Quick hitters: What Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman told QB Sam Hartman before the Navy game
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman addressed reporters in Dublin, Ireland on Thursday. Here’s what he had to say.
On meeting with graduate quarterback Sam Hartman before the game:
“He’s been awesome. He’s really done a good job of gifting our players a couple things, with a pair of shoes and the Beats headphones. I think he’s really got those guys in his corner. Sam’s just a great teammate, and a really great leader. He pushes those guys, but it’s from a level of trust. They trust him. That’s what I believe leadership is. He’s excited to play.”
“I met with him yesterday, kind of a one-on-one. I said, ‘Hey. You’ve done this, going on your sixth year. You’ve played in a lot of games. Let’s relax. Let’s focus on these days building up to this game and go do what you do.’ I know he’s excited to get out there on Saturday, but I’m trying to keep the focus of the next two days on really taking advantage of the next two days.”
On Notre Dame sophomore tight end Eli Raridon’s status:
“He won’t be ready. He’s not ready yet. He’s worked his way back, it’s just a process. I think his strength is getting close to where it needs to be, but this is a mental and physical thing to come back from his second ACL [tear]. So I’m trusting our doctors and trusting him to know when his body’s ready to go.”
“I would love to see him come for Tennessee State, but … [he’s] just not ready yet. It will probably be a couple games, I would think, because he hasn’t truly done a lot of good-on-good practice. And so when he’s cleared, I would think he’s gonna be ready to go in two days. And so it’s gonna be a process of treating him and getting him game-ready.”
On the expected Notre Dame fan support at Aviva Stadium:
“I think it’s gonna be in our favor. I just, for the first time, had a chance to walk in that stadium. You see how it’s structured, and it looks like it’s gonna keep a lot of noise inside. That, hopefully, will work in our favor. We’ve had a lot of people, I think coaches, players, that are over here that have been here all week, and I’ve heard from people I’ve talked to, like, there’s Notre Dame fans everywhere over here. It’s exciting, but a great reminder of the global impact this university has. And it’s subtle reminders like that. … I got off the plane and everybody’s saying, ‘Go Irish.’ It’s a reminder that sometimes you take for granted how special this place is.”
On European college football prospects:
“I thought you were gonna ask about quality of life here. I’m still messed up with driving on the other side of the road, and the road is so narrow. It scares me sometimes. But we had a young man from Germany last year on our team named Alex Ehrensberger. And the game of football, American football, is continuing to grow here in Europe, in different parts. Games like Saturday’s game will help promote the game of American football.”
“As you get more interest — there’s great athletes in Europe, trust me. We see it in plenty of other sports. So, as the game continues to grow, the more young people will play the game of American football, and the prospects will continue to rise. But there’s been plenty of European prospects that have come over to the States and been really good football players. And I think that will continue to excel.”
