Notre Dame football head coach Marcus Freeman spoke to reporters following Notre Dame's 49-35 win over USC.
Here's everything Freeman had to say. Answers are largely verbatim. Questions may have been edited for brevity and clarity.
MARCUS FREEMAN
“That was a hard-fought victory. They definitely earned it. They earned it. I’m proud of this group. It’s an honor to be a part of this football program with these guys, with this coaching staff. To see where we were 84 days ago to where we’re at now, it’s a testament to the trust in the decisions that those guys in that locker room and the coaching staff and everybody that helps have made. This is what it’s all about. This is a journey. There’s a journey, and you can’t let the highest of highs and lowest of lows deter you from what you need to do to reach your goals.
“It’s awesome. I’m excited. We’re going to enjoy this thing. We’ll worry about the future later. I know people are going to ask about the future, but let’s enjoy this victory in this rivalry game versus a really good USC team. Which we knew going into the game they were a good team, a really good team. I’m proud of these guys, and we’re gonna have a happy flight back home.”
You began the season being the better team in the fourth quarter of a road victory and did it again today. What is it about the way this team is wired that makes you capable of closing games out?
“84 days ago was when we lost to Northern Illinois. Somebody asked me in the press conference earlier in the week, ‘Are you worried that your team hasn’t been in close games in the past few weeks?’ And I said, no, because the mentality is one play, one life. Like this play is the only play that matters. So I had to continue to remind them: Have the urgency that we must have that this is the only play that matters, and you gotta execute. We had some adversity. But they responded. 14-14 at halftime. The way our guys came out of that locker room and responded, it was the sense of urgency that we didn’t have versus Northern Illinois. You go back and you look at the notes that I met with the captains and I took after that game. It was like, ‘Hey, we didn’t have the sense of urgency, the panic, almost, that we gotta go out and execute.’ They did it today.”
What kind of statement did Notre Dame football make to the College Football Playoff committee today?
“You know that doesn’t matter to me. The statement we made was we won our rivalry game versus a dang good football team, and that’s the only statement I wanted to make today.”
What allowed this team to win 10 games in a row?
“Leadership. Great leadership from our captains, our players, our coaches. Belief. Trusted each other. In every game you go in and you have a little bit of doubt. That’s life. But you gotta trust beyond knowing. That’s what I told those guys. That’s what they’ve done. They put the work in and worked tirelessly. Our preparation’s been immaculate. That, hopefully, is a reason why that we had the results that we did.”
You guys were so low 84 days ago. When did you feel you had a chance to have a special season?
“I’ve known from the start of training camp that we had a chance to have a special program. But it’s a process. You gotta build it. We had to go through the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in the first two weeks of the season, but they continued to just prepare, and they chose to put the work in and not feel bad about themselves. They believed in themselves too. I’ve known this team has been a really good team. I told you guys earlier that it was the most talented roster I’ve had since I’ve been here. But we had to become a good team. Roster talent is one thing. We’ve developed to a good team, and it’s because of our hard work.”
What specifically did you learn about yourself and this team over the course of the season?
“I’ve learned so many lessons in life but as the head coach of this football program. You realize time heals everything. I’ve been at the highest of highs and lowest of lows. I think I told them after we lost to Northern Illinois. I said, I’ve been here before. Maybe not everybody in that room has, but I’ve been here. I know there’s only option, and that’s to go back to work and take a hard look at yourself. Misery wants company. But during those tough times you gotta take a hard look at yourself and figure out what it takes to get your program where it needs to be. That’s what I was able to do as an individual. The program itself did that too.”
How do you continue to stay focused after today?
“Listen, we have to celebrate this thing first. These guys work way too hard not to take a moment and enjoy this victory. This is what I call team glory. And it’s when everybody in that locker room knows they had a part of us achieving that. It’s not one person. It’s everybody that it takes getting their job done for us to achieve this great thing that we have. We’re gonna enjoy this today on this flight home and probably tomorrow. Usually on Sundays we move forward, but, listen, we don’t have an opponent. So, we’re gonna enjoy this thing probably for two days, and then Monday we’ll start moving forward and getting back to work. It’s a special moment for this program.”
Highs and lows, Christian Gray had the season in a game. What got him to snap back into it after really difficult second and third quarters?
“He had to reload. You hear me say that all the time. Reload. Get your mind back to the place where it needs to be so you can execute. That was the challenge I had for the team before the game, but him specifically. Like, hey, reload, reload. Don’t let the last play affect the next play. There was a play in the first half I thought it did. It was after the big catch, the next play he got the PI. Christian Gray’s a great player, but he had to get back into that moment where nothing else matters but doing your job for us to achieve team glory. Don’t let anything personal affect that. I’m proud of him, because he did. He has faith, and he’s a really good player. He showed that in the second half.”
What was it like to sing the alma mater with the team after today’s game with everything this season has been?
“It’s hard to put it into words, but it’s an unbelievable feeling to be able to sing the alma mater acapella with our fans and our parents and everybody that loves this university. It’s just a reminder of the honor and privilege we all have to be a part of this place. This is a special place. We got a really good football team, but we got an amazing university. I wanted our fans to have that same feeling that we have as players in our program. It’s hard to describe that feeling, but it’s one I won’t forget.”
You guys rushed for almost 260 yards today. What does that say about this offensive line?
“Before the game the challenge was we have to win this game at the line of scrimmage. We have to win this game up front and recognize some of the different pressures that they bring defensively. I thought our offensive linemen did a great job at recognizing and really communicating and executing. They played a physical, physical affair up front. They kept coming off the field saying, ‘Keep running, Coach. Keep running.’ That’s a confident group that played extremely well today.”
You were tested in secondary unlike any game this year, but for it to end with those two pick-6s, what’s that moment like for those guys to get the job done?
“It was really good. Selfishly, I was thinking about the turnover margin. There’s been only one game we’ve lost the turnover margin this year, and that was Northern Illinois. I’m like, man, this is going against everything I believe and I tell the team about how important turnover margin is. Because we were up in the game and down two in the turnover margin. Then we get a pick-6. Now we’re down one. We get another pick-6.
“They’re resilient. They battled. They’re never out of a fight. That’s what you love about it. That they competed until the clock said zero.”
There were times this season where people second-guessed if Riley Leonard was a playoff quarterback. He proved that the last 10 games. What does that say about the guy that you have leading this offense?
“He’s special. From the beginning, from the time he got here, I’ve known he’s special. What he had to learn is how to handle the highs and the lows of what being the quarterback at Notre Dame entails. You hear me say it all the time. There’s no difference between the head coach and quarterback at Notre Dame. He experienced the highs and the lows within the first two weeks of the season, and he continued to battle. He continued to prepare. I knew from the beginning he was the right quarterback to lead this program.”
You never want to lose a game, but can you reflect back and say there were benefits to losing to Northern Illinois?
“Sometimes you gotta lose to gain. Sometimes that’s life. You gotta lose at the end of the day to gain and make a big jump and win. I told our program, I told our players Monday after that game, I said, ‘This will be the greatest thing that ever happened to this football team if we learn from it and continue to use it. It would be the greatest thing that could happen to us.’ It was. It’s hard to say that. The greatest thing that happened to this program this season was a loss, because it taught us what it takes to handle success. It taught us what it takes to have success. That’s why I said just keep the pain. I don’t want to go back to that place. We don’t need to go back there to remember how it feels. We’ll look back and be thankful for it.”
(end)
AP Photo/Ryan Sun
Here's everything Freeman had to say. Answers are largely verbatim. Questions may have been edited for brevity and clarity.
MARCUS FREEMAN
“That was a hard-fought victory. They definitely earned it. They earned it. I’m proud of this group. It’s an honor to be a part of this football program with these guys, with this coaching staff. To see where we were 84 days ago to where we’re at now, it’s a testament to the trust in the decisions that those guys in that locker room and the coaching staff and everybody that helps have made. This is what it’s all about. This is a journey. There’s a journey, and you can’t let the highest of highs and lowest of lows deter you from what you need to do to reach your goals.
“It’s awesome. I’m excited. We’re going to enjoy this thing. We’ll worry about the future later. I know people are going to ask about the future, but let’s enjoy this victory in this rivalry game versus a really good USC team. Which we knew going into the game they were a good team, a really good team. I’m proud of these guys, and we’re gonna have a happy flight back home.”
You began the season being the better team in the fourth quarter of a road victory and did it again today. What is it about the way this team is wired that makes you capable of closing games out?
“84 days ago was when we lost to Northern Illinois. Somebody asked me in the press conference earlier in the week, ‘Are you worried that your team hasn’t been in close games in the past few weeks?’ And I said, no, because the mentality is one play, one life. Like this play is the only play that matters. So I had to continue to remind them: Have the urgency that we must have that this is the only play that matters, and you gotta execute. We had some adversity. But they responded. 14-14 at halftime. The way our guys came out of that locker room and responded, it was the sense of urgency that we didn’t have versus Northern Illinois. You go back and you look at the notes that I met with the captains and I took after that game. It was like, ‘Hey, we didn’t have the sense of urgency, the panic, almost, that we gotta go out and execute.’ They did it today.”
What kind of statement did Notre Dame football make to the College Football Playoff committee today?
“You know that doesn’t matter to me. The statement we made was we won our rivalry game versus a dang good football team, and that’s the only statement I wanted to make today.”
What allowed this team to win 10 games in a row?
“Leadership. Great leadership from our captains, our players, our coaches. Belief. Trusted each other. In every game you go in and you have a little bit of doubt. That’s life. But you gotta trust beyond knowing. That’s what I told those guys. That’s what they’ve done. They put the work in and worked tirelessly. Our preparation’s been immaculate. That, hopefully, is a reason why that we had the results that we did.”
You guys were so low 84 days ago. When did you feel you had a chance to have a special season?
“I’ve known from the start of training camp that we had a chance to have a special program. But it’s a process. You gotta build it. We had to go through the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in the first two weeks of the season, but they continued to just prepare, and they chose to put the work in and not feel bad about themselves. They believed in themselves too. I’ve known this team has been a really good team. I told you guys earlier that it was the most talented roster I’ve had since I’ve been here. But we had to become a good team. Roster talent is one thing. We’ve developed to a good team, and it’s because of our hard work.”
What specifically did you learn about yourself and this team over the course of the season?
“I’ve learned so many lessons in life but as the head coach of this football program. You realize time heals everything. I’ve been at the highest of highs and lowest of lows. I think I told them after we lost to Northern Illinois. I said, I’ve been here before. Maybe not everybody in that room has, but I’ve been here. I know there’s only option, and that’s to go back to work and take a hard look at yourself. Misery wants company. But during those tough times you gotta take a hard look at yourself and figure out what it takes to get your program where it needs to be. That’s what I was able to do as an individual. The program itself did that too.”
How do you continue to stay focused after today?
“Listen, we have to celebrate this thing first. These guys work way too hard not to take a moment and enjoy this victory. This is what I call team glory. And it’s when everybody in that locker room knows they had a part of us achieving that. It’s not one person. It’s everybody that it takes getting their job done for us to achieve this great thing that we have. We’re gonna enjoy this today on this flight home and probably tomorrow. Usually on Sundays we move forward, but, listen, we don’t have an opponent. So, we’re gonna enjoy this thing probably for two days, and then Monday we’ll start moving forward and getting back to work. It’s a special moment for this program.”
Highs and lows, Christian Gray had the season in a game. What got him to snap back into it after really difficult second and third quarters?
“He had to reload. You hear me say that all the time. Reload. Get your mind back to the place where it needs to be so you can execute. That was the challenge I had for the team before the game, but him specifically. Like, hey, reload, reload. Don’t let the last play affect the next play. There was a play in the first half I thought it did. It was after the big catch, the next play he got the PI. Christian Gray’s a great player, but he had to get back into that moment where nothing else matters but doing your job for us to achieve team glory. Don’t let anything personal affect that. I’m proud of him, because he did. He has faith, and he’s a really good player. He showed that in the second half.”
What was it like to sing the alma mater with the team after today’s game with everything this season has been?
“It’s hard to put it into words, but it’s an unbelievable feeling to be able to sing the alma mater acapella with our fans and our parents and everybody that loves this university. It’s just a reminder of the honor and privilege we all have to be a part of this place. This is a special place. We got a really good football team, but we got an amazing university. I wanted our fans to have that same feeling that we have as players in our program. It’s hard to describe that feeling, but it’s one I won’t forget.”
You guys rushed for almost 260 yards today. What does that say about this offensive line?
“Before the game the challenge was we have to win this game at the line of scrimmage. We have to win this game up front and recognize some of the different pressures that they bring defensively. I thought our offensive linemen did a great job at recognizing and really communicating and executing. They played a physical, physical affair up front. They kept coming off the field saying, ‘Keep running, Coach. Keep running.’ That’s a confident group that played extremely well today.”
You were tested in secondary unlike any game this year, but for it to end with those two pick-6s, what’s that moment like for those guys to get the job done?
“It was really good. Selfishly, I was thinking about the turnover margin. There’s been only one game we’ve lost the turnover margin this year, and that was Northern Illinois. I’m like, man, this is going against everything I believe and I tell the team about how important turnover margin is. Because we were up in the game and down two in the turnover margin. Then we get a pick-6. Now we’re down one. We get another pick-6.
“They’re resilient. They battled. They’re never out of a fight. That’s what you love about it. That they competed until the clock said zero.”
There were times this season where people second-guessed if Riley Leonard was a playoff quarterback. He proved that the last 10 games. What does that say about the guy that you have leading this offense?
“He’s special. From the beginning, from the time he got here, I’ve known he’s special. What he had to learn is how to handle the highs and the lows of what being the quarterback at Notre Dame entails. You hear me say it all the time. There’s no difference between the head coach and quarterback at Notre Dame. He experienced the highs and the lows within the first two weeks of the season, and he continued to battle. He continued to prepare. I knew from the beginning he was the right quarterback to lead this program.”
You never want to lose a game, but can you reflect back and say there were benefits to losing to Northern Illinois?
“Sometimes you gotta lose to gain. Sometimes that’s life. You gotta lose at the end of the day to gain and make a big jump and win. I told our program, I told our players Monday after that game, I said, ‘This will be the greatest thing that ever happened to this football team if we learn from it and continue to use it. It would be the greatest thing that could happen to us.’ It was. It’s hard to say that. The greatest thing that happened to this program this season was a loss, because it taught us what it takes to handle success. It taught us what it takes to have success. That’s why I said just keep the pain. I don’t want to go back to that place. We don’t need to go back there to remember how it feels. We’ll look back and be thankful for it.”
(end)
AP Photo/Ryan Sun
Last edited:
