What Notre Dame OC Gerad Parker said before Wake Forest game

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker spoke with reporters prior to the Irish’s Week 12 matchup against Wake Forest. Here’s what he had to say.

On if he looks at previous Notre Dame games and wishes he called different plays:

“If you care about the players and the staff you’ve served on, you’re always gonna stay up at night. Like, you wake up in the middle of the night wondering, ‘Should we have used this? Should we have called this? What should I have called differently?’ If not, you’re sure to fail. I think that’s what’s kept humility within me, maybe, though my whole career, when we’ve done well and hit our mark and when we’ve fell short.

“So I definitely have questioned those things. I think when you go back to it, though, you stand behind — I mean this, and I don’t mean this the wrong way — I stand behind the job we’ve done, the game plans we’ve put together. And that doesn’t mean that we got to do them better. There’s things on that tape from the Clemson game that we all, collectively, together would say — I hope you guys look at it and say, ‘Oh, if we just execute that the way I know we can, the way I believe as a coordinator we can, we’d feel really good about the result.’ And unfortunately, there was too many of those in that game that we didn’t.

“It falls on me first. I know [graduate quarterback] Sam [Hartman] tries [to take the blame for] everything. That’s not true. It’s me, right? It’s me. We’ll own that together, and then hopefully we’ll all stand on top of the hill one day together, too.”

On the tight end room after losing junior tight end Mitchell Evans, Parker’s most consistent weapon:

“Yeah, he was. He put himself in a really good position, and I’m so proud of him for where he got himself to as a pass catcher and run blocker. The expectation doesn’t change at this place, and so we’re gonna keep bringing our guys along. And listen, for what it’s worth, Mitch is healthy and he came out of surgery. So it’s good for him that he did. We’ll get him back and help him out. And then the other guys got to step up. A young [freshman tight end] Cooper Flanagan, to go down there to Clemson, have to play in that football game and play the amount of reps that he did, is gonna be invaluable for him through these next two weeks, through bowl practice and as spring practice goes.

“But again, I have to keep on repeating, like the expectation’s still high in the tight end room, just like everywhere. So we’re gonna bring those guys along, keep on fitting it up and I hope you see some steps in that this week.”

On Notre Dame’s lack of play action against Clemson

“There’s some realities to it. I swear, if you all would’ve looked at it, in a man game — because I did, I tried to keep up with [Notre Dame football communications director] Katy [Lonergan] and make sure of what you guys [write], because I respect your all’s job piece of it and questions — you lose play actions when it becomes pieces of a man game. And that’s what that game was.

“So, there’s no eye conflict. If I’m guarding [The Athletic Notre Dame beat writer] Pete [Sampson], I’m guarding Pete. So, what’s happening in action throws? [Sampson: ‘They don’t care.’] Exactly. So, we lost that some.”

On what stands out most about junior offensive tackle Joe Alt:

“Well, he is a pro. We’re all gonna know that line, and he is the epitome of the word. The way he approaches his work on a daily basis and leads the right way, his intangibles, minus what his measurable are as a player. I couldn’t say enough great things about him. We had a chance on the off week to have some of the guys over and eat some foot, get away from campus and realize why I got into coaching, which is a good reminder. To stand out in my backyard and have a conversation with him about life, liberty and the pursuit of it all brought tears to my eyes. It was just a reminder of who he’s gonna be.

“It was a pretty cool moment for us, and I just think he’s special because of who he is as a human being and how he prepares, and it’s certainly gonna be what he’s gonna become in his future.”