Freeman on Indiana’s staff change (its co-OC left for UCLA). He said Notre Dame can’t just look at what Indiana does; it has to self-scout to try to predict the way the Hoosiers will attack the Irish.

• Asked about Notre Dame playing up to and/or dominating its competition in big-time home night game atmospheres (Clemson, USC, Ohio State, Florida State), Freeman downplayed it. He said what matters is these next 48 hours of preparation.

• Notre Dame sometimes practices in the stadium during home game weeks, but it did not do that this week.

• Asked about brushing off Indiana because of its history (or even drawing more motivation, because the Hoosiers don’t belong there? What?), Freeman brushed that possibility aside. He said the only thing the Irish pay attention to is the current team at hand, and that team is playing some of the best football in the country.

You may also like