Live updates: Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman fall camp press conference
Notre Dame held its first practice of fall camp on Wednesday. Follow along below for live updates for head coach Marcus Freeman’s ensuing press conference.
WATCH: Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman July 31 press conference
What Freeman is saying
Keep refreshing this page for live, written updates of what Freeman is saying.
• Freeman says it was a “good first day” and “a typical first day.” Some good and bad. He’s just happy to be back on the field as a team.
• Kahanu Kia tore his ACL this summer. He’s already had surgery. He’s out all year.
• Mitchell Evans, Kevin Bauman and Benjamin Morrison are in “return to play” protocol. They all participated in practice in some way today.
• Freeman says with Al Golden here for a third year, the players are able to start from a place they haven’t been able to start from in previous fall camps. “Level 500,” he called it. “I’m excited for the future of the defense in this upcoming season.”
• Freeman says Riley Leonard is rolling with the ones and Steve Angeli is going with the twos, as the media saw in practice today. There was a clear division there, even if Freeman is not ready to definitively name a Notre Dame starting quarterback.
• Freeman: “I have a lot of confidence in what our offensive line is going to be able to do.”
• Freeman says as much as Notre Dame can practice in the heat over the next month, the Irish will do that. He says everyone knows that’s the environment the team is going into at Texas A&M on Aug. 31. He says the most important thing is replenishing after those hotter sessions.
• Freeman says Notre Dame is going to need one of the two freshmen cornerbacks to play a role in the 2024 season.
• Freeman says Adon Shuler and Rod Heard are both going to play a bunch of reps at the safety spot opposite of Xavier Watts this season. Heard has the experience edge, but Notre Dame believes Shuler is more than capable of being a starter if needed.
• Freeman sounds very confident that Notre Dame has as many as five linebackers that can all rotate in and do the job Irish coaches are asking of them. That group is led by, of course, sixth-year veteran Jack Kiser.
• Freeman acknowledges the “ongoing” battles along the offensive line, in particular the one between Pat Coogan and Rocco Spindler for a starting spot at left guard. He says no matter who wins it, that player is going to need to be a part of a line that pushes the line of scrimmage in the run game.
• Freeman says position battles, like the one at corner between Jaden Mickey and Christian Gray, will be won by players who earn the most trust from the coaching staff.
• Freeman on Australian Notre Dame punter James Rendell: “He’s going to be a weapon for us.” Rendell was booming punts with hang time of more than five seconds in the Irish’s first fall camp practice.
• Freeman says he is conscious of getting Leonard the reps he needs to be a true QB1 while also making sure the reserves at the position are getting the looks they need to improve as well.
• Freeman on Notre Dame OC Mike Denbrock’s intensity, of which there was a lot Wednesday: “Great leaders understand when things need to be said. It’s not just yelling and screaming over and over and over… I think he has a great feel for that. Our offense responds to that.”
• Freeman says Leonard was free to “cut it loose” all summer. No limitations with the injured ankle.
• Freeman was asked about a future roster size scholarship expansion from 85 to 105. He says his opinion makes no difference on the matter. Notre Dame will adjust with such changes and roll with the punches.
• Freeman says the freshmen who were not able to enroll early always feel like everything is moving fast on the first day of fall camp. But he also says if they stick it out and adjust to the speed, there are still opportunities for those players to see the field as soon as Week 1.
• Freeman: “You have to find ways to get Jeremiyah Love the ball. We have a creative offensive coordinator and a creative offense. We’ll do that.”
