Everything Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said after spring practice No. 4
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman spoke to reporters Saturday afternoon after the Irish finished up their fourth practice of spring ball. He discussed injury updates, the ongoing quarterback competition, the freshman standing out the most and more.
Here’s everything Freeman said after spring practice No. 4 at Notre Dame.
Opening statement
“I know I gotta be quick. I’m sure a lot of you guys gotta head over to the women’s basketball game. We’re gonna watch [Notre Dame women’s basketball coach] Niele [Ivey] and her team go compete here this afternoon and make a run in this ACC tournament. We just finished up — I mean, I’m sorry, the NCAA tournament. They won the NCAA Tournament. They already took care of that.
“The last time I saw you was after one practice. We just completed practice four, which was good. Today was the first day we got full pads on. Guys competed. Let ’em do a little bit of live at the end. The ones were pretty upset we only gave them six or seven reps, but again, just wanted to sprinkle a little bit in to see them scrimmage. Let the twos and threes go at it a little bit longer, but it was good. It was a good day. I love the progression in four practices of where this team is going. The maturity on this team. Where we’ll go is still to be determined. How good this team can be. Right now, I told them, we’re planting roots. We’re just continuing to try to improve throughout these next 11 practices that we get a chance to go out there and compete.
“I was really pleased with our Pro Day. It was awesome to see 70-plus scouts, NFL personnel, head coaches, GMs at our Pro Day. Testament to our guys that have put in the work and really put themselves in a position to excel at the next level and get the opportunity to go to the next level. It was wonderful, and I thought our staff did a wonderful job presenting that and putting it on. They did a great job.
“A few injury updates. Riley Leonard will be out the next few weeks due to an additional surgery he had on his ankle on Friday, so yesterday, to address a stress fracture that was beginning to develop. The surgery was to exchange the current plate he had on his ankle with a new one. The doctor’s office said it went extremely well. The overall prognosis and health of his ankle is excellent. So, we’ll see when he can get back. We’re not putting a timetable — we know it’s gonna be a few weeks, but we’re not saying he’s out for the spring. There could be a chance he comes back and participates in some capacity during spring ball. Deion Colzie will also be out for a few practices. He had a dislocated finger that required surgery to fix. He’s expected to return probably some time next week, in some capacity. You’re not gonna see him catching balls this week, but expect him to be back out there next week. Those are two real injury updates as of right now, and I’ll open up for questions from there.”
On Notre Dame special teams coordinator Marty Biagi coaching both special teams and safeties
“I think he has a defensive coaching experience, that’s one. Two was just the want-to, the ability to put the work in, to coach those guys, put your ego aside and work with [defensive backs] coach [Mike] Mickens and [defensive coordinator Al] Golden and say, ‘Okay, what exactly do the safeties need?’ And he’s really helping at safeties, but whatever Coach Mickens needs, he’s the entire defensive backs coach. They’re working hand-in-hand to make sure that group gets what it needs. Because you talk about certain instances, there’s three different groups. Corners, safeties, nickels. Each group needs specific coaching at certain times, so he’s done an excellent job in these first few weeks.”
On if there’s been a moment where he’s gained confidence in Biagi
“Yeah, I have a lot of confidence in our entire staff here. Coaches and players. I love walking by their offices. Coach Biagi, Coach Golden and Coach Mickens all have those corner offices in our building. You often see either Coach Mickens, Biagi together, meeting with a player or separate, Coach Golden and that’s what makes me feel confident that our team is gonna be great. The relationship that they’re continuously in those positions, coaches’ offices to improve, to watch film, that’s what tells me everything’s gonna be fine.”
On if less 12/13 personnel, more 11 personnel will become the norm at Notre Dame under new offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock
“Most of it has been 11 in the spring, No. 1 is because of the injuries to Mitch[ell Evans] and Kevin Bauman and Eli [Raridon]. We’re holding right in certain areas of practice. We’re not just saying his load is 100%. We’re monitoring his load, and so that’s why we’ve been majoring in 11 for the spring. The conversations I have with Coach Denbrock is, again, we are going to ultimately put the best guys on the field. If we get into fall camp and we feel like our two tight ends give us a better chance to succeed than having three wideouts, then we will put two tight ends on the field, which I’ve seen them do at Cincinnati when we were down there.
So the thing I love about it is, it’s not about as much, ‘This is our scheme. Who fits it?’ His mindset is, ‘Okay, who were the best 11 or the best 22? And how do we tailor the offense around those guys?’ The concepts will stay the same. What we do will really stay the same. It’s just who is it is it a tight end? Or is it a wideout?”
On if he’s okay with Denbrock throwing the ball on third-and-1
“As long as it’s a first down, you’re dang right. You know what I mean? Now, it’s not a first now, which we haven’t always gotten first downs in 22 and 13 personnel. At the end of the day, as long as we can guarantee we’re gonna get that one yard, I’m good with it.”
On if Leonard’s injury affects Notre Dame’s quarterback competition or its timeline
“Right now, what we’ve done is just have Steve [Angeli] with the ones, Kenny [Minchey] with the twos and CJ [Carr] with the threes. If we only go ones and twos with certain parts of practice, Kenny and CJ will rotate a little bit. That’s probably the plan going forward. Right now, we know Steve is ahead of the other guys, just through experience just through the evidence that he’s shown us. And so it’s kind of made it simpler for [quarterbacks] coach [Gino] Guidugli to kind of script reps, ones, twos and threes. It’s easy to do that.
“Listen, at some point, we have to name a starting quarterback, and not having Riley for spring ball has kind of changed the process to being able to do that. Again, all I’m gonna say is that at some point, we’ve got to name a starting quarterback, and when we feel like we’re ready to do that [we] will. Is it fall camp? Is it after spring ball? I don’t know, but what we’ve got to do is we’ve got to continue to look at the body of work.
“I love competition and so the ability to have a quarterback competition is exciting to me, because I think it makes everybody better, but I also understand, as Coach Denbrock and Coach Guidugli will say, is we need the continuity between a quarterback and the offensive line. So, at some point, we’ll name one. I don’t know when that time will be.”
On which Notre Dame freshmen have stood out in spring practice
“It’s so difficult to do sometimes because everybody’s journey is different. I spend so much time explaining to the freshmen how everybody’s journey is different, right? Some guys come in here and they’re ready to go, and some guys are gonna take a couple of years and you’ve got your Xavier Watts and you’ve got your Benjamin Morrisons.
“The ceilings are the ceilings, right? But I hope our players see the Xavier Watts is a journey as well as some that see to Benjamin Morrisons. So, the guys that have come in here that have really — Bryce Young has stood out physically I think more than anything, physically being college-ready. He’s got work to do like all of them do, but he’s the one that’s probably stood out the most, I think just being physically ready at this point.
“I just don’t want to crown anybody too early and also deter any of these young guys from ‘Well, am I behind?’ No, your journey is different. So that’s why I’m always cautious of crowning somebody too early, right? But Bryce Young has stood out physically to be able to fit right in and really do a good job.”
On if the quarterback competition is down to Leonard and Angeli
“No, I think every day, you evaluate and say, ‘Hey, is there a way to put some pressure on all of them?’ I don’t want anybody getting comfortable. I don’t want Steve to feel here, ‘I’m the one, and I’m not worried about Kenny and CJ.’ He shouldn’t be worried about him. He should be worried about Steve, but at the same point, I don’t want him comfortable. You don’t want anybody comfortable in a position they’re in. You want that competition, that adversity to really get those guys to thrive. So no, this is just for today. I’m sure it will probably be for the next practice, but if there are ways to create competition, we would definitely do it.”
On figuring out how Notre Dame’s wide receiver room fits together
“Each guy has probably a natural skill set, ‘Hey, am I a slot guy? Am I an outside receiver?’ The ones that are versatile are the ones who are going to have the opportunity to help you multiple different positions, and that’s what you see what a guy like JG, you know Jaden Greathouse, is that his skill set was probably, as he came in, built to be in the slot. But he had enough skill set to help us on the outside.
“And so [Jordan] Faison, right now, is probably more of a slot guy. Jayden Harrison is more of a slot guy, and some of those other guys are taller, longer — JT, Jayden Thomas and some of those guys. But again, the more depth you have, the more opportunities you can say, ‘Okay, hey, if your best skill set has to be in a slot, stay in the slot. But at the same point, the more versatile you are, the better opportunities you have to play. Does that make sense?”
On the benefits of the defensive line being as experienced as it is
“I think as you look at Rylie Mills and Howard Cross [III], those guys are probably at a 500 level, and they’re working on really just enhancing the tools that they have. I think the experience that some of those other guys have, now you can start teaching them new things. And so that’s what I think Coach Wash means by, you know, you’re not teaching them how to get in their stance. You’re not teaching them really just the concepts. They know the concepts. They know which defenses and stunts that we’re doing.
“Now, how do you perfect them? I think that’s actually a great example for the entire defensive line. A lot of those guys that have been back for year three of this thing. It’s year three? Yeah, year three of this thing. Defensively, we do a lot of different things. They understand it now. Can you continue to perfect it and enhance that skill set that you have. So it’s exciting, not even just for the D-line, but for the entire defense, especially those guys that are coming back.”
On how he would describe his Notre Dame program’s culture and how that culture helps him as a coach
“You never want to take for granted the things that you believe in that make you successful, right? The relentless effort and attitude that we have to play with. I spent a lot of time with our team today talking about that in our team meeting. That’s gotta be our identity. That makes up for a lack of talent. That makes up for a lack of intelligence.
“The way you play the game, how hard you play, to me, overcomes all those different things. And so, there’s some guys that just understand that, right? They create habits because they do it over and over and over. That’s how they practice and that’s how they play. It’s other guys that are new that you’ve got to continue to make that choice every play, to play with that relentless effort attitude that’s going to help us be successful, and so I don’t want to take that for granted. Like, that’s our culture.
“Our guys should play hard. No, we’re gonna make sure that it’s implanted in their brains, and it becomes habits that they play that hard. And so, when you have guys that exemplify that, and guys that hold each other accountable, like some of our older guys, yeah, it does free up some coaches to maybe coach on some other things, right?
“We’re not just coaching effort, right? And you don’t let a lack of effort not be addressed, but you’re not spending time just coaching effort. That, to me, is now you’re able to coach other specific things you brought up, but I just don’t want to take those things for granted, man. I think it’s our job to never overlook that. Like just continue to preach relentless effort and attitude every single day and demand it.”
On his first impressions of Duke transfer defensive end RJ Oben
“You sometimes forget because a guy is proven at another place he can be an elite football player, as RJ has, that doesn’t mean the minute you get here you’re just going to pick up right where you left off. He has to learn new terminology. He has to learn the exact way coach Washington coaches that position. What I’ve seen is a great progression from one to four. That’s the most impressive thing I’ve seen in RJ. Practice one to four to remind him, hey, you’re on the bumpy road. You’re good, man. You’re an elite player. We’ve seen you on film do at a high level. Just trust the coaching, listen to the coaching, embrace it. Don’t worry about how others perceive you right now. Just continue to focus on RJ Oben. That’s what he’s been doing, and I love the progression I’ve seen.”
On if injuries to Mitchell Evans, Kevin Bauman, Armel Mukam, Loghan Thomas and Aiden Gobaira will last past spring ball and into fall camp
“I have no clue right now. I don’t. I’d expect them not to come back for spring ball. I don’t know about fall camp yet. That’s a long time away.”
On Notre Dame freshman running backs Kedren Young and Aneyas Williams in pass protection
“I didn’t say this to start, but Kedren’s been limited with a hamstring. I think it happened practice two. He really hasn’t done much the last two practices. But I did start to see him those first two practices really progress in that pass protection, even getting the ball a little bit and running it. Aneyas today got the chance to go live. He looked good. I’m excited about the way he comes in and it’s like, ‘Coach me. Make me better.’ He’s like a sponge. On punt I remember watching him and it was like just make me better. Those type of individuals, they continue to grow. Every once in a while, you might get an excuse maker. That prolongs the improvement. Whereas a guy like Aneyas is such a sponge. I’m excited to see his journey. I don’t want to keep going around some of these direct questions, but it’s so important that they hear that. That everybody’s journey’s different. Aneyas’ journey is going to be different than Kedren’s. It might be different than Audric [Estime]’s. I don’t think Audric played much his freshman year, right? Look at Audric now. He’s going to be one of the top backs taken. If we can continue to use those guys as the example instead of in high school they get all this pressure and stars and social media and parents. I’m a parent too. I just try to take all this pressure off those kids so they can just focus on improving, focus on their journey and not worry about [anything else]. I told one kid today, I think back to when I was in college and you weren’t ever expected to play as a freshman. Some guys did. Teddy Ginn did. But you weren’t expected to play. But you didn’t have that extra pressure on you. You didn’t have social media. You didn’t have your parents saying you should be starting. You didn’t have all this pressure. So you went through your progression. I want our young people to really understand and believe it and try to tune out that noise and just focus on improving. If you do that, watch out.”
On young safeties Adon Shuler, Ben Minich and Luke Talich rotating in with the starters
“They’ve been really impressive. I’ve been really impressed with Adon and Luke in what they’ve done, especially getting some reps with the ones. Those dudes in four practices have really improved. Ben has gotten more reps with the twos, but Ben has shown a lot of growth too. All three of those guys are going to help us in some way. I don’t know what the role is going to be this year: starter, backup, special teams. But I think all three of those guys will and I’m really pleased with how they’ve performed in four practices. It goes back to they’ve got a brand new coach with coach Mickens and coach Biagi. To see they way they’ve really just bought in and performed in these four practices, I’m really pleased.”
On Notre Dame offensive tackle Aamil Wagner being from the same high school — Dayton (Ohio) Wayne — as Freeman and Mickens
“I don’t get much time to get back there or talk to many folks. His high school coach, Coach Mukes, and me communicate often. Coach Mukes was the wideouts coach when I was at Wayne. He’s had a huge impact on me still to this day. I’m so proud of him. We’re really proud of where we’re from. It’s a special connection that we have being that we both went to the same high school. You got a unique relationship where you can talk a little mess to him. You better act like you’re from Wayne today. He’s been great to have here. Where he’s progressing to as a tackle right now has been really good to see. I’m excited to see how he does these next 11 practices. He’s in a battle in terms of a position battle. He’s just constantly working. It’s a unique connection, obviously, have a guy from your high school. But he’s just such a great kid.”
On the incoming athletics director transition between Jack Swarbrick and Pete Bevacqua
“This kind of passing the baton has been going on for months. You’ve really been working with both of them, Jack and Pete, in terms of, hey, what’s going on with the College Football Playoff? What’s going on with TV deals and different things like that? The unique part will be if Jack’s not here, which he ain’t going to be able to stay away. That’s what I told him. He can have my office. He’s going to be around here. But he’s a phone call away. That’s the thing with myself and Jack Swarbrick is although he might not be my immediate boss anymore as Pete will, he’s always been a mentor and a phone call. He knows I’m going to blow him up if I have questions. He’s a phone call away. We’ll always have a relationship. I’ll always use the wisdom that he has. It’s been great with Pete even in this transition. I’m excited for the next steps for Notre Dame football.”
On what he saw during the full-speed portion of practice
“It was good. I was upset because we had an undisciplined penalty, which was a false start, an offsides. It was good. There was one first down. I really can’t remember. Nobody got hurt. I thought it was pretty good. It was good enough where I said, ‘Listen, after those six plays, get them off the field.’ They’re good. We had some situational stuff. We did some third down today.”
On what he wants to see Notre Dame improve upon in practice No. 5
“There’s so much. We don’t have enough time to go through those things, you know what I mean? But today was the first third-down day. For the offense, as I told them, you’re going against a defense that’s three years of third down. They have so many different things they can put in day one. Offense, don’t get frustrated. It’s the bumpy road. You know what I say. Let’s get it fixed. We’ll come back on Monday and really address more third-down situations. Then we got a lot of situational football to still get in. Some short yardage, some goal line, some backed up situations, red zone. There’s a lot of situations that we got to get in there. I’m really pleased with how we take care of the ball. I’m really pleased with the effort that overall the team has shown. Those are things that if we want to be a great team, we gotta take care of the football and we gotta play with relentless effort and attitude that it takes to really have success. I’ll go watch the film and maybe we’ll follow up next time I see you.”
