Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and Ohio State head coach Ryan Day participated in a joint press conference Sunday morning ahead of Monday's national championship game. Here's the transcript.
Opening statements
RYAN DAY: It's an honor to be here. Our team is really, really excited about this opportunity and playing in the National Championship against a great opponent.
Both teams have had a great journey to get here, two historic programs. We know it's going to be an electric atmosphere at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Monday night, and our team is really focused on their preparation right now and playing our best game.
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, I want to first thank the CFP staff and all the work they've put in to put on this event. The welcome was amazing, the city of Atlanta. We're grateful to be here.
As Coach Day said, it's been a long journey. It's been a fun one. We've got a great group of players but staff that have put everything into this opportunity that we have right in front of us.
We're looking forward to this one last guaranteed opportunity that we have versus a terrific opponent in Coach Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes, and we look forward to the opportunity coming here on Monday.
Q. For both coaches, you both have added the occasional player out of the portal, and they've been very impactful football players, but I don't think you would be here without the retention strategies that you're using to keep good players on your football team. What are you guys doing to keep good guys around without immediate playing time nowadays?
RYAN DAY: Yeah, our philosophy when it comes to that is that we want to recruit high school players, develop them, and then retain them, like you said. I think a lot of people -- there was a lot of conversation early in the season about our roster, but when you look at our team, the majority of our team are guys that have been here for a long time, fourth- and fifth-year seniors, and played a lot of football.
We always want to use the transfer portal as an opportunity to fill holes that may come up now with the way things are designed within college football. We do that. But we also try to make sure that we're using a lot of great judgment on who we bring into our program. So when you look at guys like Will Howard and Caleb Downs, Seth McLaughlin and Quinshon Judkins and the guys we brought in, I think we only ended up with seven transfer guys this year, they all fit but they all made an impact on our team.
You don't just walk into Ohio State or Notre Dame one of these programs and think you're just going to get on the field. So they had the earn the respect of their teammates during the off-season, during the spring, and then during the season as time went on. Then as it goes, you start to build that team.
But this playoff system has allowed us to grow and build as a team. When you get to this point right now, you don't feel like they're transfers at all, especially when they get here in January. But ultimately, we want to make sure we continue our culture, and by doing that, you have to recruit high school players and then develop them and retain them.
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, very similar philosophy, and we're going to major in high school recruiting and the foundation of our football program will be from high school recruiting, and we'll minor in the transfer portal for specific needs that we need for our roster.
It's not an easy answer to say how you keep young people part of your program. But if you can get them to feel like they have value and you can get them to understand that whatever role they have determined for them in that week or this season is going to be a part of us reaching our full potential, then I think you can more so than not get them to stay.
I think young people want to be valued, and that's important. So I think you've also got to show them stories of examples of guys that have stayed the course and have turned into great football players.
You look at a guy like Xavier Watts that redshirted and moved to wideout his first year and moved to DB his second year and played very little, and then his first year starting was just okay and his fourth year he wins the Bronko Nagurski award. So you have to use that example just as much as the example of seeing a Leonard Moore, a true freshman that ends up starting at corner.
Everybody's journey is different. And if you can convince them that your journey is your journey, don't compare your journey to his journey, that's hopefully a way to get young people to stay.
Q. Ryan, so many Buckeyes from the state of Georgia; how important has that area been to building the program?
RYAN DAY: Well, Georgia has great football, and we want to be able to first build our foundation from the state of Ohio. That's very, very important to us. But we also want to recruit nationally.
Georgia has really, over the last decade or so, continued to build and grow and develop young players, and it's great to see our guys come back to the Atlanta area. Most of our guys who are on the roster from Georgia are from the Atlanta area, and when they saw that the National Championship game was in Atlanta from the jump, they were excited about that opportunity if it arose and we reached this game.
They're excited. A lot of chatter in the locker room about going back to Atlanta, and they'll have a lot of friends and family here.
Q. For both coaches, Ryan, y'all start a home and home with Texas next year; and, Marcus, you have a return match with A&M. Are we in danger of seeing fewer marquee games like this because of the playoff, and do you think the College Football Playoff hit a home run, or is it more like a triple?
MARCUS FREEMAN: I have no clue who we play next year. I'm not thinking about that. (Laughter).
I really don't have a strong opinion right now on the playoff structure. I was asked that previously, and that's going to be something maybe after the season I can spend more time really thinking about, my opinion of the pros and cons. Right now you just try to figure out a way to get your team prepared for this opportunity you've got right in front of you.
That's what the focus is on is this opportunity, and we'll deal with next year and opinions on the playoff structure, I think, once this thing is over.
RYAN DAY: Yeah, agreed. I think there's a lot of things we're learning about this structure, what comes with it, and those are all great conversations for after the season.
I do think that playing some of those games during the regular season, though, allows you an opportunity to learn, and with this structure, your team can grow and build, learn from those types of games, whether they're on the road or at home, wins, losses, and then you build as the season goes on to help you maybe become more prepared for the playoffs, which is maybe a little bit different than it has been in the past.
(more)
Opening statements
RYAN DAY: It's an honor to be here. Our team is really, really excited about this opportunity and playing in the National Championship against a great opponent.
Both teams have had a great journey to get here, two historic programs. We know it's going to be an electric atmosphere at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Monday night, and our team is really focused on their preparation right now and playing our best game.
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, I want to first thank the CFP staff and all the work they've put in to put on this event. The welcome was amazing, the city of Atlanta. We're grateful to be here.
As Coach Day said, it's been a long journey. It's been a fun one. We've got a great group of players but staff that have put everything into this opportunity that we have right in front of us.
We're looking forward to this one last guaranteed opportunity that we have versus a terrific opponent in Coach Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes, and we look forward to the opportunity coming here on Monday.
Q. For both coaches, you both have added the occasional player out of the portal, and they've been very impactful football players, but I don't think you would be here without the retention strategies that you're using to keep good players on your football team. What are you guys doing to keep good guys around without immediate playing time nowadays?
RYAN DAY: Yeah, our philosophy when it comes to that is that we want to recruit high school players, develop them, and then retain them, like you said. I think a lot of people -- there was a lot of conversation early in the season about our roster, but when you look at our team, the majority of our team are guys that have been here for a long time, fourth- and fifth-year seniors, and played a lot of football.
We always want to use the transfer portal as an opportunity to fill holes that may come up now with the way things are designed within college football. We do that. But we also try to make sure that we're using a lot of great judgment on who we bring into our program. So when you look at guys like Will Howard and Caleb Downs, Seth McLaughlin and Quinshon Judkins and the guys we brought in, I think we only ended up with seven transfer guys this year, they all fit but they all made an impact on our team.
You don't just walk into Ohio State or Notre Dame one of these programs and think you're just going to get on the field. So they had the earn the respect of their teammates during the off-season, during the spring, and then during the season as time went on. Then as it goes, you start to build that team.
But this playoff system has allowed us to grow and build as a team. When you get to this point right now, you don't feel like they're transfers at all, especially when they get here in January. But ultimately, we want to make sure we continue our culture, and by doing that, you have to recruit high school players and then develop them and retain them.
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, very similar philosophy, and we're going to major in high school recruiting and the foundation of our football program will be from high school recruiting, and we'll minor in the transfer portal for specific needs that we need for our roster.
It's not an easy answer to say how you keep young people part of your program. But if you can get them to feel like they have value and you can get them to understand that whatever role they have determined for them in that week or this season is going to be a part of us reaching our full potential, then I think you can more so than not get them to stay.
I think young people want to be valued, and that's important. So I think you've also got to show them stories of examples of guys that have stayed the course and have turned into great football players.
You look at a guy like Xavier Watts that redshirted and moved to wideout his first year and moved to DB his second year and played very little, and then his first year starting was just okay and his fourth year he wins the Bronko Nagurski award. So you have to use that example just as much as the example of seeing a Leonard Moore, a true freshman that ends up starting at corner.
Everybody's journey is different. And if you can convince them that your journey is your journey, don't compare your journey to his journey, that's hopefully a way to get young people to stay.
Q. Ryan, so many Buckeyes from the state of Georgia; how important has that area been to building the program?
RYAN DAY: Well, Georgia has great football, and we want to be able to first build our foundation from the state of Ohio. That's very, very important to us. But we also want to recruit nationally.
Georgia has really, over the last decade or so, continued to build and grow and develop young players, and it's great to see our guys come back to the Atlanta area. Most of our guys who are on the roster from Georgia are from the Atlanta area, and when they saw that the National Championship game was in Atlanta from the jump, they were excited about that opportunity if it arose and we reached this game.
They're excited. A lot of chatter in the locker room about going back to Atlanta, and they'll have a lot of friends and family here.
Q. For both coaches, Ryan, y'all start a home and home with Texas next year; and, Marcus, you have a return match with A&M. Are we in danger of seeing fewer marquee games like this because of the playoff, and do you think the College Football Playoff hit a home run, or is it more like a triple?
MARCUS FREEMAN: I have no clue who we play next year. I'm not thinking about that. (Laughter).
I really don't have a strong opinion right now on the playoff structure. I was asked that previously, and that's going to be something maybe after the season I can spend more time really thinking about, my opinion of the pros and cons. Right now you just try to figure out a way to get your team prepared for this opportunity you've got right in front of you.
That's what the focus is on is this opportunity, and we'll deal with next year and opinions on the playoff structure, I think, once this thing is over.
RYAN DAY: Yeah, agreed. I think there's a lot of things we're learning about this structure, what comes with it, and those are all great conversations for after the season.
I do think that playing some of those games during the regular season, though, allows you an opportunity to learn, and with this structure, your team can grow and build, learn from those types of games, whether they're on the road or at home, wins, losses, and then you build as the season goes on to help you maybe become more prepared for the playoffs, which is maybe a little bit different than it has been in the past.
(more)
