Quick hitters: Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman 'considered' NC State DC Tony Gibson for same position
Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman addressed the media for the final time before Saturday’s game against North Carolina State. The No. 10 Fighting Irish (2-0) take on the NC State Wolfpack (0-1) at Noon EDT on ABC. The game will occur at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, where rain could appear on the radar.
Here are four key things Freeman told the media Thursday — from considering NC State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson for the same position at Notre Dame to how the team will prepare for possible inclement weather.
On whether Gibson was on Freeman’s radar for Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator vacancy before 2022 season:
“He’s a guy that I’ve respected for many years that has really had good defenses, no matter if he was at North Carolina State or West Virginia. So, as you looked for a defensive coordinator, he was one name that definitely was on my list of names to consider just because of how well he’s performed at multiple different places. So, I have a lot of respect for Tony (Gibson).“
On what characterizes a Tony Gibson defense:
“They’re an attacking, aggressive group. They play extremely hard. That’s something that you don’t always see every week as a group that’s so downhill, attacking and aggressive.
“They pressure from all different ways. And sometimes, they might not even be pressuring, but their backs are playing so fast downhill that it might seem like a pressure. And then, all of a sudden, they’ll drop eight.
“So, they do a good job of mixing it up. But we understand that this is going to be a very aggressive defense, that’s really good. They play fast. What you realize is that they’re clear on their assignments because we always say, ‘Man, clarity equals velocity.’ And those guys play with like a lot of velocity.”
On preparing for possible inclement weather in Raleigh:
“We’ve had a few wet ball practices, where we intentionally went out in the rain during fall camp, and had to make sure we go out there and understand that no matter what the elements are, we have to go out there and perform. We have a plan. We’ve talked about it amongst ourselves as a staff that, ‘Hey if it rains during a game, what’s our plan?’
“We had to do the same thing for Ireland. The forecast called for rain in Ireland. So, we have a plan. We are always in communication in terms of ‘Hey, playing complementary football, what’s necessary?’ …
“We’ll definitely have a plan but also have communication in terms of what’s best for both sides of the ball. Is it under center? Is it in the gun? How can we make sure that we have a chance to execute and not hurt ourselves because we don’t have a plan for the elements that could be there on Saturday?”
On preparing the freshmen for their first true road test:
“Yeah, you, you try to explain what it’s going to be like. You try to show them a video and just tell them, ‘Hey, this is kind of the environment you’re going into.’ Nothing’s going to be able to truly catch them up until they get the experience of going there and playing in a hostile environment.
“So, Chuck, you try to just update. You try to just give them a visual of what it’s going to be like. You try to do crowd noise in practice. So they understand how to execute with nonverbal communication. But, until you’re actually in that element, you can’t simulate it.
“We have to do a good job of being able to execute to take out, hopefully, some of the distractions, the crowd noise and the things that are within the white lines.”
