From the Tuesday night media availability of Notre Dame football coordinators and players, we’ve provided full transcripts of both offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and defensive coordinator Al Golden.
We also wanted to give you some content from the other interviews. The availability is a little lighter this week, because a tornado warning halted the interviews before some of them could be completed or even start. But, here are the greatest hits, or at least the most intriguing quotes, from S Xavier Watts, WR Jayden Harrison and special teams coordinator Marty Biagi:
XAVIER WATTS
Q: What lessons can you learn from watching last year’s Louisville game tape, particularly in giving up the long runs?
“There's a lot of things to learn from last year. Obviously, it didn't go as planned. But you look at things where they kind of beat us. You want to go back in the film and come out of the practice field and figure out why it went that way, and how you are trying to get back and get better at it. You'll always remember those plays. When you watch back on film, it's hard to watch, because you mess up on this player, they scored or whatever. But sometimes you’ve got to own up to it. And like I said, it's only gonna make you better at the end of the day.”
Q: How have you improved this season?
“I feel like I've done a great job. I wanted to come back and improve, just starting in the spring. From all the training I've done, I feel like I've gotten really better at commanding the entire defense, being able to move guys around and just my pedal is getting better.
“My brakes have gotten better. My man [defense] technique has gotten better. Just a lot of those things have been showing up in these past three, four, how many games we've been playing. So, it's been really great to see how much I've improved as a player and then still going to continue to improve as the season goes on.”
Q: What do you see on film that leads to Louisville having yet to turn the ball over and what could you guys do to change that?
“Yeah, that's something you pay attention to. Obviously, they're doing a good job of protecting the ball, but when you watch film, there's a lot of missed opportunities from other teams that they're not getting the ball. [Louisville QB Tyler Shough] is putting the ball in the air, and guys are not attacking the ball or things like that. So, obviously, you see things like that, and it does give us a chip on our shoulder. Like he's throwing the ball in the air. So, he's kind of like throwing 50/50 balls, and we're going to make sure we get them.”
JAYDEN HARRISON
Q: How do you handle maybe not being able to have as many opportunities as you’d like or expect during the game?
“That’s why we practice so hard, so we already know that you have to be ready when your number’s called. That’s what coach [Marcus] Freeman always talks about. Everyone has to be prepared when everybody's number’s called, because we need everybody. The standard don’t change. When your number’s called, you have to perform.’
Q: What’s left for you to accomplish here?
“I don’t really look at the future so much. I just stay dialed in to what I have to do every day and my assignments, getting better. And, hopefully, that leads me to where I want to be. I want to be helping the team to be where we want to be.”
Q: Who are the five fastest dues on the team?
“J. Love. Five fastest, that’s crazy. That’s a trick. You got BMo [Benjamin Morrison], JC [Jordan Clark] on the other side, Christian Gray, then you have me, Kris Mitchell, Jordan Faison, Beaux Collins, then Riley [Leonard]. [Jeremiyah] Love is crazy.”
MARTY BIAGI
Q: Was James Rendell’s improvement in punting a sudden thing on game day or did you see that from him the week leading up to it?
“He’s done a good job throughout the last couple weeks of just trying to make it a ‘one-rep’ mentality. So, it’s not just punting it all at once in a session, but we’re trying to make it as realistic as possible. And then, just being able to give looks based on what the opponent is doing. So, I thought he handled it really well. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but it was good to see him be consistent.”
Q: What led to making the switch for the short snapper on the field goal that was botched because of a snap, with you then going back to Rino Monteforte?
“Some of it had to do with some technique issues that we had seen, in terms of the consistency of the snap and its location. And then, just being able to feel like we could be clean on our protection and try to find the right fit.”
Q: How do you approach mistakes in special teams in the week after?
“I think we go back and I go ‘OK, could I have done better throughout the week to explain it even more?’ That’s the great part with coach [Marcus] Freeman — it always starts with us. He wants us to be hyper-critical. So, we use it as an example to show everybody — it’s not just calling out one person — so we can be effective. If it’s something that’s consistently showing up, then we’ll create a drill if we need to, or go back to a drill that we’ve done before, to clean up anything that might be causing an issue, whether it’s a penalty or anything we’re trying to do to get better at technique-wise.”
Q: The bad snap really could have been a big loss. But Mitch Jeter was able to minimize the damage. Is that something he’s been drilled on or just good instincts?
“We definitely talk about being situational masters, and trying to make sure we’ve covered different scenarios. Everything that could go wrong, how to be ready, and to try and complete the play.”
Q: What happened on the muffed punt by Jordan Faison?
“We go back and try and assess our play. And there was definitely something we think we could have done to make it a clearer picture for Faison, so that he could field the ball. We always want him to have a clear path to the ball. Again, it’s something we’ll continue to harp on, but we have to make sure that the guys that are trying to work on holding him up aren’t getting in his window. So, it’s something I’ve got to make sure we’re clear on. We want our punt returner to go up and clearly have confidence. The only way there’s going to be an issue is if somebody’s blocking the opponent in their way.”
Q: Have you seen Rino Monteforte get better since that decision was made to put him back on short snaps?
“I have. He actually worked really hard last week. It was a very close decision. It was great that he was able to show that he could go right in, and you even saw some of the things that we were looking to clean up — he did within his reps in the game. He did a great job staying focused, and being ready to perform when called upon. And it just so happened that that’s what ended up happening. He showed he can do what he needs to do.”
Q: How did you go about finding and recruiting special teams standout Max Hurleman?
“I think [general manager] Chad [Bowden] and his department do a great job of finding guys, hearing what the different needs are, and what we’re looking for. So, credit to Chad and his staff for making sure that we left no stone unturned. He’s done a great job. Hurleman has been great. So, you take a Hurleman from Colgate, you take a [Devyn] Ford from Penn State — those are two examples of opposite extremes, and they’ve been very impactful.”
We also wanted to give you some content from the other interviews. The availability is a little lighter this week, because a tornado warning halted the interviews before some of them could be completed or even start. But, here are the greatest hits, or at least the most intriguing quotes, from S Xavier Watts, WR Jayden Harrison and special teams coordinator Marty Biagi:
XAVIER WATTS
Q: What lessons can you learn from watching last year’s Louisville game tape, particularly in giving up the long runs?
“There's a lot of things to learn from last year. Obviously, it didn't go as planned. But you look at things where they kind of beat us. You want to go back in the film and come out of the practice field and figure out why it went that way, and how you are trying to get back and get better at it. You'll always remember those plays. When you watch back on film, it's hard to watch, because you mess up on this player, they scored or whatever. But sometimes you’ve got to own up to it. And like I said, it's only gonna make you better at the end of the day.”
Q: How have you improved this season?
“I feel like I've done a great job. I wanted to come back and improve, just starting in the spring. From all the training I've done, I feel like I've gotten really better at commanding the entire defense, being able to move guys around and just my pedal is getting better.
“My brakes have gotten better. My man [defense] technique has gotten better. Just a lot of those things have been showing up in these past three, four, how many games we've been playing. So, it's been really great to see how much I've improved as a player and then still going to continue to improve as the season goes on.”
Q: What do you see on film that leads to Louisville having yet to turn the ball over and what could you guys do to change that?
“Yeah, that's something you pay attention to. Obviously, they're doing a good job of protecting the ball, but when you watch film, there's a lot of missed opportunities from other teams that they're not getting the ball. [Louisville QB Tyler Shough] is putting the ball in the air, and guys are not attacking the ball or things like that. So, obviously, you see things like that, and it does give us a chip on our shoulder. Like he's throwing the ball in the air. So, he's kind of like throwing 50/50 balls, and we're going to make sure we get them.”
JAYDEN HARRISON
Q: How do you handle maybe not being able to have as many opportunities as you’d like or expect during the game?
“That’s why we practice so hard, so we already know that you have to be ready when your number’s called. That’s what coach [Marcus] Freeman always talks about. Everyone has to be prepared when everybody's number’s called, because we need everybody. The standard don’t change. When your number’s called, you have to perform.’
Q: What’s left for you to accomplish here?
“I don’t really look at the future so much. I just stay dialed in to what I have to do every day and my assignments, getting better. And, hopefully, that leads me to where I want to be. I want to be helping the team to be where we want to be.”
Q: Who are the five fastest dues on the team?
“J. Love. Five fastest, that’s crazy. That’s a trick. You got BMo [Benjamin Morrison], JC [Jordan Clark] on the other side, Christian Gray, then you have me, Kris Mitchell, Jordan Faison, Beaux Collins, then Riley [Leonard]. [Jeremiyah] Love is crazy.”
MARTY BIAGI
Q: Was James Rendell’s improvement in punting a sudden thing on game day or did you see that from him the week leading up to it?
“He’s done a good job throughout the last couple weeks of just trying to make it a ‘one-rep’ mentality. So, it’s not just punting it all at once in a session, but we’re trying to make it as realistic as possible. And then, just being able to give looks based on what the opponent is doing. So, I thought he handled it really well. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but it was good to see him be consistent.”
Q: What led to making the switch for the short snapper on the field goal that was botched because of a snap, with you then going back to Rino Monteforte?
“Some of it had to do with some technique issues that we had seen, in terms of the consistency of the snap and its location. And then, just being able to feel like we could be clean on our protection and try to find the right fit.”
Q: How do you approach mistakes in special teams in the week after?
“I think we go back and I go ‘OK, could I have done better throughout the week to explain it even more?’ That’s the great part with coach [Marcus] Freeman — it always starts with us. He wants us to be hyper-critical. So, we use it as an example to show everybody — it’s not just calling out one person — so we can be effective. If it’s something that’s consistently showing up, then we’ll create a drill if we need to, or go back to a drill that we’ve done before, to clean up anything that might be causing an issue, whether it’s a penalty or anything we’re trying to do to get better at technique-wise.”
Q: The bad snap really could have been a big loss. But Mitch Jeter was able to minimize the damage. Is that something he’s been drilled on or just good instincts?
“We definitely talk about being situational masters, and trying to make sure we’ve covered different scenarios. Everything that could go wrong, how to be ready, and to try and complete the play.”
Q: What happened on the muffed punt by Jordan Faison?
“We go back and try and assess our play. And there was definitely something we think we could have done to make it a clearer picture for Faison, so that he could field the ball. We always want him to have a clear path to the ball. Again, it’s something we’ll continue to harp on, but we have to make sure that the guys that are trying to work on holding him up aren’t getting in his window. So, it’s something I’ve got to make sure we’re clear on. We want our punt returner to go up and clearly have confidence. The only way there’s going to be an issue is if somebody’s blocking the opponent in their way.”
Q: Have you seen Rino Monteforte get better since that decision was made to put him back on short snaps?
“I have. He actually worked really hard last week. It was a very close decision. It was great that he was able to show that he could go right in, and you even saw some of the things that we were looking to clean up — he did within his reps in the game. He did a great job staying focused, and being ready to perform when called upon. And it just so happened that that’s what ended up happening. He showed he can do what he needs to do.”
Q: How did you go about finding and recruiting special teams standout Max Hurleman?
“I think [general manager] Chad [Bowden] and his department do a great job of finding guys, hearing what the different needs are, and what we’re looking for. So, credit to Chad and his staff for making sure that we left no stone unturned. He’s done a great job. Hurleman has been great. So, you take a Hurleman from Colgate, you take a [Devyn] Ford from Penn State — those are two examples of opposite extremes, and they’ve been very impactful.”
