Quick-hitters: Marcus Freeman on Notre Dame offense slow start, culture, talks with Jim Tressel

Marcus Freeman first rewatched Notre Dame’s 16-14 loss to Stanford in his office late Saturday night. Then he watched it again Sunday with the offensive staff. Then a third time with the defensive coaches. Within 24 hours of it ending, he had reviewed it three times. Maybe more.

If he was going to stick to his “figure out why” message postgame, nothing could be left unexamined. Notre Dame returned to the practice field Sunday afternoon, giving the staff the first chance to implement tweaks.

“It has been a long 48 hours trying to figure out what the heck happened Saturday,” Freeman said Monday.

Freeman took a break to meet with reporters Monday for his usual early week press conference. Here are some highlights.

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On what has to be better on offense

“We have to start the game faster. We have to start the game better with more urgency. We have to be better out of the locker room. Over the course of the season, we have to improve that.

“We start the game with three-and-out and the first play is a penalty. We can’t have penalties on the first play. The second play, we don’t execute the way we want and we have to punt. The second series, we have a third-and-long situation and we don’t execute. Mayer is open, we don’t hit him.

“That third series after the punt block, we get the holding call on Mayer. We get the Mayer touchdown called back. Then we miss Braden Lenzy. Those are situations where we have to eliminate the errors. We have to eliminate those self-inflicted wounds.

“When we have somebody open, we have to convert. What do we have to do? We have to look at what we’re calling and is there something else we’re calling that could help us get the drive started. We have drive-starters. Our offensive staff spends endless amount of time on drive-starters. There was a plan. This was exactly what we wanted against this look with the first play, and we get a penalty.”

On quarterback Drew Pyne’s confidence

“He was good yesterday. He was disappointing in the performance Saturday. He feels like he let us down, let the coaches down, let his team down. We all let each other down. We all have to perform better. We have to put him in positions to perform better. Sometimes I take his confidence for granted. Anyone in that position, when you’re not having success, I’m sure your confidence can be shaken. He doesn’t show it too often, but I know his confidence was shaken a little bit.”

“We have to him in positions to have confidence. We have to get him some easy throws. We have to be able to run the ball effectively so his confidence can take back over.”

On Notre Dame’s culture guiding it through struggles

“You have to be able to really stand your ground during these tough times. There has been change. Our program is different this year than it was in the past. To really establish something special, you’re going to have to go through some challenges and difficult times. I’ve been through them. I’ve been in new places. I’ve been in situations where you’re going to hit these tough times.

“Nobody wants to go through them, but I know we’re going to be better because of them. I told the team you have to understand that you can’t always want it easy. Nobody wants to lose a game. But we’re going to build this program and our foundation to where it needs to be.

“They’re encouraged. We’re going to be OK. We watched the film, evaluated it and said, listen, we did not play to our standard. We know that. We have a good football team.

“I was a completely different person after Marshall. We lost to Ohio State, lost to Marshall, I didn’t know what was going on. I was struggling. You use the past three games – the second half of Cal, North Carolina, BYU – we have a good football team that we have to get to perform consistently. The culture of this program is we’re going to have to embrace these tough times and these growing pains of getting this program to where we want it to be.

“How you get it there, we have to do a better job of executing. We have to do a better job of preparation and on Saturday, making sure we execute the things we really work at.”

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On not looking ahead to postseason possibilities

“To beat UNLV. We’re not talking about a bowl game. We’re worried about this next opportunity we have on Saturday. The minute you start focusing on that, you’re going to lose the attention of our group and lose to a good opponent like UNLV. We can’t worry about six games from now. We have to worry about taking care of what’s right in front of us.

“That goes into the messaging for this week. Don’t worry about Saturday. Don’t even worry about that. Worry about what’s going on Monday and Tuesday. I want this to be the best Tuesday practice we’ve had all year. After Tuesday, we’ll focus on Wednesday. The minute you start daydreaming of winning six in a row, going to a bowl game, what game are we playing in, you’re losing the attention that it takes to have success against a team like UNLV.

“We can’t disrespect that team, because they’re a good football team. But you’re doing a disservice to the seniors and guys in this room.”

On his conversations with former Ohio State coach and mentor Jim Tressel

“We talk often. I don’t want to get too in-depth on our conversations. Some are football. His opinion – I respect his opinion. But more so, you’ll be fine. He struggled his first year. I think back to my first year at Cincinnati, and that was a struggle.

“That’s what I keep telling myself, to build something the right way. I can’t build on what has been done in the past. What Coach Kelly did here was tremendous, the wins and the success he had here. I can’t come in here and say I have to be Brian Kelly. I have to be Marcus Freeman. It’s different. I have to build this thing with the current players we have and the great players we recruited in the past, but you’re still building your foundation from the ground up.

“You have to go through these growing pains. It’s part of being in something new. We have to make it ours. We have to make it mine.”

On junior safety Xavier Watts

“He has so much natural ability. He’s still learning the position. He moved there partway through the season last year. He got a greater opportunity Saturday because you took Ramon [Henderson] to replace TaRiq [Bracy] and Jaden Mickey. He did a good job with his opportunity.

As long as X continues to grow, talent is one thing, but the skills to do it or do what you’re coached to do or what’s necessary is another thing. He’s still developing that talent, that God-given ability he has to be an elite safety. He has all the ability in the world to do that.”

On senior defensive end Nana Osafo-Mensah

“Nana has really showed up. I think that’s the most amount of plays he has ever played. It’s the most production he ever had too. He has done a really good job developing and practicing. That’s the one thing I said to [defensive line coach Al] Washington Sunday, we were watching film, I said, ‘How many plays did Nana play? He needs to play more.’ He’s doing a heck of a job when he’s in there and continuously finding ways to improve.

On sophomore running back Logan Diggs

“Logan is so talented. He’s a guy over the past couple months coming off shoulder surgery, not playing much early in the season to where he’s at now, has really stepped up to the challenge in the way he practices and the way he approaches gamedays. What you see on Saturday is a reflection of that.

“The thing I love about Logan is his attitude, team-first mentality, not counting how many carries he’s getting or how many plays, but making the plays count.”