What Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said two days before the Pitt game

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman fielded five questions during his six-minute meeting over Zoom with reporters on Thursday. Here’s everything he said.

On when Notre Dame started to establish confidence in QB CJ Carr this season

“Yeah, there’s not one time. There’s not one moment. It is an accumulation of moments where you see the confidence. It is built, it’s built, and it’s built over time. 

“And so I wish I could tell you there’s just one moment that I knew they were confident in the quarterback, but it’s built through fall camp. It’s built through success during the season and it is ultra high obviously right now.

“And I think the same goes with (Pitt’s) quarterback. It’s built over these five games that he’s made the decisions and made the plays that he’s made, and that’s how confidence is built in others.”

On attending his son, Vincent Freeman’s, signing day ceremony

“As far as signing day, yeah, again, it was different. Obviously, my first time being at a signing day ceremony for one of my children, and it was a proud moment. It’s his moment. 

“Sometimes you wish you could be disguised because I want to make sure the focus is on him because of what he accomplished and what he’s given his future. But it is a proud moment as a parent because a lot of hard work goes into that moment.”

On what changes Notre Dame kicker Erik Schmidt made to his routine that improved his performance last weekend

“Yeah, I think there are some different things we did in the Tuesday practice. Usually, on Tuesdays, you have a field goal period where you kick just for that five-minute period. We were intentional about spreading some kicks throughout practice to simulate like a game. 

“You go out there with the field goal unit. You kick one kick and make it or miss it, you got to move on. And we let him have some input in terms of the script where he would be kicking the ball from. A lot of work, mental work with Joey Ramaeker and Marty Biagi. 

“Again, just trying to get his mind focused on the right things to reinforce habits that we want him to be able to have when it matters in a game. And so we got to continue to do those things and continue to enhance and ultimately just have confidence producing a better result.”

On how he handles situations with his Notre Dame team, the times there are rumors of other teams being interested in him

“I feel like it’s necessary, I do. A lot of times in things I say to the team, it may come out in terms of, a great example, is, ‘What’s the noise you’re putting in your head?’ Just because the noise in somebody else’s head is one thing, doesn’t mean it has to be your noise.

“And so, as I told them, I’m sure I’ve said before, like just because somebody else might be saying my name’s up for whatever job or being considered, that isn’t the noise that I’m going to put in my head or I need, that ain’t my noise. 

“And so, I can address it directly, indirectly. If I’m going to spend time talking about something like that, I’ve got to make sure it’s in a way that it’s beneficial for the players, right? Your time in front of the players is so limited.

“And so, if I can use it as an example, I will, but also more than anything, I want to make sure that I can give them some type of message to make sure that they’re doing something positive for themselves.”

On how Notre Dame LB Madden Faraimo earned the trust to play against the option in a crowded linebacker room and what that says about his outlook for the future

“Yeah, he did a good job in practice. We kind of paired him up with Kyng (Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa). You know, you had [Jaylen] Sneed and Drayk [Bowen] together and then Kyng and Madden in practice.

“In the game, we did at times, too. But again, he showed in practice that he could get his job done. And we knew it would take a little bit of time because he hasn’t faced it in college, but he really caught up to the speed of the game pretty fast, and he did a really good job.

“And so, what does that mean for the future? The next time we play Navy, hopefully, he’ll have experience on what the speed is going to be and his expectations. But Madden is going to do great things for this program in the future and currently.”