Quick-hitters: Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman on Jim Knowles, special teams, starting fast
For many visiting teams, the day before a road game is a diligent walkthrough of the game plan in the home team’s stadium. Notre Dame will indeed go to Ohio Stadium Friday shortly after it gets to Columbus for its Saturday night matchup with No. 2 Ohio State (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC), but not for anything resembling a practice. It will be more of a look-see.
“I want them to see what Ohio Stadium looks like and get a feel for the groundings, the locker room, how we take the field,” Freeman said. “It won’t be a walkthrough as much as just going to see the stadium and for those guys not to be surprised by what it looks like the next day. I think it’s important to go there, get a feel for it and get out of there.”
Freeman is still adamant that he feels ‘emotionless’ about coaching against his alma mater in his old home stadium. Will stepping on the field change that?
“No,” Freeman said.
There are countless other aspects he’d rather discuss. Freeman did so when met with reporters via Zoom Thursday for the final time before the game. Here are some topics he addressed.
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On the problems Ohio State DC Jim Knowles’ scheme presents to offenses
“They do a lot of pre-snap disguises and give you a lot of different looks. Their ‘jack’ [defensive end] guys, they move them to different places. They bring pressure, they drop eight. They do a lot of different things.
“Pre-snap wise, we have to have an idea of what we think we’re getting and then adapt and adjust off it. It’s going to be a big game for [quarterback] Tyler [Buchner] to put our offensive line in the right protections, make the right checks and the right decisions. You have to make sure you have a good base for what you think you’ll see and what our plan is. Then you have to adapt and adjust. We have to be really good with our sideline adjustments, being able to communicate what we’ve seen and what we think we’ll get.”
On Notre Dame senior center Zeke Correll
“He has shown the ability to make the correct decisions, to execute his assignment against multiple different looks we’ve given him as he prepared for Ohio State. We have the utmost confidence in him. If we didn’t, he wouldn’t be out there with the starting group. I expect him to do a heck of a job.”
On the number of starters Notre Dame will play on special teams
“I don’t have the exact number of starters, but it’s a point of emphasis for us. We’re going to have to put our best players on special teams. That’s because of how important that is to our program. We believe we have to have a superior special teams unit. We have to understand how important that phase of the game is.
“I expect to see guys like Bo Bauer, Jordan Botelho, you’ll see Isaiah Foskey on some units. The most dependable players, the players you count on, will be on all our special teams units, but especially coverage units.”
On how he has brought along Notre Dame’s freshman class
“You have to understand they’re still freshmen. This is their first college game. We have to have that understanding. A lot of them have earned the trust in their coaches and our coaching staff that we can play them, and we will. We have to understand this is, for all of them, their first collegiate game.
“Going into a place like Ohio Stadium, they have to understand the challenge it will be. We have to be smart in terms of what we’re asking them to do. But if we put them on the field, we have confidence in them to get the job done.”
On the message he gave to class of 2024 recruits when the contact period began Sept. 1
“I think it’s mostly just the relationship, being able to really start to build this relationship with the next class of recruits. We understand it’s so important, the talent acquisition, the ability to bring in the best players in the country that fit this place is what’s going to help us continue to enhance.
It’s never too early to start building that relationship, and that was what last night was about with that next class – starting that relationship.”
On the importance of starting fast
“That’s something you have to preach. You have to practice it. You have to start practice with situations that don’t let you ease into a game. We try to start practice with some openers and different situations that the minute we’re done with stretching, we go right to a competitive situation.
“It’s a mindset, but it’s also about execution. It’s about knowing exactly what you want to do and going out and executing. Starting fast has been important for us since the day I became the head coach. Starting fast for the season has been important to us as we started fall camp. You can’t start slow against a team like Ohio State. That’s something we’re aspiring and striving to do. We’ll see on Sept. 3 if we’re able to do it.”
