Notre Dame Notebook: Marcus Freeman Talks Benjamin Morrison, Sign Stealing, Brandon Joseph Injury And More

Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman discussed his sideline demeanor, countermeasures to Clemson's sign stealing attempts, Benjamin Morrison and other Irish players

NOTRE DAME, IND – Marcus Freeman is now 10 games into his tenure as a head football coach. Freeman has continued to evolve in his high-profile position at Notre Dame, with his every word dissected daily by fans and media alike.

The 36-year-old first-time head coach’s sideline demeanor has repeatedly been scrutinized and sometimes criticized as well. Is he involved enough with his team during games, is he too stoic...does he ever get mad?

We’ve seen a different side of Freeman on the sideline the last two games. He became animated with officials at Syracuse when they held up play with Notre Dame’s offense in the red zone to allow the Orange defense to substitute.

Took his own displeasure with a non-call that he should have been a targeting penalty for a helmet-to-helmet hit Clemson linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr put on Irish quarterback Drew Pyne.

It’s all a visible side of Freeman that we didn’t see from him in his first few games.

“It’s a reflection of this position you’re in,” Freeman said of his more emotional side on game days. “Every day you get more and more comfortable. You learn something else. Where I was, Oklahoma State and Ohio State a head coach on the sideline is different than where I am now. Hopefully, it’s going to be different in another game or two games from now. Part of it is having conviction in the things you say.

“.... I thought it was targeting. I just looked and I thought it was, so I was upset," continued Freeman. "As our team quickly reminded me, nobody’s worth 15 yards. I thought I had a 15-yard penalty and that was devastating, because I say to these guys every so often, nobody in our football program is worth 15 yards, including the head coach. I felt a disappointment. A couple of guys said it to me on the sideline, nobody’s worth 15 yards, coach, nobody’s worth 15 yards. At that moment I wanted to choke them (laughs), but it’s a great reminder of the belief. You can argue a point, but you’ve got to be smart and I can’t lose my control either.”

Concealing Sideline Signals

Freeman and his staff went into Saturday’s game well aware that Clemson has a reputation for stealing signs during games. The Irish had a plan to counter Clemson’s possible attempts, though.

Three signalers held up large signs on the sidelines to relay calls to the field. Those three each wore a different colored shirt. One red, one purple and one bright yellow. During timeouts, the three would go into the blue injury tent on the Notre Dame sideline and exchange shirts before coming back out.

The idea was to keep Clemson from knowing which signaler had the real signals and which signalers were the decoys.

"Listen, it’s a little bit of gamesmanship, right,” Freeman began. "Part of it is acting like we’re trying to prevent people from stealing our signals. If somebody wants to steal the signals they can. What we have to do is to continue to find different ways to make sure teams can’t. Those big boards aren’t going to be the only way a team can steal signals. So, the ability to change your signals, who’s live .... it’s gamesmanship. It’s a part of the game of football and if you don’t think it’s real your signals are going to be stolen. That’s a challenge from me to the coaching staff is find a better way to do it. It’s our job to make sure nobody steals our signals no matter who the opponent is.

On Benjamin Morrison

Freshman cornerback Benjamin Morrison was named the national Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week after Saturday’s win. Morrison’s two interceptions, including a 96-yard pick six, were the highlights, but he was also particularly good at tackling in space against Clemson’s repeated screens and plays on the perimeter. He finished with a career-high seven tackles.

"Part of tackling is confidence,” Freeman said. "Two things I talk to him all the time about being great, great tacklers are confident and great tacklers are aggressive.

"He’s confident and he’s aggressive,” Freeman continued. "That’s what makes him such a really good player. But if you want to stop the perimeter running game you’ve got to be able to close space and not wait, wait. You see a lot of missed tackles or tackles that end up giving the offense a lot of yards just because the defensive guy’s not closing space to the ball carrier. But that takes confidence to do that.

Less Jack Kiser

Linebacker Jack Kiser saw just limited action against Clemson, but Freeman says it was not due to injury.

"Marist (Liufau) and JD (Bertrand) were both playing really, really well,” Freeman explained. "We were playing with two linebackers the majority of that game and so, (we) kind of kept those guys in there and kept them going. I mean, that probably was the best those two have played and Kiser did some good things when he went in there, but just didn’t play as much this game as he has in previous games.”

On Brandon Joseph

Safety Brandon Joseph was also limited Saturday, but his lack of time on the field was due to injury.

"He got an ankle sprain early in the game,” Freeman noted. "I don’t know if he played any in the second half. I think he played punt return but didn’t play defensively. He’s going to be questionable. We’ll see how he progresses this week, but he got a good ankle sprain on him.

On Drew Pyne

Notre Dame’s offensive player of the game was Drew Pyne. The junior ran for his first career touchdown and had 21 rushing yards, while going a modest 9 of 17 for 85 passing yards and a touchdown toss to Michael Mayer. The numbers are far from eye-popping, especially when the Irish had two 100-yard rushers in the game, but Freeman noted Pyne’s ability to run the offense, which had no pre-snap penalties against Clemson.

"It’s not easy to sit in that huddle, look at the play clock and say, ok we’re going to break it this moment or get down there in time to do your motions and shifts,” Freeman explained. "The ability for him to control that offense. And we only had one three-and-out, offensively, which is huge. The ability to extend drives. I don’t care if we end up punting, but to control the play clock, control the game clock and extend drives was huge.”

Freeman says the challenge for Pyne is to eliminate the balls being batted down at the line of scrimmage.

"I hear (offensive coordinator Tommy) Rees saying all the time, step up, man,” Freeman said. "You have to find those open spaces. You know, you’re not 6-4. But, God is fair, we say. He’s got some other gifts. He's got to be able to step into those open windows to deliver a ball. He has continued to run the offense the way we need him to.”

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