Here's everything Notre Dame defensive coordinator had to say after practice Tuesday night.
Q: Javontae Jean-Baptiste came from Ohio State to Notre Dame with the reputation as a pass-rush specialist, which probably drives him crazy.
Al Golden: “It should drive him crazy.”
Q: But his game has evolved, right?
AG: “He's also done a lot to dispel that. It's easy to say someone's raw or someone's talented or someone's a pass-rush specialist. That's what all those taglines suggest, but we haven't seen that. We've seen a kid that's trying to do the tough things really well. Certainly, he plays 9-technique for us, but we ask him to play 6-technique, which is tougher. That’s head-up on the tight end. So, he's shown toughness there.
“He's tackling better. He's finishing plays better. He's making plays down the field or laterally. And he's just been a pleasure to work with. He's just getting better. As a coach, if you see guys getting better at that age, it really has to be a commitment for them to get better at that age, because it doesn't just happen naturally as you get older. So, he's definitely committed, and his teammates appreciate it. We appreciate it.”
Q: Certainly, opportunity has helped him. He probably didn't get many opportunities to defend the run in his previous place. How has that contributed? And how has D-line coach Al Washington helped him?
AG: “You'd have to ask him about the opportunities, and sometimes when people change, sometimes they grow. Sometimes they make opportunities or sometimes they seize opportunities or sometimes their purview changes. I think in his case, he's done everything that coach Wash has asked him to do, and coach Wash has been tough on him. They have a relationship, and he can be tough. There's trust there. And I'm just proud of the young man, because it's really not easy to do, to come into a new place, learn a system, fit in, find a role and then cultivate it from there. And he's done that.”
Q: Marcus Freeman sometimes talks about analytics. I'm wondering, as a guy who's been doing this for so long, maybe are the analytics running in your head? Do you lean into that? Do you want to know what the numbers and the percentages are in critical situations? Or do you rely on your experience?
AG: “I think there's definitely merit to knowing what the probabilities are. But I think sometimes you just have to trust what you see or what you feel in the game, but there's no question that, definitely, analytics has a part in football. I don't think that's ever going to be divorced, now.”
Q: In terms of practicing tackling, getting better at tackling, is it similar at Notre Dame to what you did in the NFL in terms of the amount of physicality and full speed involved?
AG: "I think we work hard on it. I think we're tackling better than we were a year ago. Is that like a question?
Q: Yes, I’m questioning. I’m asking.
AG: “No, that's fine. I mean, I thought we had some uncharacteristic missed tackles the other day, which were disappointing. I'm going to be honest with you. And I'm not talking about at the end, when the running back was running really hard and we were kind of hanging on. I'm not talking about that. That's a different deal. I'm talking about when we had opportunities in the open field, and we just did not trust our technique and bring our training to the game and we didn't really press it. We got crossed over a couple of times, and I think that would be the only thing that would be disappointing about that.
“Big quarterback, rotated a bunch of backs in there. I thought they were a really good team going in, thought they ran the ball hard going in. And I would say, I don't know how many runs they had in the game, but I would say all but five or six I like where we were at. It wasn't like there were 12 of them. But there was a couple that got out, and that skewed the run game for us. Can't happen.”
Q: This is the third year Marcus Freeman has game-planned for QB Jack Plummer with a third different team, the second year for you. How is he different for Louisville than maybe he was with Cal?
AG: “I think he's playing fast. I think he trusts the cast that he has around him. I think they have speed on the perimeter. They're explosive. The running game, running backs run strong. They press it. So, I think he's doing what they want him to do. He's being efficient. He's making good decisions. He's distributing the football. I think he's playing really well. And I think with experience comes maturity. That's what we're seeing from him right now.”
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Q: Javontae Jean-Baptiste came from Ohio State to Notre Dame with the reputation as a pass-rush specialist, which probably drives him crazy.
Al Golden: “It should drive him crazy.”
Q: But his game has evolved, right?
AG: “He's also done a lot to dispel that. It's easy to say someone's raw or someone's talented or someone's a pass-rush specialist. That's what all those taglines suggest, but we haven't seen that. We've seen a kid that's trying to do the tough things really well. Certainly, he plays 9-technique for us, but we ask him to play 6-technique, which is tougher. That’s head-up on the tight end. So, he's shown toughness there.
“He's tackling better. He's finishing plays better. He's making plays down the field or laterally. And he's just been a pleasure to work with. He's just getting better. As a coach, if you see guys getting better at that age, it really has to be a commitment for them to get better at that age, because it doesn't just happen naturally as you get older. So, he's definitely committed, and his teammates appreciate it. We appreciate it.”
Q: Certainly, opportunity has helped him. He probably didn't get many opportunities to defend the run in his previous place. How has that contributed? And how has D-line coach Al Washington helped him?
AG: “You'd have to ask him about the opportunities, and sometimes when people change, sometimes they grow. Sometimes they make opportunities or sometimes they seize opportunities or sometimes their purview changes. I think in his case, he's done everything that coach Wash has asked him to do, and coach Wash has been tough on him. They have a relationship, and he can be tough. There's trust there. And I'm just proud of the young man, because it's really not easy to do, to come into a new place, learn a system, fit in, find a role and then cultivate it from there. And he's done that.”
Q: Marcus Freeman sometimes talks about analytics. I'm wondering, as a guy who's been doing this for so long, maybe are the analytics running in your head? Do you lean into that? Do you want to know what the numbers and the percentages are in critical situations? Or do you rely on your experience?
AG: “I think there's definitely merit to knowing what the probabilities are. But I think sometimes you just have to trust what you see or what you feel in the game, but there's no question that, definitely, analytics has a part in football. I don't think that's ever going to be divorced, now.”
Q: In terms of practicing tackling, getting better at tackling, is it similar at Notre Dame to what you did in the NFL in terms of the amount of physicality and full speed involved?
AG: "I think we work hard on it. I think we're tackling better than we were a year ago. Is that like a question?
Q: Yes, I’m questioning. I’m asking.
AG: “No, that's fine. I mean, I thought we had some uncharacteristic missed tackles the other day, which were disappointing. I'm going to be honest with you. And I'm not talking about at the end, when the running back was running really hard and we were kind of hanging on. I'm not talking about that. That's a different deal. I'm talking about when we had opportunities in the open field, and we just did not trust our technique and bring our training to the game and we didn't really press it. We got crossed over a couple of times, and I think that would be the only thing that would be disappointing about that.
“Big quarterback, rotated a bunch of backs in there. I thought they were a really good team going in, thought they ran the ball hard going in. And I would say, I don't know how many runs they had in the game, but I would say all but five or six I like where we were at. It wasn't like there were 12 of them. But there was a couple that got out, and that skewed the run game for us. Can't happen.”
Q: This is the third year Marcus Freeman has game-planned for QB Jack Plummer with a third different team, the second year for you. How is he different for Louisville than maybe he was with Cal?
AG: “I think he's playing fast. I think he trusts the cast that he has around him. I think they have speed on the perimeter. They're explosive. The running game, running backs run strong. They press it. So, I think he's doing what they want him to do. He's being efficient. He's making good decisions. He's distributing the football. I think he's playing really well. And I think with experience comes maturity. That's what we're seeing from him right now.”
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