Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker spoke to local writers Monday night following Saturday's win over Wake Forest and ahead of this Saturday's game at Stanford.
Below is a transcript of that conversation. Questions may be paraphrased.
GERAD PARKER
I wanted to ask about the freshmen we haven't seen much: Kenny Minchey, Braylon James and the four offensive linemen Charles Jagusah, Sam Pendleton, Sullivan Absher and Joe Otting. How have you seen their growth this season?
“It’s good. You got me there. So, Minchey. Great promise. When you start, you’re like, ‘Man, OK, what’s his stinger (unclear what he said for that previous word) about?’ You didn’t know, because he is super chill. But there's a lot there. He has gained a lot of respect from the guys in the locker room, has strong arm talent, really studies, has become a part of that quarterback room. Those guys hang out a lot, because they spend a lot of time around the place to study and prepare. So, really happy there.
“Braylon James has continued to improve and work. Does he have to continue to develop? Absolutely. I think you guys know that. Braylon has stayed in it, stayed with us and stayed with the older guys to learn how to continue to develop to get there. Really pleased with him as far as what he’s going to have to do to develop. Those young guys need bowl practice, need spring practice, need summer development. And it’s going to be good for them. Coach Freeman probably puts it best: those young players, you can’t compare yourself to where another person is in your class or where other guys are. This is your road. This is your bumpy road to better. Stay on your road, get better and improve. If that happens, young players, you see them turn into really good players. He has that possibility.
“And we couldn’t be more pleased with the four offensive linemen. Those guys show great promise. What they’ve done for the defensive scout team, looks, and what they’ve done for our defense has been a lot of compliments from the defensive staff, and there is a lot of promise there.”
Did Sam Pendleton ever practice with varsity? Anybody else?
“A couple of those guys, because we had two bye weeks, got a lot of work. Jagusah, Otting, all those guys, they’ve all kind of stepped up and played roles. Had to snap the football with [Otting]. I’m trying to think of when they did. I know Jagusah came up and had to do some stuff to fill in. Sam Pendleton and Sully, all those guys, we feel really good about those guys as young linemen. They needed to redshirt and needed some time, but it’s going to be fun to see them develop.”
More play action vs. Wake Forest. Is that because of something the defense was doing?
“This word, I am like — this word, play action, I feel like we need to — play action. Um...”
What does play action mean to you? (said half-jokingly)
“Yeah, there we go. Yeah. Who they were as a defense promoted it. We want to be that. Be anything that gives us a chance to make the ball go that way (points ahead). But they did. They showed some things that allowed you to think you could put the ball and create conflict against them, and it paid of for us. There were some things that hit for us that was good to see. Yeah. Every week we have to find ways. I think sometimes ‘play action’ is like these big, heavy, under center, crazy good fakes and lift the ball. But sometimes it can just be action nakeds. I thought it was good to get some of our nakeds up too. Got some good play out of that, especially coming out of the second half with the big one. It helped us, and we moved the pocket a little bit from them. There are many different ones. But it was good for us.”
Why was the ball moving as well as it had for you since September?
“There is a lot. One, is a lot of two weeks of prep. There's a lot of stuff. That was a hard two weeks on all of us. This program, me, our staff, everybody. It should be. We understand expectations. But there's a lot of good there. There is. I’m not saying that to defend myself. I’m talking about to our staff and our players. There's a lot of good there. And when you get caught in big games and road games and tough looks and all those things, the margin, just the room for error, kind of shrinks. Sometimes in conflict games, man games, whatever it is, small errors turn into big errors. We’re trying to close the gap with that, no matter who we play. For two weeks of prep, we went through the game with four missed assignments as a full offense. That’s extremely low. Missed assignments equal execution. Execution equals efficiencies on first and second down. Takes us to a lower number of third downs. That rolls the points. That’s as simple as it really is. We were more efficient, we executed at a higher level, we knew the game plan and didn’t make as many mistakes at times. Those things turned out to obviously push us.”
How much more do you know about Steve Angeli now from this season?
"We do. We do. There is a lot of belief in Steve Angeli to be honest with you. I'll take all of it when it doesn't go well, but just like the last one he threw, I didn't call that play. We had a different set on. He checked to the play, because he saw man coverage and they brought 'Saw 0.' They brought Saw 0, he gives a little 'hootie hoo,' taps it out and does his deal, because he's empowered to do so, and he did it and lit it up. Touchdown. That's a quarterback play and being prepared from [quarterbacks coach] Gino [Guidugli] to do so. And he felt empowered enough to not come over to the sideline and be like, 'Coach, are you made that I ...' No. They brought Saw 0. You knew the adjustment and answered. It's good."
What’s the worst number of missed assignments you’ve had in a single game?
“Golly, thanks. Nothing like ‘oh my goodness,' but we’ve been to 10 or 12s. We’ve been to 10 or 12s. And then when you tack on big moments, that goes ‘boom.’ Some of the moments we’ve already discussed and little things maybe you don’t see. We ran through a zone window when it was zone instead of man. I can go on and on, but we’ve been there before. You tack on the big moments and it just multiples.”
How do you replicate what you did against Wake Forest?
“Yeah, no kidding.”
Easy question, not an easy answer?
“Yeah, that’s right. I think that — I hope, I pray — our guys and our staff would say our process, the way I’ve behaved to our staff, our players and all the leadership of it, hasn’t changed. You have to stay true to this thing. Believe in your staff and players. Empower people around you and stay the course. And even at 42 years old say, ‘Hey, we’re doing the right things. You’ve got to believe in this thing.’ Empower people to feel like they belong on that football field for a reason to make great plays and do that. I hope that’s what they feel. I hope that’s what we continue to do through this one and our bowl game. Just continue for this offense to take steps toward what everybody wants it to. And then I hope it creates a little bit of this momentum and multiplying effect to where you’re going to see something that we’ll all be very proud of when this thing finishes.”
What does it say about wide receivers Chansi Stuckey and your development that you can rely on freshman wide receivers? How does that illustrate how far that position needs to come to avoid a repeat of that?
“It speaks volumes to what Chansi has done with the room. There's no way to give guys empowered feeling, get experience and make plays other than to do it. And that’s the growing pains of it. That’s a tough position to be in, let’s be honest. But it’s one we’re in and we’ve got to fight through to get there. And then it’s got to be a position where that room, us as a staff, me as a coordinator have to make sure we never get in that position again. We certainly are taking strides to it. And it’s a testament to those kids who have put in extra time into learning how to be pros at their level and committing to what the process is and what they’ve got to do to play at a high level on game days. It’s a process, and sometimes at this level you don’t get that time to do so.”
Did Eli Raridon need that moment for his development?
“Yes. I think so. I would not be telling the truth if we said no. I think he did. And not that he was in a bad place. It's just when you unlock another key to your game coming back from what he’s went through. And you get to that point, catch the football the way he did and run with it and kind of have both worlds come together in block and pass, I just think it put him in a confidence mode that he had not yet gotten to. And now, he played his best football minus the touchdown. Throw that into it, you’ve got yourselves a chance for him to continue to grow and become a special player.”
Below is a transcript of that conversation. Questions may be paraphrased.
GERAD PARKER
I wanted to ask about the freshmen we haven't seen much: Kenny Minchey, Braylon James and the four offensive linemen Charles Jagusah, Sam Pendleton, Sullivan Absher and Joe Otting. How have you seen their growth this season?
“It’s good. You got me there. So, Minchey. Great promise. When you start, you’re like, ‘Man, OK, what’s his stinger (unclear what he said for that previous word) about?’ You didn’t know, because he is super chill. But there's a lot there. He has gained a lot of respect from the guys in the locker room, has strong arm talent, really studies, has become a part of that quarterback room. Those guys hang out a lot, because they spend a lot of time around the place to study and prepare. So, really happy there.
“Braylon James has continued to improve and work. Does he have to continue to develop? Absolutely. I think you guys know that. Braylon has stayed in it, stayed with us and stayed with the older guys to learn how to continue to develop to get there. Really pleased with him as far as what he’s going to have to do to develop. Those young guys need bowl practice, need spring practice, need summer development. And it’s going to be good for them. Coach Freeman probably puts it best: those young players, you can’t compare yourself to where another person is in your class or where other guys are. This is your road. This is your bumpy road to better. Stay on your road, get better and improve. If that happens, young players, you see them turn into really good players. He has that possibility.
“And we couldn’t be more pleased with the four offensive linemen. Those guys show great promise. What they’ve done for the defensive scout team, looks, and what they’ve done for our defense has been a lot of compliments from the defensive staff, and there is a lot of promise there.”
Did Sam Pendleton ever practice with varsity? Anybody else?
“A couple of those guys, because we had two bye weeks, got a lot of work. Jagusah, Otting, all those guys, they’ve all kind of stepped up and played roles. Had to snap the football with [Otting]. I’m trying to think of when they did. I know Jagusah came up and had to do some stuff to fill in. Sam Pendleton and Sully, all those guys, we feel really good about those guys as young linemen. They needed to redshirt and needed some time, but it’s going to be fun to see them develop.”
More play action vs. Wake Forest. Is that because of something the defense was doing?
“This word, I am like — this word, play action, I feel like we need to — play action. Um...”
What does play action mean to you? (said half-jokingly)
“Yeah, there we go. Yeah. Who they were as a defense promoted it. We want to be that. Be anything that gives us a chance to make the ball go that way (points ahead). But they did. They showed some things that allowed you to think you could put the ball and create conflict against them, and it paid of for us. There were some things that hit for us that was good to see. Yeah. Every week we have to find ways. I think sometimes ‘play action’ is like these big, heavy, under center, crazy good fakes and lift the ball. But sometimes it can just be action nakeds. I thought it was good to get some of our nakeds up too. Got some good play out of that, especially coming out of the second half with the big one. It helped us, and we moved the pocket a little bit from them. There are many different ones. But it was good for us.”
Why was the ball moving as well as it had for you since September?
“There is a lot. One, is a lot of two weeks of prep. There's a lot of stuff. That was a hard two weeks on all of us. This program, me, our staff, everybody. It should be. We understand expectations. But there's a lot of good there. There is. I’m not saying that to defend myself. I’m talking about to our staff and our players. There's a lot of good there. And when you get caught in big games and road games and tough looks and all those things, the margin, just the room for error, kind of shrinks. Sometimes in conflict games, man games, whatever it is, small errors turn into big errors. We’re trying to close the gap with that, no matter who we play. For two weeks of prep, we went through the game with four missed assignments as a full offense. That’s extremely low. Missed assignments equal execution. Execution equals efficiencies on first and second down. Takes us to a lower number of third downs. That rolls the points. That’s as simple as it really is. We were more efficient, we executed at a higher level, we knew the game plan and didn’t make as many mistakes at times. Those things turned out to obviously push us.”
How much more do you know about Steve Angeli now from this season?
"We do. We do. There is a lot of belief in Steve Angeli to be honest with you. I'll take all of it when it doesn't go well, but just like the last one he threw, I didn't call that play. We had a different set on. He checked to the play, because he saw man coverage and they brought 'Saw 0.' They brought Saw 0, he gives a little 'hootie hoo,' taps it out and does his deal, because he's empowered to do so, and he did it and lit it up. Touchdown. That's a quarterback play and being prepared from [quarterbacks coach] Gino [Guidugli] to do so. And he felt empowered enough to not come over to the sideline and be like, 'Coach, are you made that I ...' No. They brought Saw 0. You knew the adjustment and answered. It's good."
What’s the worst number of missed assignments you’ve had in a single game?
“Golly, thanks. Nothing like ‘oh my goodness,' but we’ve been to 10 or 12s. We’ve been to 10 or 12s. And then when you tack on big moments, that goes ‘boom.’ Some of the moments we’ve already discussed and little things maybe you don’t see. We ran through a zone window when it was zone instead of man. I can go on and on, but we’ve been there before. You tack on the big moments and it just multiples.”
How do you replicate what you did against Wake Forest?
“Yeah, no kidding.”
Easy question, not an easy answer?
“Yeah, that’s right. I think that — I hope, I pray — our guys and our staff would say our process, the way I’ve behaved to our staff, our players and all the leadership of it, hasn’t changed. You have to stay true to this thing. Believe in your staff and players. Empower people around you and stay the course. And even at 42 years old say, ‘Hey, we’re doing the right things. You’ve got to believe in this thing.’ Empower people to feel like they belong on that football field for a reason to make great plays and do that. I hope that’s what they feel. I hope that’s what we continue to do through this one and our bowl game. Just continue for this offense to take steps toward what everybody wants it to. And then I hope it creates a little bit of this momentum and multiplying effect to where you’re going to see something that we’ll all be very proud of when this thing finishes.”
What does it say about wide receivers Chansi Stuckey and your development that you can rely on freshman wide receivers? How does that illustrate how far that position needs to come to avoid a repeat of that?
“It speaks volumes to what Chansi has done with the room. There's no way to give guys empowered feeling, get experience and make plays other than to do it. And that’s the growing pains of it. That’s a tough position to be in, let’s be honest. But it’s one we’re in and we’ve got to fight through to get there. And then it’s got to be a position where that room, us as a staff, me as a coordinator have to make sure we never get in that position again. We certainly are taking strides to it. And it’s a testament to those kids who have put in extra time into learning how to be pros at their level and committing to what the process is and what they’ve got to do to play at a high level on game days. It’s a process, and sometimes at this level you don’t get that time to do so.”
Did Eli Raridon need that moment for his development?
“Yes. I think so. I would not be telling the truth if we said no. I think he did. And not that he was in a bad place. It's just when you unlock another key to your game coming back from what he’s went through. And you get to that point, catch the football the way he did and run with it and kind of have both worlds come together in block and pass, I just think it put him in a confidence mode that he had not yet gotten to. And now, he played his best football minus the touchdown. Throw that into it, you’ve got yourselves a chance for him to continue to grow and become a special player.”
