Everything Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said Thursday before the Virginia game

On Thursday, Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman addressed the media for the final time before Saturday’s Virginia game. Here is everything he said in his about 12-minute news conference over Zoom.

On what problems Virginia sophomore quarterback Anthony Colandrea poses to the Notre Dame defense:

“He’s a confident football player. You can tell that by the way he plays, some of the decisions he makes. He throws the ball in the tight windows. He can extend plays with his legs. And he’s also a guy you have to account for in the run game. 

“So, we know he can impact the game. We have a plan, but we’re going to have to affect him because he’s a good player.”

On what graduate student linebacker Jack Kiser has meant to the Notre Dame football program:

“Obviously, Jack is special to me, just because he’s the only player in this program that I actually had a chance to coach as a position coach. To see his growth as a football player and a leader over these four years we’ve been together has been tremendous. He is truly a Notre Dame man. 

“He’s obviously a guy that grew up here in Indiana. (He’s) really reached his full potential. That’s a guy, when I think about individuals that reach their full potential, Jack Kiser has definitely done that.

“He’s been an unbelievable leader. He’s made this place better, and he’s going to leave this place better than he found it. It’s going to be a great moment for him. He’s got a lot of, I would say, a lot of memories that he’s made here at Notre Dame.”

On the Notre Dame defensive line rotation with graduate student defensive tackle Howard Cross III out:

“We’re not going to move (Gabe Rubio) out to the vyper/end position (jokes). You’ll see (junior defensive lineman) Donnie (Donovan) Hinish in there, as you’ve seen the past couple of weeks. But you also see more of (senior defensive lineman) Gabe Rubio. Gabe can play 3-tech or nose (tackle). He can play both of our tackle positions. And you’ll see — you could see (freshman) Sean Sevillano Jr. and (sophomore) Armel Mukam.

“All five of those guys, including (graduate student defensive lineman) Rylie (Mills), have had a great week of practice in terms of the preparation for this game. There’s a chance you can see all five of them.”

On whether they have to make changes to their recruiting strategy with signing day earlier this year (Dec. 4):

“There’s some logistical things that have changed. Obviously, you don’t get to go on the road and see all those guys right before the signing period — just making sure everybody’s good to go in terms of signing that Wednesday in December. 

“Again, it’s important to get a lot of those guys here. Might be the last time we see them before they have to sign. It was important to put on a good performance, but they got to enjoy a great environment and a great game. Looking forward to the future with those guys.”

On getting offenses off script:

“I think more than anything, what you don’t want to do is make something up that you haven’t seen, right? So, you have to have a good plan defensively that really, in that first drive, can answer anything you see on offense.

“Some teams have done a good job on that first series and done some things we haven’t saw. But the thing is, how do you respond? How do you get those adjustments defensively? And how do you make sure you have a good plan? 

“We got a good plan going in. We’re going to have to adapt and adjust — it’s the game of football — based off what their plan is and what their plan of attack is.

“But there’s not one thing that we could say, ‘Hey, if we do this in the first drive, we know we’re going to stop them, right?’ If we knew that, then we would call it every single time. But we got to make sure we have a good base plan that can settle our guys down no matter what formations you see offensively.”

On recruiting the 2021 cycle because of COVID-19:

“It was really unique, right? That you couldn’t have any face-to-face conversations with those guys. Everything was over Zoom. They couldn’t come on campus, right? Or maybe they could come here on campus and do a self-guided tour, right? I know that was going on a lot during the ’21 season.

“That class, probably in a little bit the next class, was really a unique experience. Sometimes, you feel bad because they didn’t get the real college, the entire college recruiting experience, where they could take official visits, they can meet people in person and make the right decision.

“It was just the time, right? It was unique and something that has never happened before, and I don’t know if it’ll ever happen again.”

On how the team is better on Tuesdays/Wednesdays:

“We just had this conversation yesterday, actually, in the team meeting about — myself, so many people want to know, like, what’s the one thing? The reality is there’s not just one thing. It’s the consistency and doing what you’ve been asked to do, right? What your task is. And it’s a mindset, mentality. It’s never perfect. 

“I told them yesterday, I want a perfect Tuesday and a perfect Wednesday. That’s what I want. That’s what we want. But it’s never going to be perfect. Can we really focus on staying in the moment, like on this play, on this rep, being intentional? 

“The plans are the plans. Like, they change very slightly each week. There’s nothing I’ve done in terms of the plans that has contributed, I believe, to the success. I think it’s just the intentionality of the way you work, right? Your routines are usually the same, right? Your routine, what you do every week, is the same. But your intentionality of doing those routines have to continue to improve. 

“So if we have a 15-period practice on Tuesday, every Tuesday, right? Can we make sure that the way we focus in our intentions during that one period of practice is better than it was the week before? It’s that constant reminder; it’s that constant mindset. There’s the natural improvement that happens over time, right? Through experience, there’s natural improvement. 

“Can we continue to improve faster by really making sure we’re intentional with how we’re practicing, how we’re focusing, the meetings that we have, the understanding of what’s expected. All those things contribute to the constant improvement, I believe.”

On Notre Dame junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison’s recovery:

“He’s doing well. He’s recovering. He is walking without his brace. He’s coaching. He’s become a coach for us, for that corner’s room. And he’s really working hard at just rehabbing. 

“We had our captain’s meeting on Monday. His mind’s in a great spot in terms of where he is physically and mentally.

“I don’t know if he’s on track or ahead of schedule, but he’s really, really doing a good job in terms of trying to work his way back to recovery, where he can run and start doing some football things.”

On the progress of Notre Dame freshman cornerbacks Karson Hobbs and Tae Johnson:

“Both of them did some really good things in the Florida State game. I think each of them are at a different point in their journey, where Karson has been really having some intentional, valuable reps over the last couple of weeks with some injuries and things like that. So he’s improving from that point.

“Whereas Tae-Tae, he’s coming back from injury, right? So he missed a lot of time. He could be fresher in the legs, but he still got to continue mentally to get caught up to the time that he’s missed. 

“But both of them are going to be really good players for us. They have different but unique skill sets that are going to help this football program. They’re a joy to be around. Like, they’re energy providers. And they’re getting better.

“To answer your question, if the game permits that those guys get in earlier, it happens. If there’s an injury or something happens? I always say the future is uncertain. Whatever happens within the game, if they get in early, they do. But they have been really improving week by week and day by day.”