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

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman has been through the media car wash this week. In addition to joining On3’s Andy Staples and J.D Pickell, Freeman joined ESPN’s Greg McElroy for an extensive interview on Monday’s Always College Football podcast. Here are five things Freeman told McElroy.

Note: Quotes have been lightly edited for length and clarity. To watch Freeman’s full interview, click here.

On a reasonable expectation for quarterback Riley Leonard in spring practice: 

“My conversation with Riley has been to focus on you. We’ve had meetings on his leadership and, ‘Hey, how do I do this better? It’s like, ‘Riley for the 15 practices, man, I don’t want you to worry about that. I want you to worry about becoming the best version of Riley Leonard because that will make you a better leader, a better quarterback and our offense better. 

“So, it’s hard when you come into a place with guys who have been here before, and you’re used to being just the most dominant player when you were at your previous program. You’re going to have to be on this bumpy road—is what we call it—to get back to where you were. But if you focus on yourself and your self-improvement, I can’t wait to see what his future holds, man. 

“As a quarterback, you want to start being the best leader and get this whole group going. That’s not what these 15 practices are for, man. This is for Riley Leonard, using him specifically to improve at the craft, improve at learning the offense, and improve at what we need out of him here in 15 practices.”

On a reasonable expectation of growth for the wide receivers and hope for the fall: 

“I’ve been extremely pleased with their growth in these first couple of months. With the new guys we brought in, we still have guys who aren’t even here yet. Jordan Faison is still playing—he’s a full-time lacrosse player right now. …

“It’s really good just to see, Kris Mitchell is a transfer that’s come in here. Jayden Harrison is another one who came. The depth is improved, which is making everyone that’s been here better, right? You’re not asked to be the guy that goes out and runs 30 plays in a row and is expected to win every single one. So, I’m excited. 

“I love what Coach Mike Brown, our new wire receivers coach, has brought into this room. This will be a good group when everybody gets here in full swing starting in the summer. I think it’s the best I’ve had since I’ve been here.”

On how he feels about the EDGEs of the defense going into the year:

“RJ Oben has been a huge addition in the short time he’s been here. He’s going to make an impact on this defense. Then, what you also love to see on these edges is the development. You can’t just count on plucking guys out of the portal to help your team reach its full potential.

“The development—Josh Burnham, playing our field end right now behind RJ, has given us some depth there. Jordan (Botelho) is back at the vyper position, our boundary end. Boubacar. Traore is another guy you’ll see. The depth is now trickling in, and hopefully, recruiting will take over. 

“I love what I’m starting to see out of this defensive line. The depth — we have some great battles to ensure we see throughout the spring. But I feel really good, especially about the edges. 

“Then, we got to create some depth behind those tackles that you mentioned, right? You can’t just play an entire game with two tackles — an entire season — expecting those two tackles not to get hurt. It’s a great buffer for now into the future, but we must get some depth at those tackle positions.”

On if the Notre Dame defensive back group is where he wants them to be from a depth perspective:

“We still want to add more depth at the defensive back position. We have a great cornerback battle between Jaden Mickey and Christian Gray at our field corner. You have Jordan Clark, who I feel really good about. 

“Who’s going to be the next safety? Because Rod Heard is not here right now. He’s not practicing right now. He’s still finishing up school at Northwestern. Who’s going to be your next group of safeties? Who’s backing up Benjamin Morrison? There’s still some depth in the back end that we can continue to finalize. 

“Then at linebacker, you got Jack Kiser, the only one returning. I feel good about the guys that we have in that room. But until you have that game experience, there are still some questions about ‘How are you going to perform when the lights are on?’ Those are things that we have to get answered.”

On if he has adjusted his process in the spring to make sure that Notre Dame plays at its best in hostile road environments:

“Absolutely. I look at everything — in terms of what time we leave. What are we doing the night before? What are we doing the day of? The morning of? Those are discussions I’ve had with our high sports performance team. We’ve looked at different ways to ultimately get them to perform when it matters. 

“But I also told them, ‘I’m challenging myself to make sure that I’m structuring things in a way that’s going to physically and mentally help you all feel the best you can when we’re on the road, and it’s game time.’ 

“At some point, you have to decide to go perform. At some point, it can’t be a rah-rah speech; it can’t be somebody else getting you ready. You have to perform. So, it’s a challenge we all have. I’m going to look at myself, and I want them to look at themselves too and say, ‘Okay, what do I need to do to make sure when the foot hits the ball, I’m ready to go?’ 

“So, I don’t want anybody making excuses. I don’t want somebody to make excuses for me. I also don’t want our kids making excuses for it. So, let’s all own this thing and make sure that whenever we’re on the road, which we’ve had two losses last year, which can’t happen, we have to correct those things and that we’re ready to roll.”