Marcus Freeman transcript: Notre Dame HC previews national championship

On Sunday morning, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman sat down for one last press conference before the national championship: his joint presser with Ohio State head coach Ryan Day.

Here’s everything Freeman had to say.

Opening statement

Yeah, I want to first thank the CFP staff and all the work they’ve put in to put on this event. The welcome was amazing, the city of Atlanta. We’re grateful to be here.

As Coach Day said, it’s been a long journey. It’s been a fun one. We’ve got a great group of players but staff that have put everything into this opportunity that we have right in front of us.

We’re looking forward to this one last guaranteed opportunity that we have versus a terrific opponent in Coach Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes, and we look forward to the opportunity coming here on Monday.

On retaining Notre Dame’s home-grown players in the transfer portal era

Yeah, very similar philosophy, and we’re going to major in high school recruiting and the foundation of our football program will be from high school recruiting, and we’ll minor in the transfer portal for specific needs that we need for our roster.

It’s not an easy answer to say how you keep young people part of your program. But if you can get them to feel like they have value and you can get them to understand that whatever role they have determined for them in that week or this season is going to be a part of us reaching our full potential, then I think you can more so than not get them to stay.

I think young people want to be valued, and that’s important. So I think you’ve also got to show them stories of examples of guys that have stayed the course and have turned into great football players.

You look at a guy like Xavier Watts that redshirted and moved to wideout his first year and moved to DB his second year and played very little, and then his first year starting was just okay and his fourth year he wins the Bronko Nagurski award. So you have to use that example just as much as the example of seeing a Leonard Moore, a true freshman that ends up starting at corner.

Everybody’s journey is different. And if you can convince them that your journey is your journey, don’t compare your journey to his journey, that’s hopefully a way to get young people to stay.

On if college football is in danger of seeing fewer marquee regular-season games because of the 12-team playoff

I have no clue who we play next year. I’m not thinking about that. (Laughter).

I really don’t have a strong opinion right now on the playoff structure. I was asked that previously, and that’s going to be something maybe after the season I can spend more time really thinking about, my opinion of the pros and cons. Right now you just try to figure out a way to get your team prepared for this opportunity you’ve got right in front of you.

That’s what the focus is on is this opportunity, and we’ll deal with next year and opinions on the playoff structure, I think, once this thing is over.

On Notre Dame’s philosophy of “we” in a “me” society

Yeah, I think very similar to the answer I said earlier, the ability to make sure everybody feels valued is so important. To get people to commit to something bigger than themselves, they have to feel like their determined role is important, and then they have to make a choice that no matter what, us achieving team glory is more important than what I want as an individual. I think it’s a choice that every coach, every player, every person in our football program has to continuously make.

But I think if they can see the value they have in us achieving our ultimate goal of team glory, then they’re more willing to continue to give everything they have to the program.

I think it’s an everyday message. It’s an everyday constant reminder, and it’s an everyday choice that we all have to make.

On Notre Dame’s international players (i.e. James Rendell) and the importance of growing the game of football abroad

eah, I think back to last year when we opened up the season in Dublin, Ireland. What an opportunity of a lifetime. It was a great experience, and for me, even being the head coach, it was the first time I was out of this country. To be able to take our program to Dublin, Ireland, and to really showcase the game of football and expand the game of football.

We’ve had great players from Germany, as you’ve said, obviously our punter now is from Australia. I think the game of football continuously grows, and that obviously started with the NFL, and now you see it’s trickling down to college.

The enhancement of the game, the growth of the game of football is something that we all support. I think these are just small steps to seeing this sport and this game, no matter what level you’re playing at, continue to grow.

On Notre Dame doing things differently throughout the season, knowing it needs to play 16 games to win a title

Yeah, I think before the season, you spend some time really coming up with a great plan for after Week 12. For us, we knew there was no chance of us having a first-round bye, so we also knew that we weren’t going to play in a conference championship, so we had to maximize those two weeks, Week 13 and really the week before the first round of the playoffs.

That was something we spent some time doing. Then as you got to that moment, it was about preparation. You had to prepare for the opportunity to play four games. It wasn’t like a bowl game where everything was going to go into one game and this was the last game. You had to have a big-picture approach to the next four opportunities, even though you didn’t know if they were guaranteed or not.

I think each week you kind of get with your sports performance team and have some discussions and make a plan for what you feel your team needs physically and mentally for that week. It’s worked pretty well for us, and we’ve got one more opportunity to see how well we prepared.

On Ohio State linebackers coach James Laurinaitis (his close friend) and Notre Dame defensive line coach Al Washington (who coached at OSU under Day)

Yeah. The first part of your question about relationships and my time at Ohio State, yeah, friendships are friendships. It doesn’t matter where you’re coaching or who you’re coaching with. Friendships are friendships. James isn’t the only guy that’s in the Ohio State program that I have a friendship or relationship with. Everybody knows where I went to college.

But as I’ve continuously said to our program and everybody around our program, it’s that this opportunity is about this opportunity. This isn’t about where I went to school. This isn’t about the last two times we played Ohio State. This opportunity is about this opportunity, and we’ve got to make sure we focus on that because this opponent is this current opponent. It’s not the last two that we faced. It’s going to be a great challenge.

As far as Al Washington, he’s been a tremendous asset to our staff. We had the fortune to work together at Cincinnati for a year before he left, and I knew him before that. I know the type of man he is but also the type of coach he is. He is a developer of young people. He’s done a really good job of recruiting and developing the defensive line. We’re grateful to have him part of our staff.

On two similarly historic programs playing in the title game

Yeah, when I think about the similarities, more than anything I think the expectations that both programs have for themselves. Every season you go into the season wanting to be national champions. Obviously Ohio State has achieved that goal in more recent years than we have, but those are the expectations, to be at the mountaintop.

I think there’s not a tremendous amount of programs that can truly say that every year. I think that’s part of the reason why we’re both at these places. We want to be a part of a program that every year has expectations of being the best, and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to try to achieve that result.

The other thing I hope is that we continuously do it the right way. I know Coach Day and a lot of people on his staff that have integrity and do things the right way, and it’s about building young people and helping them grow, helping them be better individuals because of the time they’ve spent with us. I think that’s important, is that you can aspire to win National Championships every year.

But you can also make sure that the young people you’re leading are better because of the time they spent with you. I think that’s a reflection of both football programs.

On how much time Notre Dame’s players spend each weak on watching tape

I don’t know the exact hours, but there’s a tremendous amount of time spent watching film. That could be with coaches and without coaches. That could be in the football facility or at home. Yes, it’s more important than ever to watch film, and I’m a firm believer in that and the preparation.

There’s only so much you can do physically, but mentally I think there’s always a nugget you can grab as you prepare and watch film.

RYAN DAY: Agreed. Each guy is different. I say it all the time. Each unit is different; what is your routine, how many hours do you need to watch of film by yourself, 5, 10, 20, 30, 50. But the more film you watch, eventually you find something. You find a way to get a 1st down, you find a way to get a stop, you find a little tip that may help you get that one inch.

You think about some of these games, it can come down to one play. That’s what it is. And having the discipline late in the season to be able to watch — all right, let’s put the film on, watch one more hour of film. And for young players to understand how important that is and how that can help you win the game.

On his pregame speech Monday night

Yeah, it’s probably the last thing on our minds, what we’re going to say to them pregame that’s going to help them win the game.

So much goes into preparation. It goes into days of preparation. Sometimes maybe outsiders can think that, oh, it’s a pregame speech that’s going to help your team win. The reality is very similar to what Coach Day said, what you’ve done to get you here is what you’ve got to go out there and do.

For us to come out and before the game say something that, hey, you’ve got to do something different tonight that didn’t help you get to this point is crazy. It will probably be something along those lines, is you’ve got to do what we’ve done, and you’ve got to do it better. We’re facing a great opponent. You’re in the National Championship game. You might say it with a little passion. You’re getting ready to play for the National Championship. The natural emotions will come out in that moment.

But our guys got to continuously do what they’ve done to get them to this moment.

On the importance of faith at Notre Dame

I think when you’re at Notre Dame, faith is something that’s openly talked about, obviously being at a private Catholic university. Amongst our football program, it’s promoted. I’m not saying you have to be Catholic; we’re saying we want our young people to grow in their faith.

When you have a leader like Riley Leonard who is very outspoken about his faith and is very intentional about putting together Bible studies and helping his peers grow in their faith, I think it’s big. It’s huge. It promotes a culture where you’re comfortable as an individual seeking out ways to grow in your faith.

I’m a believer, and I have a strong faith. That’s my personal opinion and beliefs. But I think we have a team of leaders that do a really great job of promoting and helping young people grow in their faith.

On what it would mean to deliver Notre Dame’s first national championship since 1988

Yeah, when I think about this journey and this season, there’s a lot of gratitude I have to be on this journey with not just the players but with all the coaches and the staff, the men and women that are involved in our program and the efforts they’ve put into us being in this position.

When I think about this last guaranteed one, we started the season talking about reaching our full potential, and we’ve got one guaranteed opportunity to do that.

Let’s continuously put all the work we can into these last 48 hours or however many hours we have left to prepare for this moment and then go play. Go play. You’ve got a chance to play in the National Championship game. Enjoy the opportunity.

It’s going to be a difficult one. We know that. But listen, go out there and enjoy it, and don’t let the things outside of those white lines affect the way you play. That’s probably what’s most important.

I’m grateful for this opportunity and looking forward to it tomorrow.