Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock met with the local beat media on Tuesday night after practice as the Irish continue preparations for Saturday's home game with Virginia. Here's everything he had to say. Answers are largely verbatim. Questions may have been edited for brevity and clarity.

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The Heat Index has been updated with the following changes:

TE Andrew Olesh’s heat rating has been upgraded from Medium to Hot following his ND official visit.
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RB Nolan James’ commitment to Notre Dame.
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WR Antwaun Parham’s heat rating has been upgraded from Medium to Extremely Hot following his ND official visit.
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WR Derek Meadows’ heat rating has been upgraded from Mild to Hot following his ND official visit.
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DT Jalen Wiggins’ heat rating has been upgraded from Medium to Hot following his ND official visit.
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LB Madden Faraimo’s heat check now reflects his latest visit to ND.
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LB Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng’s heat rating has been downgraded from Extremely Hot to Medium.
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University of Virginia Football Media Conference
Tuesday, Nov.12, 2024
Head Coach Tony Elliott
Press Conference

Q. Second week in a row your team is on the road playing a ranked opponent in a stadium the program hasn't had a lot of success or any success in this case. Is the message the same or how much does it depend on the opponent?

TONY ELLIOTT: Yeah, the message is the same. The process is the same from a preparation standpoint. Hopefully the guys have confidence after last week that they know what they need to do to prepare, but just excited about the opportunity. There hasn't been any success. I told the guys today we haven't won against Notre Dame. We've set out all season to be a different team doing different things, and to be different you have to do different. So all we can ask for is an opportunity but it's going to take our best game and it's going to take just a commitment to the process.

Q. Having any previous experience with (Riley) Leonard help you guys in preparation for Saturday, even though he’s in a new place?

TONY ELLIOTT: Yeah, he looks like a different guy, to be honest with you. Just watching him, he's very efficient throwing the ball, very decisive when he pulls it down to run. He looks very similar but also making good decisions to protect himself at times. So I don't know if past experience really -- because he's got a different supporting cast, different offensive line in front of him, but just excited for the match-up and the challenge.

Q. What makes him such a tough runner?

TONY ELLIOTT: He's big. He's a big guy. You can see it on film. You can tell he's 6'3", 220 pounds, and he's very confident as a runner, decisive. He's not afraid of contact, and he likes to fall forward, and that's what makes him a good runner.

Q. Terrell Jones started against Pittsburgh, I think he was ne of your first offers as a head coach. How far have you seen from him as when you first saw him as a recruit to now?

TONY ELLIOTT: Super proud of TT (Terrell Jones). He's come a long way. We knew he would be a developmental guy, bought into the process all the way around you've seen it on and off the field. Super proud. I think he still has a lot more room before he even hits the ceiling.

We have an inside joke that I go back and forth with him. I kind of rate his percentage and we're trying to get him up there to 100 percent, so I've got a number I often say to him like TT I think you're at this number right now but we've still got more to go. I think he's embraced that because he wants to be as good as he possibly can and he's given us a lot of diversity, too. He was out on the edge to start the game but he's also played some interior for us.

He's got a body to be one of those combo guys as he continues to get better, I think he's got a ton of success in his future.

Q. He (Terrell Jones) said One of the biggest struggles was weight gain and nutrition. How much have you seen him embrace that as he he’s tried to develop his body?

TONY ELLIOTT: Just look at his body where he is. You're starting to see his upper body catch up with his lower body, and then you can also see it in practice too and throughout the course of the game, his stamina is a lot better. And that's the big thing with him because he's got a frame that can be pretty big. He gets to be 280-285-pound guy that has some twitch off the edge but also powerful enough to play inside. That's the end goal that we're trying to work to, but what each young man -- I told a group of them the other day that you know you look at coaches and say, well, this coach can develop you.

It's really the player when they make a decision in conjunction with the coach. They'll take the coaching, but it's when they decide that they want to fully embrace what it takes to be the best version of themselves and nutrition is a big, big piece of it, and sleep. That's another big piece that we know on the college campus is kind of all out of whack with the way they stay up late and up early, but he's really starting to embrace that.

You've seen every aspect of his life improve because of that.

Q. You've always had really veteran defensive lines since you've been here with guys keep coming back. You're starting to see younger guys like TT (Terrell Jones), Anthony Britton, Jason (Hammond) earlier in the season start to come up and Mekhi (Buchanan) is another guy you guys like but he's been out this year, how do you feel about that group coming up?

TONY ELLIOTT: Excited about their potential and we need that because with the veteran guys, that means if they're always out there, they're playing a lot of snaps, and they have only so many in their body. You need some of the younger guys to develop. But I think we've all seen over the last couple of games what we thought we saw in Britton now you're starting to see that come to fruition. Now you're starting to see it with TT.

Jason (Hammond) was playing really well prior to his injury and Mekhi (Buchanan), I think Mekhi has probably the highest ceiling of all of them. He's just a freakish athlete. But needed to repair his hip. So he's down this year. And Chase (Morrison) will be back. He had to have surgery on his hip this past week, too.

We feel like we are headed in the right direction with the body types and the raw materials. Takes a little bit of time to develop, but I want to get to a place to where we're like the bunch we're getting ready to play (Notre Dame); they've just got creatures coming like one after another. They just keep coming, and they all look the same. They're 6'7", about 260. They've got freshmen 6'7" and 260 and they keep rolling and they've had to battle some injuries too on their D line. But that's the end goal is that we want to have a multitude of guys up front to stay fresh and just put pressure. Not quite there yet, but definitely like the direction that we're headed and if we can continue to recruit well, I think we can get there.

Q. How helpful has it been to have guys like Kam Butler, Chico (Bennett) and Jahmeer (Carter) to lead those guys to get them ready for when they depart?

TONY ELLIOTT: Going back to the question about TT (Terrell Jones), I think TT is where he is he gets to see Jahmeer (Carter) every single day we're going to hound it hold him accountable but ultimately when he has a peer seeing doing it the right way makes a very strong impact.

Q. Tomorrow is the second anniversary of the shooting. I think looking at your roster, half the guys on the team were elsewhere in November 2022. Is it challenging to keep the legacies of Lavel (Davis Jr.), Devin (Chandler), D’Sean (Perry) alive when some of these guys weren't here when they were here and there will be fewer going forward.

TONY ELLIOTT: I would say challenging, no, because again, as long as I'm the head coach it's always going to be a part of who we are, kind of the fabric of this staff and this program since the staff took over.

The sensitivity, right, is probably the area where you just gotta pay the most attention because again a lot of those guys came here knowing but they didn't experience it.

So you've got to be sensitive to the fact that they don't quite fully know. They want to embrace, and so you've got to respect kind of their boundaries. And at the same time, too, you want to also be mindful of the ones that were here kind of where they're at because not everybody is in the same space, right? I know the process I've had to go through personally just to start the healing process and still in the healing process from that and not everybody's in the same space.

So challenging from the standpoint of it's always going to be a part of what we do. There's never going to be a time where we're not conscious of it, aware of it, but at the same time, too, in order for us to kind of progress forward, we have to kind of create a normal here and being sensitive that not everybody was a part of that.

But like tomorrow is going to be tough for many. And rightfully so. Probably tougher -- I wouldn't say probably. It's going to be tougher for the Davis family, the Chandler family and the Perry family. But I want to embrace their hardship based off of what I believe and what my faith tells me that I have a responsibility to endure with everybody that I'm associated with and connected with.

So we're going to endure tomorrow, but then also I have an opportunity, too, to bring joy, and the way I do that is come to work every single day, be the best version of myself, and then help this football team be the best version of itself because I'm pretty sure that all three of those families felt a lot of joy on last Saturday night seeing the Cavaliers go play well and walk away with victory.

So we'll definitely have the families in our thoughts and prayers and not just them, it's going to be a hard day for Mike (Hollins) because Mike's still here. It's going to be a hard day for Marlee (Morgan). All of the students that were on the bus. This community. I mean, it's going to be a hard day.

But what I will say is we can have confidence knowing that, man, we've endured. Man, we've shown what our character is all about, and now back when I said we were going to turn tragedy into triumph, we're kind of coming out of that stage to where now we can walk with some confidence and go bring about the triumph and the beauty that was intended to come out of such a hard and difficult situation.

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The path forward for Notre Dame’s 2025 class has been increasingly clear during the February dead period. Which means it's time to debut a popular staple for subscribers on The Insider Lounge: The Heat Index for the 2025 class.

Like we did with the 2024 class, we will keep The Heat Index pinned in the sticky threads at the top of the board and we’ll post updates to it for the remainder of the 2025 recruiting cycle. That way Inside ND Sports subscribers should always have a clear picture of the top candidates to be future Notre Dame commitments.

This first edition of The Heat Index for the 2025 class will be unveiled by position this week and next week. The pinned thread will remain locked initially, but each update will have an unlocked thread below highlighting the debut for each position.

How does The Heat Index work? It’s intended to reflect a combination of how much Notre Dame is prioritizing a recruit and how much interest that recruit is showing in the Irish.

These are the various levels we will assign to recruits in The Heat Index and what they’re intended to mean.

Plain: The recruitment remains in the beginning stages, so there’s not enough evidence to justify a heat rating.

Mild: There was interest at some point, but the recruitment has not been trending toward a commitment lately.

Medium: Interest has been expressed, but it’s not clear which way this recruitment is heading.

Hot: Notre Dame is a top contender, and the recruit is a top target.

Extremely Hot: We expect this recruit to eventually commit to Notre Dame — potentially sooner rather than later.

And now, it’s time to bring the heat ...

Updated: 11/21

I know this probably won't be popular since he transferred, but I would love if the coaches let Tyree walk on Senior Day.

Edited for context. I don't know the circumstances around his transfer all that well, but he always seemed like a decent human being that tried to do what was best for the team. i.e. transfer from RB to WR

Tyler, any word on Nate Ament? That would be incredible if he joined the class.

Thanks.

Award goes to the nation's top defensive player. So does the Nagurski Award, which Watts won in 2023.

For the newbies (and not-so-newbies) ...

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DO submit them at the Jotcast link below ... and the question queue is already open
Please include your name and hometown along with your question(s)
The Live Chat will run from noon ET until around 3 on Wednesday
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https://live.jotcast.com/chat/notre-dame-football-live-chat-nov-13-2024-19590.html

No movement at all at the top ...

Notre Dame didn't play great defense. It couldn't hit from 3. But the Irish still managed to put away Buffalo after trailing at halftime.

“This is a win where you have to be a group that shows a lot of resolve,” said head coach Micah Shrewsberry.

Story by Bill Bilinski:


Highlights:

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I joined WSBT sports director Pete Byrne to share takeaways from Notre Dame football head coach Marcus Freeman's Monday press conference, the record linebacker Jack Kiser is about to set, the legacy of ND's senior class, nose tackle Howard Cross III being sidelined, tight end Mitchell Evans surging and where the Irish belong in the College Football Playoff conversation.

Inside ND Sports is partnering with WSBT to provide even more coverage of the Notre Dame football season. James and Byrne will record a video every Monday following a Freeman press conference.

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Click here to subscribe to Inside ND Sports on YouTube.

Notre Dame men's basketball returns to the court at 7 p.m. EST to host Buffalo (2-0) in Purcell Pavilion.

Notre Dame (1-0) won its season opener Wednesday against Stonehill, 89-60. Sophomore guards Markus Burton and Braeden Shrewsberry both scored 18 points in the win. Junior forward Kebba Njie grabbed 10 rebounds and scored nine points.

Buffalo beat Old Dominion with a late 3-pointer for an 83-82 win to open its season last Monday on the road. It then beat Fredonia 87-78 on Friday.

Notre Dame's starting five should remain the same: guards Burton, Shrewsberry and Matt Allocco and forwards Tae Davis and Njie.



Tip: 7 p.m. EST
Watch: ACC Network Extra
Listen: Notre Dame Radio Network
Follow: Live stats

Clearly a terrible passer. It’s because he plays with his head down and doesn’t see the field and can’t find receivers until too late. Also why a good runner. Good qbs always looking downfield soon as ball is snapped. Too bad, too late to change

A pair of Notre Dame targets in the 2026 class including the Irish in top lists on Monday.

Four-star LB Tai'Yion King included Notre Dame in a top 10 alongside Alabama, Arkansas, Nebraska, Michigan, Oklahoma, SMU, Tennessee, Texas and Texas A&M. King visited Notre Dame this past weekend for a second time.

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Four-star OL Ben Nichols included Notre Dame in a top 9 alongside Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee and Wisconsin. Nichols has visited Notre Dame five times already.

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Join us at 7 p.m. EST on YouTube as @Eric Hansen and I go live for the next weekly edition of "Football Never Sleeps."

We'll discuss Notre Dame's latest College Football Playoff outlook following a blowout win over Florida State, what could trip up the Irish in the next three games, takeaways from head coach Marcus Freeman's Monday press conference and the latest in recruiting. We'll answer questions live from viewers, too.

We hope you join us live with questions or submit some ahead of time. Hit the bell to set a reminder to get notified when we go live.

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I'm setting up this thread to document the official visitors hosted by Notre Dame men's basketball. I'll cover the ones that have already occurred in the next post, then I'll circle back with more coming this fall.

Koval, the new post player is good on defense, rebounding and blocks. Will get better of offense.

King is sensational---scoring, rebounds, defense.

Miles is back in form

Hidalgo is sensational

Citron is always good at everything

I can't wait for our big games coming up.

After some digging, it’s time to unload what we’re hearing regarding Notre Dame’s big recruiting weekend.

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I hate everything about Michigan and it's killing me to root for them but if Indiana loses it really helps our chances.

Marcus Freeman confirmed it during his postgame press conference. He wasn't sure if Cross would have been able to return tonight if needed.

Doesn't sound extremely serious, but we'll see if there's more discovered by Monday.

Here's everything Marcus Freeman said during his Monday press conference with Florida State in the rear view and Virginia awaiting the Irish on Saturday.