Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman made his annual appearance on “The Hard Count” with On3’s J.D. PicKell on Thursday.
Here are the highlights of PicKell’s interview with the fifth-year Notre Dame head coach, including the next step he sees CJ Carr taking, his team’s response to the College Football Playoff snub, what he’d change about college football and more.
Full interview: Notre Dame Fighting Irish Head Coach Marcus Freeman On Playoff Snub Bounce Back, CJ Carr Next Step
What’s the next step for Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr?
I would say the preparation, but I can’t with him. He has prepared, from the moment he stepped on campus, like he’s been the starter. And it’s just a reflection of the way he was raised, being obviously a coach’s kid and a coach’s grandson. He prepares tremendously.
But the thing that you’re seeing him do now is to truly let his leadership shine. He’s making those guys around him better. You see him getting the wideouts and tight ends and running backs, saying, “OK, we’re going to throw on Saturdays at this time, and you have to be there. And then we’re going to watch film at this time. You have to be there.”
He’s always looking for ways to improve. That’s the one thing you appreciate about CJ Carr is like, there is no finish line for him. And that’s what I’m excited to see. It’s never going to be perfect. Like, how do you handle the ups and downs of spring ball of every practice? Because he’s a perfectionist. He wants to win everything he does, and you know that’s never going to happen in spring. And so, I’m excited to watch the way he leads our offense each day, and in every rep he gets.
Does it feel different this year, with the quarterback and all three coordinators returning to Notre Dame?
Yeah, because I think every year before this, you were either spending time with a certain side of the ball, trying to make sure we understand, ‘Hey, what’s the new scheme?’ You’re sitting here saying, ‘How are we going to script practice to get enough reps for this quarterback competition?’ Every year is different, but this one’s different, right?
I don’t need to go spend a whole bunch of time figuring out what we’re doing on offense, defense, special teams, because the coordinators are back. But it’s a great challenge, right? How do we continue to find ways to help this program get closer to its full potential? That can be through meetings. That can be through the way we train. That can be in many different areas. But there is a comfort in knowing the people we have in important positions are back.
Yeah, I think the way we use that is to not waste it, right? To not just blame somebody else for the situation that we were in. I believe you sleep in the bed you make. God is fair, right? And we left doubt. We left doubt. So don’t blame somebody else for the situation that we were in and know that, hey, we got to remember that as we continue to prepare for this year.
There are certain times we’ll pull that out. You remind them of the pain of that situation and that moment. But it’s just a reminder that hey, we have to leave no doubt. In order to do that, you got to leave no doubt today. You have to leave no doubt in this moment that you’re doing the necessary things to be the best version of yourself. And that means we are trying to be the best version of a team that we can be.
It’s just every once in a while, you reach back. But I think it’s just a reminder to embrace the moment you’re in. That’s how great things, to me, occur, is that it’s an accumulation of winning these moments. And to win these moments, you got to be in the moment. You hear me say that all the time. And when you’re in the moment, you choose to struggle, right? You choose to struggle no matter if it’s mentally, physically. If you don’t struggle, you’re not going to improve.
And so, me even talking about what happened, from your question, is a reminder for me to continue to win these moments that you have right in front of you.
What are the moments where you’re choosing to open that box of negative emotions?
I remember about a month ago, probably after one of our “football schools,” where our guys were out there working out and you can do things without a football. You know, we pushed them. We pushed them pretty hard. And at the end of it, I used the example of my wife. We’ve been married for 16 years. And in relationships, there’s expectations, right? If for some reason she doesn’t like somebody, then I’m sorry, I can’t like you. It’s my wife. She’s going to expect me to like and dislike some of the people that she does.
And so, I told the new players and the new coaches that we’re in a relationship now. This is the Notre Dame football program. I don’t care where you were at last year. I don’t care where you were at when when we were told that we weren’t going to make the playoffs. You were a part of that, because we have expectations in relationships. The ability at that moment to say certain things like that, to remind them that, ‘Hey, I don’t care about the past. You you felt the pain that we as a football program felt.’ It’s a reminder to do the work that we have to do now.
Situations like that, when you feel like it’s right and it’s necessary, you reach back and you explain to the guys, like, ‘Don’t be complacent. Let’s not just get through today. Let’s make this the the best, whatever day it is, the best it’s ever been.”
You lost Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. What’s your confidence level in the Notre Dame running back room?
Extremely high. In my four years, listen, we’ve always prided ourselves on being able to run the ball. All the way from Kyren Williams, when I was a defense coordinator, to Audric Estimé, to JD Price and J-Love. And we’ll continue to be able to run the ball. We have to run the ball, and it starts up front. We got a really good off the line coming back.
But here’s what I’ll tell you, J.D., is that if you look at the body of work of Aneyas Williams, the plays he was in last year, the last two years, he’s been very productive. And he might not have played as much as those other two guys, but when he was in there, he was very productive, made some big plays for us. And it’s a reminder, like before the world sees what our guys do on Saturday, they earn the respect and trust of their teammates and coaches in practice.
And we have three guys, with Kedren Young and Nolan James coming back, that have been here previously. And then you got some freshmen that will be here that have done a good job in the spring. Those guys earn the trust of their teammates and coaches way before they’re thrust into the national spotlight, but there’s a lot of confidence I have in that entire room and in what they’re going to be able to do.
Which are you more tired of hearing questions about: The NFL or the USC rivalry?
Yeah, definitely the USC rivalry. Let’s let that thing go. We’ll get that back here before we know it.
I think I said in my last press conference, listen, you don’t have to win or lose the argument, and whose fault it is that we’re not playing anymore. I got a big enough shoulder to put the blame on me. But that’s a rivalry, hopefully, that we get figured out here soon. Just because you think of Notre Dame-USC, you think of what that means to college football. I think it’s important that we find a way to make that thing happen, and I got a lot of respect for Coach Riley in that program. That’s definitely the one that I’m ready to move on from, that question.
Now, as I always address this NFL question, again, if I’m not answering that question, that means we’re probably not doing a great job as a football program. I think it’s the ultimate sign of with team success comes individual opportunities. And I hope that I have to continue to address that every single year, because that means we’re having success as a football program. And it’s not because of me. It’s not because of one person. It’s because of every person, every male and female, man and woman that invest into the Notre Dame football program to make sure that we’re reaching our full potential.
It’s a reminder for our players that, again, if we continue to be obsessed with team success, and to do what’s best for the team, individual opportunities will come. Individual praise, individual rewards will come. But don’t be obsessed with individual glory. It’s about the team. And if we do that and put ourselves in the right situation, these types of opportunities will come.
I’ll tell you what, like this is such a special place. The people, the support, the love for Notre Dame, the love for this university, but the love for this football program. And again, man, this is something I have a lot of gratitude for, but a place I’m going to be for a long time now.
Ooh, one thing. Wow. I’m going to give you two.
We gotta get this calendar right. We gotta get the calendar right. At the end of the day, the decisions should be based on what’s best for young people, not what’s best for coaches or what’s best for universities. Just what’s best for young people. How do we set this calendar in a way that’s right for young people?
And then we gotta figure out the transfer portal. How many times can guys transfer? And I say this from a place that wants to see young people succeed. I was at a basketball game a couple of weeks ago, and there was a guy that played for Notre Dame at one point, and I looked it up, and he was at four schools in four years. The thing about that, for me, is when I think about young people: They make money, which is great now, but you’re going to need a degree. I think the education is important, and I don’t want to lose the value of an education, in earning a degree. And so, how do we give young people the option to transfer? Maybe it’s one time, maybe not, but also not entice them to just always jump into the portal for whatever reason. It’s not just because of playing time, because of money, because of whatever, but like, how do we continue to have guidelines to get young people to put themselves in positions to earn degrees? I think that’s extremely important.
Those are the two things I think that we need to address: The calendar, and then how we’re going to handle the transfer portal.