Marcus Freeman Talks Notre Dame vs Oklahoma State, Calling Plays On Defense, Freshmen

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman met with the media on Monday after his team arrived in Arizona for the Fiesta Bowl

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman met with the media on Monday after his team arrived in Arizona for the Fiesta Bowl. Here is a transcript of the more memorable questions and answers.

As someone with a background as a defensive coordinator, what stands out to you most about OSU's defense this season?

"I was on the plane for about four hours and tried to watch as much film as I could. I'm so impressed with how hard they play from every position but especially their front four. They play extremely hard. They are relentless and they tackle and they pursue the ball well. It's going to be a huge challenge and the challenge is not going to be schematically, it's going to be to match their intensity and the physicality they play with."

From where you were sitting as the defensive coordinator up until this point, how did you see the secondary develop after the injury to Kyle Hamilton?

"It's been a growing experience, and it's been really good for us as we move forward to the future in terms of, we did not have a plan to replace Kyle Hamilton. I think we wanted to do some different things schematically with those games against USC and North Carolina and for what those offenses presented. It was something where we were able to move some guys and guys that maybe didn't have as much experience as Ramon Henderson, and we were able to kind of get these guys some game reps. We were able to utilize Houston Griffith and utilize DJ Brown. The biggest thing we had to do was put these guys into a position to be successful. We were not going to replace Kyle Hamilton, but we did need to replace the production. We needed to replace what that position entailed in our defense. It's been a great situation for Ramon to get those reps and to show that he could be a safety to help us here in the future."

I'm curious, from your perspective, what do you think of when someone mentions Oklahoma State football to you?

"I think it's a program that every year is in contention to win the Big 12 Championship and make a playoff run. What you have seen over the past 10, 15 years throughout the time Coach Gundy has been there is a team that just every year is pushing to win the championship. That's a very explosive offense and now you incorporate a defense that plays extremely hard and is one of the best in the country. This is a program that can present problems for any team. We know the challenge. We respect this opponent, and we are going to have to prepare to make sure we are successful on Saturday."

How will you handle the running back position without Kyren Williams?

"It's going to be a running back show by committee. All of them are going to have to play. They have all shown the ability to be productive, and I'm excited for those guys to get the carries, to go out there and show what they can do in a big, huge, obviously nationally televised game."

You played in the Fiesta Bowl as a player when you went to Ohio State. Are you going to try to use some of that stuff that you learned in those games as a coach in this game coming up on Friday? 

"I haven't thought too deeply about it, but I think there are some ways you can spin it. There are some ways that understanding the magnitude of this bowl game and how big this is and embracing that. I want our guys to embrace this opportunity and embrace what this Fiesta Bowl Championship will bring to the University of Notre Dame and I'm excited. I want our guys to be excited, and I know they will be, but this is still going to come down to execution. It's still going to come down to taking care of the football and taking the ball away. It's going to come down to being able to stop the run and run the ball and field position. Those are the things that really are going to matter. I want them to embrace this opportunity and understand how big this game and still make sure they understand the keys to having success."

How are you handling this three-week whirlwind that you have been under here? And congratulations on that whirlwind.

"Day by day. You know, day by day, task by task. I was telling, you know, somebody earlier today that when you think about it in terms of how many things you have to do as the head coach of the University of Notre Dame, sometimes it can get overwhelming. If you attack things day by day, minute by minute, task by task, you just knock it out. Don't put things off. Whatever situation presents itself, you complete that task and then you move on to the next one. At the same time, you have got to find a way to have this time management where you can prepare, you can prepare yourself, you can prepare your team to have success this upcoming Saturday. I'm enjoying it. Listen, I would much rather be in this seat than not be in this seat, but I'm just taking it day by day and task by task."

You have had to play a lot of young guys this year, especially in the freshman class. Looking at the two-deep, there's a lot of guys listed. Can you just kind of talk about the development you have seen in these bowl practices from guys like Ryan Barnes, Prince Kollie, and Will Schweitzer, all of those types of guys that have kind of been moved as different injuries and different things have happened over the last couple of months.

"I think our mindset, my mindset going into this bowl, the first couple of practices, maybe the first six practices, we are doing good on good. We are doing one-on-ones, ones versus ones, and ones versus two. We are not worried about preparing for Oklahoma State right now in terms of the scheme. I want to make sure that we develop our guys. At the end of those practices, we also had basics, which meant anybody that wasn't in the two-deep was getting reps. We were going to scrimmage with the young guys. We continued that .... basics is what we called it, those scrimmages throughout bowl practice, even as we started preparing more for Oklahoma State. I think you have seen the development. I know Prince Kollie has been running with the twos, and Ryan Barnes is getting some two reps. All those guys, even with the twos or threes, have been getting reps. We are trying to develop these guys but we're also trying to get the ones and twos better. We got to make sure that this group is as competitive and as ready to take on this huge challenge that we have this Saturday. There's been great development of the young guys but also to me development of the ones and twos."

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