Everything Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said in Texas A&M week news conference

Notre Dame football is back from the bye week and full steam ahead in its preparation for Saturday night’s home opener against Texas A&M.

Before the No. 8 Irish’s Week 3 matchup against No. 16 Texas A&M, coach Marcus Freeman spoke to the media for about 30 minutes. He recapped the Aug. 31 game against Miami while also previewing this week’s game vs. Texas A&M.

Here is everything Freeman said in Monday’s news conference.

Opening Statement

“Just kind of my message to the team over the past week, and I’ll kind of share with you, is delayed gratification. I said it’s a difficult thing to really understand and to talk about, especially when you don’t get the outcome you want.

“Outside of our building, you’re evaluated off one thing, and that’s wins and losses. But inside the building, we must continue to be mature enough to understand that the momentary success or failure is not what the goal is. Our goal and our focus has to be to reach our full potential. That takes understanding of delayed gratification.

“The first thing you want to do after you lose is go play again. You want to show everybody that we’re good, we got a good team. But we didn’t get that opportunity this week, obviously, with a bye. That shouldn’t be where our focus is. Our focus must continue to be on improving, elevating, and doing the things it takes to get our program closer to its full potential.

“As we evaluated the previous game, we understand there are things we did well in all three phases and things that we must improve. We attacked those things in practice this past week. I thought we had a really good week of practice. We worked on the things we didn’t do so well and worked on enhancing the things we did do well. 

“As we get into game week, we’re excited to play at home in front of our home fans. Excited and expecting a great atmosphere for another top 25 matchup in Notre Dame Stadium.

“A&M is 2-0, playing really well in all three phases. Mike Elko coached teams are tough, physical and they won’t beat themselves. On offense, they’re a veteran group led by their O-line. Really good quarterback who can hurt you with both his legs and his arm. Deep, deep running back room and fast and talented skill on their offense. And defensively, it starts with their D-line. As you really evaluate their defense, they got guys on all three levels that are talented and productive. This will be another great challenge Saturday night for our program.” 

On the response he got from his team over the last week

“I think very similar to their head coach, they’re disappointed, frustrated. When you invest a lot into achieving a certain outcome, and the work they put in, and you don’t get the outcome that you desire, it hurts. There’s sleepless nights. There’s loss of appetite. But what we have to do is we had to turn that frustration into work, and we did. 

“I was really pleased with the work that was put in by our players, our coaching staff, this past week in terms of how to elevate, right? Like, how do we find a way to get better? We can’t let the outcome, good or bad, distract our eyes from the reality of where we’re at as a program. Right? 

“As I told them, ‘You look at last year and this year, we’re 1-0 and 0-1, but take away the outcome, like where are we as a program in terms of trying to reach our full potential?’ They turned that frustration into work, and we have to continue to be intentional this week.” 

On the areas where Notre Dame needed to improve following Miami

“There was a lot. Takeaways, ball security, tackling, third down on both sides, short yardage, two-minute. Those are things that we didn’t really execute well in last week’s game — really starting fast out of each half, right? The first half, starting fast, we didn’t start fast, and then the second half, coming out of the locker room, we didn’t start fast.

“Starting fast is, I think, a general term. How do you change that, as you are the focus and intention is where it needs to be on that play at that given moment, and the execution will follow?” 

On stating Notre Dame didn’t play hard enough long enough vs. Miami

“I always say the team that plays harder longer usually is the one that’s successful. You really look at the last drive of the game and defensively and offensively, we couldn’t get the stop defensively that we needed. We let them into field goal range. There were a couple of times where they were displacing some of our guys. We were missing tackles. 

“It’s not a lack of effort, right? It was just a lack of execution, but also credit to them in terms of those guys played extremely hard, and they finished the game better than we did. And even when we get the ball on offense, we get the sack or intentional grounding, and the last play is a sack. At the end of the day, like those crucial moments, you’ve got to play harder, but execute at the same time.” 

On missed tackles and priorities during the bye week

“Most of our missed tackles probably weren’t in space. They were more in the box, and the ability to make sure we’re driving our feet, we’re wrapping up. You don’t want to make excuses in this first game, missed tackles, but we’ve got to attack them in practice. 

“We can’t go live tackling just for the safety of our team, but we have to be intentional about finding ways to tackle different equipment, maybe even people to the ground defensively. That was something that we were intentional about last week. And then when you thud, you’ve got to thud, right? Thudding means you stop the ball carrier’s feet. That doesn’t mean you take them to the ground, but you’ve got to stop their momentum before you let them go, and that’s something we had to make sure we do in practice.” 

On tight end depth behind senior Eli Raridon

“They’re improving. We just, last game, we didn’t feel like that was what we wanted to do to attack their defense. We have a lot of confidence in the tight ends room, and those guys are getting better. If it calls for playing more this week, they will.” 

On the benefits of having a week two bye week after a Sunday game

“I think you guys have heard me speak enough. I look at every situation as a positive. And so how could we get a couple guys healthy, but also have some good on good periods where we’re not just game planning or doing scout work, and have some competitive opportunities where your ones are going against ones or twos, and we can play it. It wasn’t your typical game week practice where you’re doing a lot of scouted work. It was a lot of good on good practice reps.” 

On working on creating turnovers in practice

“I think part is being intentional about trying to disrupt the ball, take the ball away. That was something they did a good job of having ball security. The other part is we’ve got to go make plays. If the ball’s in the air, that ball’s not coming to you; you’ve got to go get it. We’ve really worked on trying to high point the ball, going to get it, not letting it come down to you, right? Being aggressive at getting the ball at its highest point.

“Again, turnovers usually come in high numbers, right? But we’ve just got to keep working it and working it and working it. I’m sure before we know it, we’ll get some.” 

On balancing the correct read on RPOs and making sure junior Jeremiyah Love and redshirt junior Jadarian Price get the ball

“I think there’s RPOs that you’re reading a defender. Like if they’re putting an eighth man in the box, we’ve got to throw it out to really take advantage of the numbers. But then there’s sometimes that it’s a little bit gray, and we’ve got to be very clear with our quarterbacks.

“If it’s gray, what do we want them to do, right? Do we want them to hand it off? Do we want them to throw it? We were very intentional about trying to put the ball in J-Love’s hands or making him the primary target. And some of those included RPOs where we’ve talked as a coaching staff, is there times that we’ve got to take out the read and be able to say, ‘Hey, this is what we want to do — hand the ball off here.’ Or ‘Hey, let’s continue to throw it out if they’re going to bring the extra guy in the box.’

“We know we want to focus our offense around J-Love. He’s a special player. But at the same point, we’ve got to make sure that we’re taking advantage of what each defense is trying to do to us.” 

On opening up the offense more for redshirt freshman starting QB CJ Carr

“I think we were very intentional about trying to protect the first-time starter early in the game, right? I was vocal about giving him easy reads, easy throws. Let’s not just tell him to bomb the ball down the field every play, because he’ll do that if we allow him to. CJ will throw the ball down the field every single play. 

“But he showed he’s ready, he’s capable. As you saw as the game went on, we were able to take some more shots. I still am a firm believer shots are response to being able to have positive run plays, right? We have to be able to run the football. But we feel like, listen, CJ can execute the entire game plan, the entire playbook. He’s a special player.” 

On defensive coordinator Chris Ash and if there was any carryover from 2024

“I think schematically there’s a little bit of change, a little bit of carryover. But the execution is still what matters, right? We’ve got to play gap sound football. We can’t be displaced out of our gaps. We’ve got to make plays on balls that are in the air. We’ve got to be aggressive when we need to be aggressive.

“I’ve always said we’ve got to be able to get four-man pass rush pressure on the quarterback. We all know we didn’t get enough four-man pressure on the quarterback last week. Credit to him (Carson Beck), he got the ball out of his hands. He’s a great quarterback. But that can’t be an excuse for us. 

“But more than schematically, as we evaluate, it’s just the execution. We’ve got to execute at a higher level, and that’s on us. That’s not the player. It’s on us as coaches to get them to that point where they’re executing at the level that we need them to execute.” 

On whether there was enough clarity on defense against Miami, and how Notre Dame coached that up over the last week and a half

“Yeah, I mean, there’s a couple plays that we probably were paralyzed a little bit in terms of what they were doing offensively. They did a little bit different stuff on third down than we hadn’t seen, and we have to be able to make adjustments. I thought we did a good job of making some adjustments. 

“I believe there’s clarity. There wasn’t a lot of situations where our guys didn’t know what they were doing. It was, ‘OK, you’re supposed to be in this gap and we got to make sure we stay in our gaps’ — and that’s at all three levels. You just got to fit here. 

“And so, how do we make sure we continue to improve and attack that in practice that you don’t get displaced from your gap? You’re not misfitting things at second or third level, and when you’re in the position to make a play, you got to make it, right? 

“As I said, we had too many missed tackles at the second and third level of our defense, that is uncharacteristic for us.”

On how he assessed the offensive line vs. Miami through four quarters

“I thought overall they played well. The standard is to play higher. We know that. Part of it is credit to their D-line — good players. Sometimes you can get paralyzed because of movement, right? Their D-line moved a little bit and did some different things, and what we don’t want to do is paralyze the velocity and the aggression that our O-line plays with. You got to be able to collect some of that movement as you move vertically.

“At times, I thought we did get a little bit lateral in terms of how we want to play — how we want our offensive line to play. But I’m as confident in that group as anybody in our team. They’ll be fine.” 

On how he identifies and separates issues that may be game-specific — whether it’s related to the environment or opponent — versus things of greater concern that require personnel or philosophy changes

“Yeah, that’s something you always evaluate. You evaluate it in practice, you evaluate it in the game. I don’t think, as we evaluate that game, we said, ‘OK, we got a personnel issue.’ Not at all. It’s continuously executing at a high level, right? And that’s what we got to be able to do.

“I think I said it to the team after the game, ‘There were plays in that game where Notre Dame beat Notre Dame,’ which it’s inexcusable. We can’t beat ourselves. But there were plays at Miami (where they) out-executed us at a higher level. 

“So, that’s why practice is important. You got to evaluate those things that you’re doing schematically in practice. That’s why good on good is really important. I think sometimes when you go against a scout team, it can be a little bit of fit-ball instead of football. At the end of the day, I’m as confident on personnel as I’ve ever been.”

On how the two captains in the O-line room responded to their struggles against Miami and tried to make sure they improve against a good Texas A&M front

“Yeah, (redshirt junior left guard) Billy [Schrauth] graded as probably one of the highest on our entire offense. (Redshirt junior) Aamil [Wagner] probably didn’t have the game that he wanted or aspired to have. 

“But as far as being a captain — we don’t — I hope it’s important we don’t vote on captains based off of performance or based off production. It’s, ‘You’re named a captain because there’s a responsibility that comes with that title.’ That’s a responsibility to lead during all times, but especially during tough times. And responsibility to fix problems, no matter if it’s your problem or not. The responsibility to continue to reinforce the vision and the voice of the head coach and the entire program.

“So, I couldn’t be more proud of the way our captains lead, right? I don’t want the title of captain to be associated with production at all. I want the title of captain to be associated with leadership and the influence you must have on the people that have chosen you to be captain. So those guys have really led in a really good way.” 

On the process of identifying and making adjustments versus digging in your heels and saying this is what works

“Yeah, I think you have a philosophy as a coordinator about, ‘This is the way we want to play offense, defense or special teams.’ But at the end of the day, the best coaches put their players in positions to play well and to play fast. Sometimes it takes going against another opponent to say, ‘OK, what does this guy do well? How does it fit within the division we have for our scheme?’ 

“So, I learned that personally, obviously, when we did some things versus Florida State my first year, right? I said, ‘OK, we got a little bit different personnel here than we did where I was at previously. How can I adjust my scheme — our scheme — to fit the talent and the personnel that we have here?’

“That was an ongoing process throughout the season. It truly was. And it will be with our offense, defense and special teams this year. Like, how do you continue to put certain guys in positions to succeed? I mean, we have really good football players here. It’s our job to make sure that we put them in positions to have success, and they play well enough to execute what we’re asking them to do.

“So, no matter how long you’ve been at a place, with new talent every year, you have to each week tailor your scheme to fit the guys that you have.”

On the timeshare between redshirt freshman OL Guerby Lambert and redshirt sophomore Sullivan Absher going forward, and whether redshirt sophomore Charles Jagusah is helping coach them during practice

“Yeah, Charles is rehabbing. When he’s out there at practice, he’s engaged like he has a role — in terms of helping those guys that are playing but also helping himself stay mentally sharp.

“Again, we were intentional about seeing both Guerby and Sully. Both did some good things, and both did some things that they need to improve on. They’re still ‘slashed’ for this week as we move forward, but I’m not saying that we’re going to play them both this week. We haven’t made that decision yet.” 

On his thoughts on junior linebacker Drayk Bowen being in the spotlight and the linebacking corps as a whole

“Drayk would be the first one to say that he didn’t perform at the level he has for himself. Drayk has been a guy that has constantly improved from the minute he stepped on campus till now. He is really good, and he’s improved tremendously. 

“It helps with having a guy like JD Bertrand to learn from and Jack Kiser. (Bowen’s) the leader. He is a captain. He’s the vocal leader. He’s always going to want to play better. That’s who he is. He is a perfectionist. And he will. He will. Because he works tirelessly at it. Like, Drayk’s a guy that invests in improving as much as anybody in our program. So, I’m extremely confident in what Drayk Bowen’s going to do.”

On what he learned about last year’s game on the road against Texas A&M, and what he knows about that program that can be beneficial this week

“Yeah, I still think each coordinator, each team, the cohesiveness of Elko and (offensive coordinator) Colin Klein and what they do, it won’t change dramatically. But as I think I said earlier, ‘You tailor what you ask your guys to do based off your personnel.’ They’re asking their quarterback to do a little bit different than what they asked the starter to do that we played last year. 

“There’s still some schemes that are the same, right? There’s some concepts that are the same. But again, the quarterback’s different. Some of their wideouts are different. They’re fast guys. Last year, they probably had a little bit taller, longer and bigger body guys.

“So, there’s some similarities. There’s some core principles that we know that we’ll see. But also, there are some adjustments that we’re going to have to be able to make.” 

On football vs. fit-ball, and if it felt like, at times against Miami, that it was approaching more fit-ball versus football

“Yeah, I think that’s where you see some of the velocity that we lacked maybe at times — is that trying to be just so perfect in your gap. 

“There was plays that were made. I remember (sophomore linebacker) Kyng[stonn Viliamu-Asa] made some plays. (Redshirt sophomore defensive lineman) Boubacar [Traore] made some plays. It probably weren’t exactly how you draw them up on paper. But they were playing with velocity.

“At the end of the day, that overcomes all mistakes. We have to have that mentality of not just trying to be perfect but being aggressive and playing the game with the velocity that overcomes any mistakes.”

On whether a Week 2 bye week is drastically different than one in Week 6, Week 7

“Yeah, I think that the physical toll on your body is going to dictate a lot of how you practice. With us only having one game, and we needed to practice at a high level. We needed volume. We need the physicality to keep up with not having a game, Week 2 vs. the rest of the college football world that is playing Week 2.

“Now, as you talk, ‘We got another bye week later in the season,’ we’ll have to evaluate, ‘OK, what does this team need after Week 6 in terms of those two or three practices that you have during a bye week?’ 

“Another thing that dictates is we played on a Sunday. So, OK, you give them Monday off. Tuesday, what do you want to do? Wednesday, Thursday, what do you want to do as you look at the next bye week — it’s going to be during fall break. So all those things factor into what you do during your bye week. It’s going to be different Week 2 than it definitely is Week 6 or Week 7.” 

On whether playing against the SEC serves as a measuring stick for Notre Dame, and if beating SEC teams resonates on the recruiting trail

“More than the conference, I think it’s the opponent. The opportunity to play Texas A&M is all the motive you need, right? A program that I — and our program — respects, but college football respects Texas A&M and the program that job they’ve done.

“So, I don’t get caught up in conferences as much as the great opponents that you face Week 1, and now you’re facing again Week 2. It’s a chance for us to, again, see how good we are versus a really good opponent. Just like it was Week 1, right? It was a top 10 matchup. This is not any different — a top 25 matchup. We get a chance to go out in Notre Dame Stadium and see how much we’ve improved from the start of the season to now, which is Week 3 in college football.”

On Shane Gillis’ role as a superfan, and if Freeman ever gives him advice on making sure he’s representing the program the way Freeman wants it represented

“Well, I haven’t given him a hard time. I was actually — I had a chance to watch a little bit of college football. And I saw a commercial pop up where he was wearing a Texas Longhorn shirt. So, I haven’t given him crap for that yet.

“You know, Shane’s an awesome human, right? I’ve got a chance to spend some time with him. Get a chance to talk to him. He’s got a lot of notoriety just because of who he is and the way he really performs his craft. 

“We appreciate the support, right? We appreciate him and the support he gives our program. So, it’s always good to have somebody like Shane Gillis support your guys and helps you in recruiting, I guess. Makes us kind of cool, I guess.”