Everything Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said in Purdue week news conference

A motivated and determined Marcus Freeman spoke to the media for about 30 minutes on Monday. Here is everything Notre Dame football’s head coach told reporters in his Miami wrap-up and Purdue preview news conference.

Opening statement

“Being back up here 48 hours after the game on Saturday, it’s a lot of evaluation, a lot of looking for answers for what led to the disappointing outcome that we had. It’s probably easy to sit here and tell you the things we did well or how hard our guys tried, but that doesn’t matter. 

“We have to become a more consistent team, and that starts with being consistent individuals. Consistency, I believe, is what wins or loses games when you have two good opponents competing against each other. The only way to become more consistent is we have to refuse to tolerate habits in our performance that isn’t to the standard of what we’ve set for our program. 

“You know it’s always going to start with me in making sure that I have to always evaluate the things that I tolerate as the head coach and what we all tolerate from each other in terms of our habits and the way we practice, the way we prepare and the way we go about things.

“We weren’t consistent enough in all three phases. On offense, we have to be better. We have to be perfect in those short-yardage situations. We have to score touchdowns in the red zone. Again, that goes back to being consistent in what we do. 

“Special teams, we have to make every rep count. We can be good at dominating 90% of the game, but that 10% that matters the most, we have to execute. It goes back to being consistent in everything we do.

“And then defensively, what we can’t do is let a bad play turn into an explosive play. That’s what you see on Saturday. Typically, what sometimes is a bad play was an explosive play. They had over 200 yards on six plays, which is a result of explosive plays that can’t happen. 

“We’ve had to figure out why those explosive plays occurred. I could get up here and say it’s execution, and it is, but what does a lack of execution come down to? It could be a lack of focus, a lack of proper technique, a lack of understanding what’s expected — a personnel issue where you’re asking somebody to do something that they can’t do consistently. 

“All those things are the responsibility of us as coaches. It falls on us as coaches to make sure that our guys can execute what we’re asking them to execute on a consistent basis. 

“We have to get back to work, focus on the things we control. Every year the journey’s different – every season. This is no different. My job is to make sure this team is headed in the right direction. The only way to ensure that is we have to continue to find the right answers and practice our plans in the way that ensures we improve and continuously be a more consistent team.

“As we get ready for this opportunity Saturday versus Purdue, this team plays hard. You can watch the film, you can watch even some schematic things that happened when they were at UNLV. Barry Odom gets his players to play extremely hard, confident and it’s a belief in their head coach and something they’ve instilled in the culture. 

“They’re going to be ready to go this Saturday, so we have to make sure we understand the challenge, but more importantly, the opportunity we have as a program.”

On junior running back Jeremiyah Love’s increased workload

“We were intentional about wanting to put the ball in his hands. So much of that is determined, one, by play calling, but two, by the amount of plays that you have as an offense. 

“What you saw is we were able to have some longer-play drives. With more plays, it’s more opportunities to get the ball in his hands. And he did a great job, and he always does when you get the ball in his hands.”

On the importance of Love’s message of teamwide accountability

“That’s what great coaches do. Great coaches don’t pass blame; they don’t say it’s the player’s fault. They look at themselves and say, ‘How can I find a way to fix this?’ 

“I think great players do the same thing. They don’t look at, ‘If they would’ve done this or if he would’ve done that or our coach would’ve done this.’ They say, ‘What can I do to make this thing better? What can I do to help this team improve?’ 

“And great teams do that. They look at themselves, especially when you don’t get the result you wanted. When you do get the result you want, you look at others. But when you have failure, great coaches, great players, great teams look at themselves and hold themselves accountable.

On identifying bad habits to change

“I think back to why, if you look at some of the explosive plays defensively, you have to look at yourself and say, ‘OK, you can say this guy didn’t have his eyes where they needed to be.’ Well, you can say it’s the player’s fault, or you can say, ‘OK, are there times in practice that maybe your player didn’t have his eyes in the right spot?’ The outcome might have been different, but we tolerated it. 

“If a guy had a mental error on a play, he went the wrong way, you can make yourself feel better and say, ‘That’s his fault. We did it right one time in practice.’ Or you can say, ‘Did we do it enough until we couldn’t get it wrong?’ And that’s what I really am talking about when I say ‘tolerating different things.’

“If a guy gets beat deep on a big-play pass, if he’s not playing with the proper technique, did we stress him enough with speed in practice so that he understands the velocity you have to be able to play with the proper technique. 

“Those are things that when I say we have to self-evaluate what we tolerate in practice and what we tolerate as a program, those are the examples I’m talking about.

On whether he feels he needs to spend more time on the defensive side, given his background

“I think more importantly, as a head coach, as a leader, it’s important to wear the hat that is necessary in that moment. No matter if it’s offense, defense, special teams, recruiting, anything. It’s being able to put on the hat that’s necessary at this moment. 

“I spend a lot of time with our defense. That’s obviously where my background is, and I’ll continuously do it. Will I spend more time? Maybe. If that’s what’s necessary, I will. I’ll spend more time there. 

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure we improve and we have a performance that we believe is the standard of Notre Dame football.

On what his takeaway is from the tape. Close or not enough plays at key times?

“We’re five points away from being 2-0. Are we close? Yeah, but we’re not close enough. That’s where I always say we can’t let the outcome, good or bad, distract us from the reality of where we’re at as a team. We have to do better, no matter if we would’ve won that game or lost it. There’s plenty of room to get better in all three phases. That’s what we have to do.

On the biggest challenge or concern of playoff football the rest of the regular season

“What’s the biggest concern? How do we make sure that we’re focused on getting this first one? That’s the only thing we control. We have one game that’s guaranteed right in front of us, and that’s Purdue. We have one day that we have, and that’s right now. 

“How do we maximize this day, this moment, these meetings, this walk-through? How do we make the most of it, because that’s going to get us to where we want to go and really where we want to be for Saturday. 

“That’s always been my message: Stay in the moment. We have to win these moments. The only way to win the moment is you have to be right in the moment. That’s what matters. It’s not worrying about the next opponent after that. That’s wasting time, as I always say, on an uncertain future. Don’t waste time. Focus on the things that are guaranteed, and that’s what we have right now.     

On whether the defensive issues are more execution or scheme related

“It’s the execution of what we’re asking them to do. If we’re asking them to do things they can’t execute, then we have to evaluate what we’re asking them to do. Like I said, it’s not a call, it’s not a scheme, there’s no perfect call, no perfect scheme. It’s the ability to execute. 

“As I said, we’ve spent time figuring out why there’s a lack of execution. If the answer was ‘call something different,’ we would do that. But it’s like, ‘OK. This is what we call, this is why we called it, why did it fail? That’s where we really have to eval what is the core of the failure is in the execution? And that’s what we’ve been doing.”

On whether there’s anything to learning a new system with a new defensive coordinator, and where the players are in their transition from Al Golden to Chris Ash

“Again, there’s some new wrinkles, but it’s not a new system. But it’s not where we need to be in terms of the performance. In terms of the execution of what we’re asking them to do. So, that’s what we have to continuously find ways to improve that. 

“It’s easy to say that it’s one person or the new coordinator. It’s all of us. In terms of our players, our coaches, myself, evaluating where the lack of execution came, why is it happening, and what each of us can do to fix it.” 

On what the defense has done well over two games, and can evolve into defensive strengths for the rest of the season

“We came out of the locker room and started fast. I thought we did a better job of stopping the run this week. I don’t want to spend a lot of time on the things we did well. I’m really focused on the things we have to improve. 

“We got a takeaway this week; (sophomore cornerback) Leonard [Moore] got an interception, and we obviously didn’t have any the week before. So, I’d like to focus on the things we have to improve on.”

On how they could improve with the wildcat and short yardage situations going forward, making it a strength

“Anytime you run the quarterback, you get an extra hat in the box. You give your offense an extra hat. Instead of having a quarterback that you know isn’t going to run, it gives the defense ‘a plus one defender,’ is what you call it. 

“You have to know that each team isn’t going to adjust to that formation the same. So, we have to be creative in terms of our short yardage plan. That wasn’t just a short yardage plan; that was a plan to be able to run the ball. 

“A lot of credit goes to (offensive coordinator) Coach [Mike] Denbrock and (offensive line) Coach [Joe] Rudolph, who’s very involved in the run game, of being creative in terms of, let’s find ways to run the ball, but two, get the ball into the hands of our playmakers. 

“We’ll see what this week presents. But I was pleased with the creativity and the execution — for the most part — of the wildcat play.”

On evaluating the play of the offensive line

“Much, much, much improved from Week 1 to Week 2. The execution was where we expected it to be. Was it perfect? No. We have to continue to enhance it. 

“They did a great job protecting the quarterback and also covering up some of those games, twists and stunts that the D-line and their defense presents. It’s an aggressive, challenging defense that I think our offensive line did a really good job with.”

On the issues with the safeties giving up big plays are consistent, or if there’s something else they have to figure out 

“As you look at the six big plays, it wasn’t just one thing. When I talked about six plays in my opener that contributed to 200+ yards, we had eye discipline on one, technique, schematic execution. Can this person perform what we’re asking him to do consistently? It was a couple of different things that I believe were the issues. It wasn’t just one thing, one person, but it was multiple different things. That’s a good and a bad thing. 

“We have to fix it and correct it. We’ve identified it, we have a plan to get it corrected, and now we have to do it.”

On working on playing more to the strengths of the defensive players

“Yeah, I mean, there’s things I believe our DBs (defensive backs) do well, there’s things I believe our linebackers do well, things I believe our D-line does well. We have to group them all together. We can’t just call certain coverages because the DBs do this well, and then we understand that we’re exposing maybe some pass rush and pressure on the quarterback. We can’t just blitz guys up front and let those guys go loose and put our DBs on islands consistently. 

“As I said in the post-game, the front and the coverage have to work together. We have to make sure we do things our guys do well, but we have to do them together. We have to marry up the front and the coverage in terms of what we’re asking our guys to do. 

“We have the right players. We have the right players, we have the right coaches. We have to get these guys to the point where they understand the expectations and they’re perfect in their alignments. That will lead to the execution that we want.”

On whose defense is it

“The Notre Dame defense that — I hear you say — looks different. It’s the execution of what they’re being asked to do. The overall output, I guess, is what you see that’s different. It’s not the structure of the defense, it’s the execution of what we’re asking our guys to do. 

“There’s new players. There’s some new players that we have to get to the point that they can execute what we’re asking them to do. I don’t think you’re seeing a big change in terms of the structure of the tactical aspect of how we’re playing defense. 

“What we have to do is, again,  evaluate what we’re asking our guys to do. And then say, if they can’t do what we’re asking them to do, then we either have to change it or address it in practice in a way they can execute exactly what we’re asking them to do at the level we’re asking them to do it. 

“That’s what we have to do. Whose defense is it? It’s our defense. It’s Notre Dame football. It is my — I’m the head coach. It’s no one person’s fault. It’s ours.”

On being the first ranked team at 0-2 since 1988, because it reflects positively on the team

“I’m worried about preparing this team for Saturday. I’m worried about taking some of those valuable lessons that we’ve learned from the first two weeks to help us improve as we get ready for this upcoming game. Really, that’s my focus — is what is right in front of us.” 

On the biggest shift he wants to see from the defense

“Again, it’s the daily practice habits, the daily preparation. It’s the understanding of exactly what you’re supposed to do and how to get it done. Ultimately, that’s going to lead to a better performance on Saturday. What I want to see is us elevate and improve today in meetings, in conversations and walkthroughs. All of those things we have right in front of us.” 

On what he saw from the defensive line in camp that isn’t happening now

“That’s a great question. We’ve had some conversations about it. It’s a group that, I believe, has to be a strength for us. I didn’t see them playing Saturday with the velocity that maybe I saw during fall camp. It’s a discussion that we’ve had, is like, are we asking them to do too much where they aren’t playing fast? 

“At the end of the day, we have to get those guys to play fast because we have the talent, for sure. We have to make sure they’re executing with the velocity that we believe it takes to make the plays that we demand they make.

“I’m very confident in (defensive line) Coach [Al] Wash[ington]. I’m very confident in the defensive line. We just have to get them to the point where they’re playing fast and playing the way I believe they can and will play.” 

On redshirt freshman safety Tae Johnson’s performance

“I was pleased. I thought Tae Tae did a good job being out there. He made some plays, some really good open field tackles. Made some plays on the ball. He’s a talented individual. He was going to get more, no matter what, but especially with (redshirt sophomore safety) Adon [Shuler] being down a half, he’s going to have more on his plate and he’ll do just fine with it.”

On what he’s seen from his team that encourages him the team is heading in the right direction

“I haven’t seen all of them, but I’ve seen enough, especially the leaders, that they’re as hungry and eager to get back to work as anybody. This is the time that leadership shows. Like, if you’re a leader, you’re built for this moment. Right? It’s not always great. Leadership really reveals itself in difficult times. 

“So, I’m as confident in this group of young people and in this group of coaches that I was before Week 1. They’re going to make sure this thing goes in the right direction.”

On how he challenges himself and the coaching staff to elevate and improve

“I think it starts with what I said in the opener. What are we willing to tolerate? What am I, as the head coach, willing to tolerate? I have to demand that everything that we’ve set as our standards are met. That’s what I have to continue to do. If I need to be involved more in a certain area then I will, and I am. 

“I think it’s everybody is starting with a look at themselves and saying, ‘How do I as an individual get better?’ Then, ‘How do I lead the people I’m in charge of leading in a way that’s elevated from where we were the day before?’

“I start with myself and say, ‘Who am I leading? I’m leading this entire football program. I’m leading the coaches. The coaches start with themselves and say, ‘OK, my position group or my unit. It starts with looking at yourself first, and saying where do I need to improve and how can I lead the people that I’m in charge of leading in a way that’s going to help them elevate?”

On the advantage of using the wildcat using Love versus (for example) redshirt sophomore QB Kenny Minchey, where the pass is in play

“You could do a little of both. I think if you’re truly going to commit to running the ball in that situation, Jeremiyah Love or one of our running backs will be a better runner than anybody with the ball in their hands. 

“But Kenny Minchey gives you another asset of being able to throw it and run it. Again, (redshirt freshman quarterback) CJ Carr isn’t a dud. He can run, if we need him to run. But I don’t know if you love your quarterback taking those hits in some of those short-yardage situations. That’s not to discredit Riley [Leonard] like we didn’t care about Riley. 

“Again, it’s the creativity that you have to have, but it’s also the production you believe that package or play will have. It was pretty productive on Saturday. We’ll see what wrinkles we have for this upcoming week.”

On fifth-year kicker Noah Burnette being questionable, who’s the next option on placekicks and how he feels about it

“If Noah can’t go, he’s questionable right now, then we’ll have a challenge, a competition between (junior) Marcello [Diomede] and (freshman) Erik Schmidt. We’ll find ways to create a little competition this week in practice and make a decision as we go into the game. But it would be between those two guys.” 

On the jump Carr and Denbrock made from Week 1 to Week 2 working together

“I think, again, finding ways to be more black and white than grey. ‘Hey, if there’s an option here, here’s the option we want you to take.’ Again, being more definitive on those types of situations and those plays. 

“I think, maybe Week 1, there were some plays that we evaluated after the game and said, ‘This is an option, we’d rather you do option A.’ I think that’s what you saw a little bit more of this week.”

On the receiving room and what he’s liked so far

“I think, probably, in terms of the depth — (redshirt sophomore wide receiver) KK [Smith] had a big catch this week — the depth of that room it’s as deep as it’s been since I’ve been here. 

“That’s a blessing and a curse, right? Because how many times can you get all those guys you could throw the ball to (fifth-year) Malachi [Fields], (juniors) [Jordan] Faison, JG (Jaden Greathouse) or (fifth-year) Will Pauling every play. And trust if they’re in one one-on-one situations, they’re going to make the play, but there’s only one football. 

“So, they have to continuously be unselfish, which they’ve done a tremendous job of at that. There’s weapons. There’s weapons in that wideouts room. We’ve developed them. Coach [Mike] Brown has developed that group. We’ve recruited that group. Again, we’re going to need them all. They’re going to have to continue being unselfish, which they have been, and understand at any moment, that ball is coming their way and they’re going to make a play.”

On the biggest thing that Notre Dame needs to change in close losses

“I think I opened the press conference by saying the difference between winning and losing versus good teams is consistency. When it matters the most, we have to make the play. We got to do our job and execute. That’s the difference. When two really good teams play each other, it’s who can be the most consistent. 

“I can give you one play here, one play there or one play here that would change the outcome of the game. That’s a sign of not being consistent. Because on that play, you didn’t get your job done. On that play, we didn’t get it done. We weren’t consistent enough. So, that’s the difference between winning and losing these close games.”

On how Carr has responded after the first two Notre Dame losses

“He’s as solid as any individual I’ve been around. This moment isn’t too big for him. He’s made some really, really great plays. There’s plays in both games that he knows, that he wishes he could do over. But CJ Carr is going to be an unbelievable player. He’s doing great things for our offense right now. 

“As I told him yesterday when I met with him, the ceiling I have for CJ Carr is extremely high. He’s doing things right now that are really, really good. I’m talking about really good. But sometimes, he needs to hear how great he can be. He can be really special.”