Here's the transcript of Notre Dame Al Golden's meeting with the media on Monday night after practice. These are generally done on Tuesdays, but the media availability was compressed into one day this week because of Thanksgiving.
Any advantages for this Stanford matchup from having played them last year?
“I think last year, the one thing we can glean from them is their personnel. But other than that, it’s a new system. I have a ton of respect for Coach [Troy Taylor], his system. Especially on offense, the challenges it presents — the personnel groupings, the formationing, the shifts, the motions.
“In terms of [Stanford] having nothing to lose, I don’t believe that. I believe there’s a whole building of guys over there trying to build a program. I know a lot of those guys over there, and I know how they’re going to work, and I know the opportunity that presents itself in playing us. We’re on high alert, and we know exactly what we need to do. We had a good start to the week [Monday], but we’ve got to study the film, wake up tomorrow and do it all over again. We’ve got to stack days right now.”
Marcus Freeman said the board in your office looks like you’re a mad scientist. Without giving away trade secrets, what’s on that board?
“Well, Sunday morning, I try to get in early and just clean up the previous game for us, and then I move on pretty early. So by 9:30, 10 o’clock, I'm on to the next opponent. And in this case, I was just finishing the last two games, because we started in the bye week. So, just see what direction they're going, write thoughts up on the board, look at the challenges that are presented, and they're numerous. They are. Some people might say there's gimmicks. I think it's clever, what they do. I do. I think they're clever. I think coach Taylor is really good. Watched his body of work, and there's challengers all over the field.”
What makes a coach or a staff good at in-game adjustments, and to what do you attribute your ability to do that?
“You just said it right, right? The staff, our unit strength, our ability to work together and solve problems. Generally, I've said to you guys when you've asked, I said most of the adjustments that you make are done before halftime. In this particular case, we were trying to get to halftime to make adjustments, because everything we had practiced wasn't there. It wasn't on the field. It wasn't in front of us.
“So, we were just trying to make calls that could get us to the half, and then I thought that the coaches did an amazing job. I can't believe that you're asking the question, because I said to them, ‘Unbelievable job at halftime. Clear, concise, simple and delivered in a tone that they can understand.’ And it's 17-7 at the half, and sometimes you can be like — because we weren't, we weren't in control on defense. We were playing hard, but we weren't in control. And sometimes you can get, you know, ‘Come on! We’ve got to do this, we’ve got to do that!’ And all they hear is the tone.
“And I just thought what those guys did, our staff did, and then to have the leadership on defense that can take it and execute it — because I called probably eight plays the entire second half on early downs, eight different calls, maybe seven — and they just executed it magnificently.”
Armel Mukam, Devan Houstan, Ben Minich, Tyson Ford all played against. Wake Forest. What are your thoughts on them, going forward?
“Yeah, let's start with the D-lineman first. As you get to this bowl game, you would hope some of those guys understand — like, I think about [Jaylen] Sneed a year ago. I know there were others that they get to the end of the year, and you don't use a redshirt year, and all of a sudden, they have two or three weeks to get ready for a game. And you'd love to see some of those guys make a big jump and, hopefully, contribute, somehow, in the game.
“So we're all looking for those D-linemen to continue to do that. And, hopefully, one or two of them say, ‘All right, I'm good enough to get a couple series in this game. I'm to the point where I can do that.’ In terms of Ben, I'm excited about Ben. He's a smart kid. He's tough, he's fast. We’re excited. Same thing with him, all of a sudden he's going to be eligible for the bowl game, and does take significant reps somewhere, including special teams?”
Your name was tied to the Syracuse head coaching opening?
“I don’t know. I don’t look at any of that.”
What do you like about Notre Dame? Could you see yourself being in this role?
“I think the biggest thing right now is we’ve got our hands full. I mean, that's it. It is all day, every day, trying to win as many games as we can win. Obviously, we have a goal of winning 10, and to do that, we have to win this one. We have to find a way to win this one. So, if names are being mentioned, it's because of the success of the staff and the players, and that part of it is humbling.”
Marcus Freeman talked about starting fast on the road. What does that mean for the defense?
“Execute right from the get-go. Play fast. Play with clarity. Do the little things right, right from the get-go. Don't need an event to create a certain response. I think that's a fair way of looking at it. We don't need a negative event to all of a sudden lock us in, like, we’ve got to be ready to go. And I think our guys know, obviously we lost to Stanford a year ago. Now we're going out there. There could be perceived distractions because of the timing of the game, and that's not part of our M.O. We’ve got to eliminate all that and get ready to play our best game.”
What stands out about the Stanford offense?
“Just a lot of formations. A lot of personnel groups. Two quarterbacks. Two quarterbacks on the field at the same time. A couple of running backs that can really go. Number 3 [Bryce Farrell], wideout, can really go. He was a 10.5 guy in high school. He's becoming comfortable with 13 [WR Elic Ayomanor]. He's becoming comfortable with 86, the other tight end. There's a lot there to digest in a short period of time, and we’ve just got to make sure that we handle what we need to handle and execute what we need to handle. And whatever things occur on game day, we have to adjust to.”
What’s difficult about the two-QB system?
“Well, first of all, I really think they're both really good athletes. They're a little bit different. You know, 8 [Justin Lamson] is a little bit bigger between the tackles, but 14 [Ashton Daniels] has done that too. So, 14, a little bit more elusive. Both can throw the ball, so 8 could be on a jet sweep, for instance, and all of a sudden decide he's gonna throw the ball, and that's difficult.
[Lamson’s] lined up at one, taking a reverse, and then throws the ball. We saw that last week. [Daniels] can line up out there, so, just makes it challenging. You’ve got to have your antennas up and limit what we need to limit, to play fast and execute.”
Marcus Freeman talked about planning for everything but not actually preparing the players for everything. How do you go about that with this offense?
“Yeah, I think that's a great point. In 11 personnel, which four or five passes do we want to prepare for and eliminate in our base coverages? And then if they hit us with a new one, OK, can we withstand that play in coverage X, Y and Z? And then if not, do we A) throw it out, or B) have to install something else on the sideline? It's pretty simple in terms of that. If they do get a checkmate on you, you have two choices: Don't call that or add something. And last Saturday, it was, ‘We need to install a bunch of things.’ And that's what we did.”
What’s your pitch to Xavier Watts to come back for the 2024 season?
“I'm not going to — that's for X and his family. And if there's any conversations, those are private. Listen, I don't believe in pitching. If young people ask questions, I just came from the other side [the NFL]. I spent six years there. I know the inner workings of it, what all goes into those decisions, what they're looking for, how it’s scouted, how it's evaluated, and ultimately, how those decisions are made. So, I can help them with the secret sauce on the other side, but in terms of making a decision, I'm not here to influence anybody. Just make sure they understand how important they are and the role they would have, moving forward. But other than that, we give them the facts, and then they have to make the decision.”
Any advantages for this Stanford matchup from having played them last year?
“I think last year, the one thing we can glean from them is their personnel. But other than that, it’s a new system. I have a ton of respect for Coach [Troy Taylor], his system. Especially on offense, the challenges it presents — the personnel groupings, the formationing, the shifts, the motions.
“In terms of [Stanford] having nothing to lose, I don’t believe that. I believe there’s a whole building of guys over there trying to build a program. I know a lot of those guys over there, and I know how they’re going to work, and I know the opportunity that presents itself in playing us. We’re on high alert, and we know exactly what we need to do. We had a good start to the week [Monday], but we’ve got to study the film, wake up tomorrow and do it all over again. We’ve got to stack days right now.”
Marcus Freeman said the board in your office looks like you’re a mad scientist. Without giving away trade secrets, what’s on that board?
“Well, Sunday morning, I try to get in early and just clean up the previous game for us, and then I move on pretty early. So by 9:30, 10 o’clock, I'm on to the next opponent. And in this case, I was just finishing the last two games, because we started in the bye week. So, just see what direction they're going, write thoughts up on the board, look at the challenges that are presented, and they're numerous. They are. Some people might say there's gimmicks. I think it's clever, what they do. I do. I think they're clever. I think coach Taylor is really good. Watched his body of work, and there's challengers all over the field.”
What makes a coach or a staff good at in-game adjustments, and to what do you attribute your ability to do that?
“You just said it right, right? The staff, our unit strength, our ability to work together and solve problems. Generally, I've said to you guys when you've asked, I said most of the adjustments that you make are done before halftime. In this particular case, we were trying to get to halftime to make adjustments, because everything we had practiced wasn't there. It wasn't on the field. It wasn't in front of us.
“So, we were just trying to make calls that could get us to the half, and then I thought that the coaches did an amazing job. I can't believe that you're asking the question, because I said to them, ‘Unbelievable job at halftime. Clear, concise, simple and delivered in a tone that they can understand.’ And it's 17-7 at the half, and sometimes you can be like — because we weren't, we weren't in control on defense. We were playing hard, but we weren't in control. And sometimes you can get, you know, ‘Come on! We’ve got to do this, we’ve got to do that!’ And all they hear is the tone.
“And I just thought what those guys did, our staff did, and then to have the leadership on defense that can take it and execute it — because I called probably eight plays the entire second half on early downs, eight different calls, maybe seven — and they just executed it magnificently.”
Armel Mukam, Devan Houstan, Ben Minich, Tyson Ford all played against. Wake Forest. What are your thoughts on them, going forward?
“Yeah, let's start with the D-lineman first. As you get to this bowl game, you would hope some of those guys understand — like, I think about [Jaylen] Sneed a year ago. I know there were others that they get to the end of the year, and you don't use a redshirt year, and all of a sudden, they have two or three weeks to get ready for a game. And you'd love to see some of those guys make a big jump and, hopefully, contribute, somehow, in the game.
“So we're all looking for those D-linemen to continue to do that. And, hopefully, one or two of them say, ‘All right, I'm good enough to get a couple series in this game. I'm to the point where I can do that.’ In terms of Ben, I'm excited about Ben. He's a smart kid. He's tough, he's fast. We’re excited. Same thing with him, all of a sudden he's going to be eligible for the bowl game, and does take significant reps somewhere, including special teams?”
Your name was tied to the Syracuse head coaching opening?
“I don’t know. I don’t look at any of that.”
What do you like about Notre Dame? Could you see yourself being in this role?
“I think the biggest thing right now is we’ve got our hands full. I mean, that's it. It is all day, every day, trying to win as many games as we can win. Obviously, we have a goal of winning 10, and to do that, we have to win this one. We have to find a way to win this one. So, if names are being mentioned, it's because of the success of the staff and the players, and that part of it is humbling.”
Marcus Freeman talked about starting fast on the road. What does that mean for the defense?
“Execute right from the get-go. Play fast. Play with clarity. Do the little things right, right from the get-go. Don't need an event to create a certain response. I think that's a fair way of looking at it. We don't need a negative event to all of a sudden lock us in, like, we’ve got to be ready to go. And I think our guys know, obviously we lost to Stanford a year ago. Now we're going out there. There could be perceived distractions because of the timing of the game, and that's not part of our M.O. We’ve got to eliminate all that and get ready to play our best game.”
What stands out about the Stanford offense?
“Just a lot of formations. A lot of personnel groups. Two quarterbacks. Two quarterbacks on the field at the same time. A couple of running backs that can really go. Number 3 [Bryce Farrell], wideout, can really go. He was a 10.5 guy in high school. He's becoming comfortable with 13 [WR Elic Ayomanor]. He's becoming comfortable with 86, the other tight end. There's a lot there to digest in a short period of time, and we’ve just got to make sure that we handle what we need to handle and execute what we need to handle. And whatever things occur on game day, we have to adjust to.”
What’s difficult about the two-QB system?
“Well, first of all, I really think they're both really good athletes. They're a little bit different. You know, 8 [Justin Lamson] is a little bit bigger between the tackles, but 14 [Ashton Daniels] has done that too. So, 14, a little bit more elusive. Both can throw the ball, so 8 could be on a jet sweep, for instance, and all of a sudden decide he's gonna throw the ball, and that's difficult.
[Lamson’s] lined up at one, taking a reverse, and then throws the ball. We saw that last week. [Daniels] can line up out there, so, just makes it challenging. You’ve got to have your antennas up and limit what we need to limit, to play fast and execute.”
Marcus Freeman talked about planning for everything but not actually preparing the players for everything. How do you go about that with this offense?
“Yeah, I think that's a great point. In 11 personnel, which four or five passes do we want to prepare for and eliminate in our base coverages? And then if they hit us with a new one, OK, can we withstand that play in coverage X, Y and Z? And then if not, do we A) throw it out, or B) have to install something else on the sideline? It's pretty simple in terms of that. If they do get a checkmate on you, you have two choices: Don't call that or add something. And last Saturday, it was, ‘We need to install a bunch of things.’ And that's what we did.”
What’s your pitch to Xavier Watts to come back for the 2024 season?
“I'm not going to — that's for X and his family. And if there's any conversations, those are private. Listen, I don't believe in pitching. If young people ask questions, I just came from the other side [the NFL]. I spent six years there. I know the inner workings of it, what all goes into those decisions, what they're looking for, how it’s scouted, how it's evaluated, and ultimately, how those decisions are made. So, I can help them with the secret sauce on the other side, but in terms of making a decision, I'm not here to influence anybody. Just make sure they understand how important they are and the role they would have, moving forward. But other than that, we give them the facts, and then they have to make the decision.”
