Everything Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said on Always College Football with Greg McElroy

During Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman’s national media blitz last week, he joined the Always College Football podcast with Greg McElroy.

McElroy published his about 20-minute interview with Freeman on Monday, four days before the Fighting Irish face Indiana in the first round of the College Football Playoff. McElroy will be on the call.

Here’s everything Freeman said, including leaning on his college head coach Jim Tressel for advice, his relationship with offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and what he anticipates the atmosphere will look like Friday night.

On his initial reaction that Notre Dame had made the College Football Playoff

“Well, I think for us, after the USC game, we knew we could have a home playoff game. We didn’t know who our opponent was. And I think we had a good idea where we would have been seeded after Texas was ranked fifth or seated fifth because it showed that the committee wouldn’t put those guys lower because they lost the (conference) championship game. 

“So, I think at that moment, you said, ‘Okay, we’re going to be seventh probably.’ We didn’t know our opponent. And when they announced Indiana, more than anything, it was a little bit of a sigh of relief in terms of direction, right? Like,’ Okay, now we know who we will play. We can prepare now moving forward.’

“So, we’re looking forward to the opportunity, Greg.”

On if they had to resist the urge to start diving into a team that you thought you might be playing against to get a bit of a head start:

“Yeah, we have a group that was able to do initial scouting reports on all the possible teams we may face. But there were too many scenarios when you tried to figure it out yourself. If this team loses, who will we play?

“I wanted our entire program to take a week and use it as a bye week. To refresh, reload, and not worry about the pressures of having an opponent. And so we did. We worked out and practiced, but I didn’t want the added stress of thinking about an opponent. It was something our entire program.”

On how they treated practiced

“Yeah, we practiced one time last week. They worked out, they lifted and ran just to ensure we kept our conditioning where it needed to be. But I wanted them to decompress. I wanted our coaches to get a chance to reset. We had signing day on Wednesday, and I think it was important for us to truly press the reset button and return fresh this week.

“So, this is the week — you got to be smart because you’ll have your typical Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday practice. So, there are three good practices, but you also know that in another five days, you will start over. And what you don’t want to do is get to the point where you’re just overloading your players, right? And you’re physically having bad returns. 

“We got to make sure we’re very smart on how we’re practicing. It’s Week 13, not Week 1 of the season. So, we got to make sure we’re strategic on how we’re preparing, but we got to make sure we’re prepared.”

On balancing not getting the younger guys reps as if they were preparing for a traditional bowl game

“We had a young guy scrimmage on Saturday. It was something our captains said they wanted. I didn’t have that originally planned. The captains said, ‘Coach, we got to get our young guys out there and let them scrimmage a little.’  So we did that on Saturday.

“Many of those guys in that scrimmage will be on the scout team, right? Although they’re maybe not doing the travel team, the defense or offense, they’re getting valuable scout team reps.

“What we do here is we watch our scout team reps. I’m involved with the scout team, and we make sure our guys are better because of it. I think that’s how we got to focus as we move forward.”

On where he found the leadership on the Notre Dame roster to bounce back after the NIU loss

“You had to find leadership at your lowest moments, right? You lose to Northern Illinois, and the noise is loud, right? And it’s not what you want to hear.

“So, we had to ensure our leaders were implementing the message I wanted, and these guys are focused on improving, right? We talk a lot about elevating here and the hard work that it takes to elevate.‘As you look back, you say, ‘Man, from Northern Illinois to now, we’ve improved tremendously. But what have we done?’ 

“We’ve continued to work tirelessly, prepare the right way, and be intentional about ways to expedite that process. But there is no easy answer; there’s no quick fix. It’s intentional hard work, but it’s also the right mindset that you’re never too high after a win and never too low after a loss. You’re upset when you lose, but you must use that as motivation to put in the work. 

“Then, you often will hear me say, we’ve got to keep the pain. We’ve got to remember the result of not preparing. There is cause and effect. There are reasons why we failed versus Northern Illinois. We’ve got to ensure that we never allow that to happen in terms of our preparation.”

On if they’re starting every meeting with a couple of NIU clips

“I might use references. I don’t know if I’m showing clips every meeting, but there’s a reference, I’m sure.”

On his evaluation of Indiana here in the early part of his preparation

“Well, they’re a well-coached team that executes at a high level. They’re a veteran team. They’re an older team. Not all those guys have been at Indiana, but they played a lot of football. 

“It all starts with the quarterback on offense, man. (Kurtis Rourke) makes great decisions, and takes care of the ball. He makes quick decisions, right? He knows where he wants to go with the ball and usually puts it right where it needs to be.

“They’re doing a really good job running the football, too. They have two good wide-outs on the edges that make a lot of the 50-50 balls. So, there was a lot of production and great execution on offense. 

“Defensively, they’re the number one rush defense in the country. They do some unique things with their defensive line. They pressure. It will make you trust your rules and what you see and recognize some tales you will hopefully see in film study. 

“We firmly believe you have to be able to run the football. It will be a great challenge when you talk about a team that wants to run the football versus the number one rush defense in the country. 

“I think the other thing they do defensively well is they don’t give up explosive plays. They keep the ball in front of them. They’re okay with sometimes being able to have vision and break and make a tackle. They’re a good tackling unit, and they win the turnover margin. They take care of the football. 

“They do a lot of good things. And what they’re asked to do, they do it well.”

On how he makes sure the guys stay locked in on the opportunity they have Friday night as opposed to looking at what could be coming down the road

“Greg, I would be lying if you said it’s not human nature to naturally drift forward. Regardless of the opponent, it’s human nature to think about an uncertain future.

“I always tell our guys, ‘It’s the thought after the thought, right? The minute you start thinking about an uncertain future, it’s a reminder to get back into the moment and understand this is what we have right here.’ 

“What a great opportunity. You don’t have to watch film long to know that we’ve got a great opponent ahead of us. For us, we know the example of if you don’t prepare for this opponent the right way, what’s going to be the result. So, I have to make sure that noise is the loudest noise that’s in their ears and their head. And they have to decide to control the other noise, right? 

“I told them yesterday in our meeting, ‘If social media or text messages or all these different things distract you, you have to eliminate it, right? You must eliminate distraction so we can focus on elevating and getting better.’

“Because, listen, our opponent is Indiana on Friday. But the challenge we have from now until we get ready for that game, to play that game, is to continue to elevate as a program. To continue to improve. Part of that improvement is preparing for an opponent.

“But we have to be a football program continuously improving. We played well in November, but we got to play even better than we played in November, and that will be making sure that we eliminate distractions. We’re intentional about the way we prepare.”

On how he evaluates the way Notre Dame has dealt with adversity up to this point

“This is a close team. That’s a little bit of a reflection of this place, right? In South Bend, Indiana, this is a school with about 8,500 kids. There’s not much to do other than be close to each other. And that’s why I love being here. This is a close locker room that spends a lot of time with each other.

“But it also speaks to the volume of our depth, right? We have a deep team. I always tell these guys, ‘You have to earn the trust of your teammates and players well before somebody else watching the game or calling the game recognizes you, right?

“The media, at some point, will recognize you if you’re doing it the right way on the field. But you have to earn that respect in practice and earn that respect first from your teammates and your coaches. 

“So I hope that’s a reflection of guys that ultimately got the opportunity to do it on Saturdays, maybe because of injury, but they earned the trust. As coaches and players, we knew they could do it on Saturday when it matters.”

On whether he believes the team that owns the trenches will ultimately be victorious

“Absolutely. That’s a formula that I believe you have to win throughout the year, right? Is that you got to control the line of scrimmage. We always say, ‘We’re an O-line, D-line driven program.’ We got to make sure we stop the run and be able to run the ball. 

“It’s magnified when you talk about playoff football. It’s magnified when you talk about playing a cold game with weather elements, too. That’s something that even in my wisdom seeking time of talking with Coach (Jim) Tress(el), my coach,

“Coach Tressel played and won four national championships at Youngstown State, which has a playoff structure. I just said, ‘Give me some wisdom.’ One of the nuggets that he gave me is what you said. 

“First down efficiency, but first down run efficiency on both sides of the ball are going to be important, right? The ability to control the line of scrimmage will give your team a great edge. So that parallels the same statement that Coach (Nick) Saban gave you.”

On how he would assess that relationship with Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock

“Well, I was fortunate that Mike Denbrock and I worked together at Cincinnati for four years. When you spend time with somebody, you know who they are, right? If we spend one day together, you might be at your highest of highs or the lowest of lows. I don’t know. But when you talk about spending years together, you know who that person is because they’re consistently that person. 

“I knew what he could bring to this football program when we had a chance to hire him. I think you said it best. The leadership aspect of being our offensive coordinator is his greatest trait. He is an innovative mind. He works well with others and uses their wisdom and collaborative effort. But the greatest thing Mike Denbrock possesses is his leadership. 

“Leaders can figure out what each player needs, right? Not all of them need the same thing from their offensive coordinator. And Coach Denbrock does a wonderful job at that and has done a really good job in his first year leading our offense.”

On what he thinks that atmosphere will look like at Notre Dame Stadium Friday night

“Well, I’ll tell you this: I won’t be in short sleeves because I have a saying about it. I said, there’s no such thing as a cold, tough guy, right? You’re either warm, or you’re cold, right? One or the other. You’re not a cold, tough guy if you’re cold with short sleeves on. You’re just cold. So I’m going to make sure I’m prepared. Our guys would be prepared. 

“But what an environment is going to be, right? You think about the history of Notre Dame football, the history of the crazy games, the historic games played in Notre Dame Stadium. To say we’re a part of the first playoff game ever at Notre Dame Stadium is something. 

“That humbles you. You’re grateful to be a part of it. I’ve challenged our crowd to truly impact the game. You know, as a quarterback, I know that being a head coach, like the crowd can truly impact a game. It can impact an offense by trying to make them go on a different cadence and have to go on silent count. 

“It negatively impacted us. I think last year at Duke, we had four or five false starts. And even this year at Texas A&M. It challenges you to go on silent count but be efficient offensively. So our crowd has to make sure they’re impacting the game more than just enjoying it. We’ll all be grateful to be a part of it.”