What Tennessee State coach Eddie George said about ‘damn good’ Notre Dame football

How good does Tennessee State head coach Eddie George think Notre Dame is? He called the Fighting Irish “damn good” four times in the first couple minutes of his Tuesday press conference.

Here is everything George said about Notre Dame ahead of Saturday’s Irish home opener versus the Tigers at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Opening statement

“We’re very excited to play football against another opponent. Against a damn good opponent in Notre Dame. It is what it is. We have an opportunity to go up to South Bend and play in a historical venue such as South Bend Touchdown Jesus, the cathedral of all stadiums. This is going to be a great opportunity for our kids to experience Saturday for our kids to play football against a damn good opponent. I think we are excited to give it our best shot and see if we can come away with a victory.”

On the players’ excitement to play Notre Dame

“Absolutely, our kids are really excited about it. They look forward to the challenge. We understand it’s going to be a difficult one, but this is something we knew going into this week. There is nothing that is taking us off guard. We understand the challenge they present on both sides of the ball and certainly special teams-wise.

“Our thing is to not allow the moment to be bigger than what it is. Understanding that, hey, they put on their pants just like we do. They’re a damn good football team but we don’t have to put forth a superhuman effort. Just go up there and do our job, trust in the work that we put in, trust in the teammates, trust in the relationships we’ve built, trust in the plan that we’ve done. There is nothing we haven’t seen or nothing we haven’t accomplished so far in this camp.

“I think from a mentality standpoint we’re there. So it’s just about not getting wowed by the gold helmets or getting blinded by the history and all that goes into it. It’s knowing that we’re playing a damn good football team. We have to be on our Ps and Qs and go in there and fight and be in it until we’re not. That’s kind of our mentality.”

On Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman

“We have not played a team that has this great balance offensively. You look at their offense, going back to last year you could say, ‘OK, they’re just a run-heavy football team.’ It was adequate from quarterback play. But now, you throw in the element of a Heisman-caliber quarterback in Sam Hartman who has a ton of experience as far as football-wise playing really games. He was probably the most prolific passer at Wake Forest and in the ACC. And now you add more weapons around him. He is deadly. Certainly with his ability to make every single throw, he’s being protected by the best offensive line in the country. So now, we haven’t seen that part.”

On the Notre Dame defense

“They fly around. The linebackers are the heart and soul of that defense led by leadership and athleticism. They can come downhill with bad intentions. That’s the team we aspire to be. We want to be a physical football team. And who better to play against for that than Notre Dame? You get it firsthand.

“This team, when I look at Notre Dame, I won’t be surprised if we see them in the playoff at the end of the year because of the addition of Sam Hartman and what they do structurally and their philosophy both running the football and playing defense and special teams.”

On Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman being a fellow Ohio State alum

“That’s all good and dandy for the warmups and all of that, but outside of that I think it goes out the window. Coach Freeman is trying to coach his team up to win and move forward to 2-0 in their season. We want to try to come out and be fast and try to put our best foot forward and try to find a way to upset these guys. We’re both very competitive. I think it’s the profession now. It’s cool before and after the game to share stories and get philosophy, but we’re about to strap it up between the white lines and go to battle.

“I have great respect for Marcus and what he’s done at Notre Dame and certainly in his college and coaching career. Just the man that he is. I spent a little time with him last year in terms of his philosophy and thought process and he shared some of his thought process. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree when you come from a place like Ohio State. There are some things that I believe in philosophically and so does he. Hell, I’m just trying to get some of his players at some point in time. But certainly it’s going to be an honor and a privilege to coach against him because I think he is a fine human being and certainly the program of Notre Dame speaks for itself.”

On playing a team of Notre Dame’s caliber to open a season

“Listen, I’m never going to say we’re looking to schedule somebody’s that’s beatable. I’m always going to want to compete. I think this is an opportunity to play in a historic venue. Notre Dame has never scheduled an FBS school let alone an HBCU. This is a wonderful opportunity.

“We are trying to get better. I would never say our players are less than anybody else. We coach them just as hard as if they were at a Power Five school. The only difference is they have on a gold helmet. We have on a TSU one. This school is very proud of it. We have history here. We’ve produced All-Americans and Hall of Fame players. From a historical sense, it mirrors itself.

“We’re not just trying to take the check and come up there hat in hand. We’re coming up there to play football. We’re going to compete. On any given Saturday anything can happen. That’s how I look at it. I never back down from a challenge or to compete or to get better. One way or another, we’re going to learn a lesson. Whether it’s a win or a loss, we’re going to learn a lesson and it’s going to pay off for us down the long run in the course of our season as we’re trying to vie for a conference championship and hopefully play for a national championship.”