Quick-hitters: Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman on Marshall, Tyler Buchner, return game

Notre Dame vs. Marshall isn’t just a first meeting between two teams. It’s a first for Notre Dame Stadium.

Never have two Black head coaches faced each other in the Irish’s home venue. That will change Saturday. Marcus Freeman became the second Black coach in Notre Dame history Dec. 3, joining Tyrone Willingham. He will face off against Charles Huff, who’s in his second season leading Marshall. Willingham faced one Black head coach in his tenure, Michigan State’s Bobby Williams, but that was a road game for the Irish.

Freeman was unaware of impending history until a Zoom press conference Thursday afternoon when a reporter mentioned it in a question.

“What a great representation it is for minority coaches, young and old,” Freeman said. “If you work hard, you do things the right way, there’s no cap to where you can go in this profession of coaching. Credit to Coach Huff, where he has come from and the job he has done. The focus is on the game, but it’s a great representation of minority coaches in the coaching profession.”

Freeman’s focus this week has been on preparing for Marshall, which is 1-0 after beating Norfolk State 55-3 in its season opener. He spoke with reporters Thursday for the final time before the game to preview it and discuss the week of practice. Here are some highlights.

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On the Marshall offense

“It starts with their quarterback [sixth-year senior Henry Colombi]. Being an older guy who has played at Utah State and Texas Tech, and a coach’s kid, he makes good decisions. He’s athletic, he can throw it. I think he presents a lot of issues. I don’t know what’s going on with the running back [Rasheen Ali] if he will play or not – he didn’t play last week – but [Khalan] Laborn, No. 8, he’s a good player. He stepped in and did a good job. He’s a Florida State transfer. We know what type of football player he is.

“Their tight ends by committee have done a good job. It’s an older group. Their wideouts, there’s some explosiveness with what they bring. We know it’s a challenge. We know we’re going to face a motivated team. We’re going to face a team that will come in here and not be intimidated. They’ll be a scrappy bunch.”

On the Marshall defense and special teams

“They’re an extremely well-coached team. You don’t see them making a lot of mistakes. It’s a credit to Coach Huff and his staff. Defensively, they’re aggressive. They’re attacking. Their D-Line is extremely explosive. They play really hard. They’re really good at what they do coverage-wise. You see them play a little zone, a couple different two-high coverages. Then they’ll pressure and play some Cover 1. They play fast, they’re aggressive and they’re a scrappy bunch that will present a lot of challenges.

“Special teams-wise, they almost rushed every punt last week. They almost blocked a couple of them. That’s something they’ve shown in the past year under Coach Huff.

“We have to be prepared. We have to be able to protect our punter and make sure we’re able to protect against all the different looks and aggressiveness they have on their special-teams units.”

On improving Notre Dame’s kick and punt return games

“We have to improve our execution on the kickoff return. [Special teams coordinator Brian] Mason would be the first to admit we overthought a little bit in terms of our plan against Ohio State. The execution of it wasn’t what you wanted. To start two series inside the 20-yard line that you had a chance to return the ball is not up to our standard. We’ve worked on it. I think we have a really good plan.

“We’ve continued to encourage Brandon Joseph to make good decisions, but be aggressive. You have to trust your instincts. If you think you have a chance to return a punt, you have to do it. We feel really confident in him as our punt returner. We want to encourage him to be more aggressive in the return game. It’s all about getting the ball back – which we did against Ohio State – but if we have a chance to be aggressive and make big plays, we want to do that.”

On Notre Dame’s offensive focus this week

“The mindset maybe isn’t as much to control the clock this week and limit the offensive possessions. We want to be aggressive on offense. I look forward to seeing what the offense does on Saturday. They’re going to be aggressive. We’re going to take some shots.

“Our identity still starts with the run game and the ability to run the football. We will be aggressive on offense.”

On the message to quarterback Tyler Buchner in practice

“I was really pleased with his decision-making in the last game. The ability to not turn the ball over is so important. As I challenged Tyler and the entire quarterback room, we have to continue to make plays. We made some plays. He starts the game 8-for-8. We have to make those plays when it matters most. That’s at the end of the game when the game is on the line, no matter if we’re up three or down four.

“We have to make those plays. We left a lot of plays on the field that we didn’t execute to where we expect to execute. That’s the challenge.”

On the mindset of heavy underdog opponents

“I’ve been on the other side when you’re the underdog and have a chip on your shoulder. It’s the mindset of believing you can come in here and win. That’s what you do when you’re a competitor, a leader, a coach. You make sure your team has the mindset and belief they can come win the football game.

“I’m 100 percent sure Marshall will come in with that mindset. Our kids and players respect that. Our players respect the team that’s coming in here on Saturday because they’ve shown it on film. They’ve put it on film they’re a really good football team. They’re a talented football team that’s going to be hungry, going to be fearless.”

“We have to make sure we’re aggressive from the start. This isn’t a game where we’re going to ease our way in. We’re going to be aggressive from the start. This is about performing to our standard. That’s what I’ve been challenging them with all week. We have a standard in the way we practice and the way we perform. It has nothing to do with who we’re playing or what week we’re on. It’s a challenge for our group to perform on Saturday to the standard we’ve set.”