Live updates: Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman press conference (Oct. 30)
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is at the lectern this afternoon to recap the Fighting Irish’s 58-7 win over Pittsburgh and to look ahead to Saturday’s clash with Clemson. Follow along below to watch Freeman’s presser and for real-time, written updates from Blue & Gold.
WATCH: Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman Oct. 30 press conference
What Freeman is saying
**Keep refreshing this page for written updates of Freeman’s presser.**
• Freeman says overall there were a lot of positives in the Irish’s win over Pitt.
• Freeman makes sure to not the 535 yards and 38 points the offense accounted for against Pitt.
• Freeman says the challenge is to deeply understand how the Fighting Irish won a game by 51 points and figure out how to do it again. “There is another level for this team.”
• Notre Dame tight end Mitchell Evans is out for the season with a torn ACL.
• Freeman says you don’t make up for the loss of Evans with just one guy. It will be a team effort.
• Freeman: “I absolutely think Mike Mickens is ready to be a defensive coordinator.”
• Freeman: “We have to believe it’s the way we prepare that gives us the opportunity to have the outcome we had Saturday.”
• Freeman has hinted multiple times in the first 10 minutes of this press conference that he believes Clemson is a better football team than its 4-4 record indicates. Notre Dame has to be ready for a battle on the road Saturday.
• Freeman has never been to Clemson. He said what the Tigers have done at the best in the last 10 years is second to none in college football.
• Freeman says Clemson’s strength offensively is running the ball. “What they’re trying to do is continuously find ways to run the football.”
• Freeman says freshman tight end Cooper Flanagan “has a different skill set” from the other players in the Notre Dame tight end room.
• Freeman says Chris Tyree’s success at wide receiver is an example of “the bumpier the road the better.” He says Tyree is “anti-fragile.
• Freeman on Tyree: “He is just starting to scratch the surface of how good he can be as a wide receiver.” Tyree leads all Irish wideouts with 19 catches and 417 receiving yards.
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• Freeman on offensive philosophy: “I want to be able to have tempo as a tool. I don’t want to major in it.”
• Freeman: “We have a talented room, but we need to give those guys a chance to play at the fastest speed they can.”
• Freeman says anytime there is a chance to get younger plays into a game, it’s a positive. He loved seeing Steve Angeli play as much as he did against Pitt.
• Freeman says he is always aware of which players need to be talked to about potentially coming back for a fifth or sixth season. Those conversations start to occur this time of year an intensify over the next month.
• Freeman says Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman is so consistent in his approach series by series. He’s not worried about the two interceptions and no touchdowns against Pitt.
• Freeman says when he watches Clemson, he sees talent and a team that works hard. He says it’s evident on film that as culture is in place. “I want people to watch Notre Dame football and say, ‘Those guys play extremely hard.”
• Freeman says something that stood about about the Notre Dame offense in the Pitt game was the way the wide receivers blocked. “That’s going to be one of the first things I talk about when we meet with the team.”
