Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker spoke to local beat writers Tuesday evening. Here's a transcript of that conversation. Questions may be paraphrased.
GERAD PARKER
When you’re trying to build confidence, do you look at the things you’ve done well? Or do you look at the things you didn’t and find better ways to do them well?
“I think you have to. It’s the toughest thing in sport. How do you build confidence? Everybody says you have to build confidence through work ethic and all these things. Those are all true. But what’s also true is you don’t build confidence until you see the ball do something positive. I always equate it to the young days of basketball. It’s hard to say I’m get better at my shot until the thing goes in the hoop. There is positive affirmation from past success, which leads to future success, all the staff. Those guys, they’re smart. They’re sharp. They know. They know success. They know when we don’t hit our mark together. We know all those things. So you have to remind them of that. They’re pros enough to understand, hey, we didn’t our mark or I have to do this better. How do I get it done better? Then we get lost in the work of it. Yeah, it matters.”
When you’ve looked at the bad of those games, do you say, ‘I should have called something different,’ or ‘This was execution.’? How do you blend that?
“It’s a good question. I stand with our staff and our players. You have to have a belief in them knowing — I think if you come up there, I would hope. I’d be really pissed off if [not]. Our players know we believe in them. Our guys are happy here. They’re happy in our locker room. They’re happy with the way we treat them and coach them to be better. Now, that being said, there’s always stuff. I try to stay away from it. You guys know why. It’s really hard to do your job if you read too much. So I have to stay out of it to serve our staff and players the right way. But, at the same time, if you care about the players and the staff you serve, you’re always going to stay up and wake up in the middle of the night wondering, ‘Should I have …? Should we have used this? Should we have called this? What could I have done differently?’ If not, you’re sure to fail. That’s what’s kept humility within me maybe throughout a whole career when we’ve done well and hit our mark and when we fell short. I definitely have questioned those things. When you go back to it though, you stand behind — I mean this, and I don’t mean this wrong way. I stand behind the job we’ve done, the game plans you’ve put together, and that doesn’t mean we have to do them better. There’s things on that tape from the Clemson that we all collectively together would say, and I hope you guys like at it and say, ‘Ugh, if we just execute that the way I know we can, the way I believe as a coordinator we can, we feel really good about that result.’ Unfortunately, there were too many of those in that game that we didn’t. Then it falls on me first. I know Sam [Hartman] tries to own everything. That’s not true. It’s me. It’s me. We’ll own that together. Then hopefully we’ll all stand on top of the hill one day together, too.”
How often do you see the execution Tuesday-Thursday out here and then not see it for whatever reason on Saturdays?
“There are moments of that, for sure. Honestly, there won’t be — you guys don’t care that we’re young. You guys don’t care that we’re young at wideout. But you could take it back to detailing like even Rico [Flores Jr.] when he runs the corner route at home when we start against Pitt. I firmly believe tomorrow or next year he sticks that route sooner and we start with a corner ball in the end zone. That’s a touchdown that he took too deep that we start with a bad result. We know that. But sometimes growing through those things is the only way a young guy learns how to play. That doesn’t mean we want that result. It doesn’t mean you all want the result. But standing in that fire and learning how, sometimes there’s only one way to do it. I could tell you that he would have stuck it sooner. I’m just using that as an example. I’m not trying to bury anything on him. But it’s just those things happen. Sometimes when the bullet flies and there’s 78,000 people over there, sometimes the body responds differently as you learn how.”
What’s fair to expect from a wide receiver group that has three freshmen, one of them who is a lacrosse guy, and a converted running back?
“It’s fair to expect greatness, which is what is expected here. It’s also fair to understand that that’s where we are. We have to get them there. It’s my job to get them there. But there’s somethings that we’re trying to grow through, and there’s only one way to grow through them. But this place is special, and expectations are high. Nobody understands that more than I do. We’re going to fight like hell every day to try to get to that expectation. That’s what we expect of ourselves. I know the guys do too. We’re going to make it a positive experience for them.”
Where can you bring these tight ends over the last three games? How can you bring them along to help? Because Mitchell Evans became your most consistent weapon.
“He was. He put himself in a really good position. I’m so proud of him for where he got himself to as a pass catcher and run blocker. The expectation doesn’t change of this place. So we’re going to keep bringing our guys along. But I was very happy for him. For what it’s worth, it’s something we forget to ask about. It was great. Mitch is healthy. He came out of surgery healthy. It’s good for him that he did. We’ll get him back and help him out. Then the other guys have to step up. A young Cooper Flanagan goes down there to Clemson and has to play in that football game and play the amount of reps he did is going to be invaluable for him through these next two weeks, through bowl practice and as spring practice goes. I have to keep on repeating it. The expectation’s still high in the tight end room, just like everywhere. So we’re going to bring those guys along, keep on fitting it up, and I hope you see some steps of that this week.”
Was it an impossible task to get the chemistry between Sam Hartman and the receivers where you need it to be based on the youth and the injuries? That makes it tough on a quarterback, I would imagine.
“It’s fair to him. It is. It’s hard. With that being said, we all know society don’t give a shit. But there’s some realities to it. I swear if you all would have looked at it in a man game, because I did. I try to keep up with Katy [Lonergan] and make sure of what you guys, because I respect your all’s job piece of it and questions. You lose play actions when it becomes pieces of a man game. That’s what that game was. So there’s no eye conflict. If I’m guarding Pete, I’m guarding Pete. So what’s happening in action throws, [they don’t care]. We lost that some. When you do that in a man game. In a zone game where you’re able to find some windows and there’s a little bit more room for windows to sit in air in some ways. In a man game, precision, accuracy, route, depth, ball location and all those things are critical. You saw some plusses of that when we did it coming out of the second half and got through those things. Then you saw a good D-coordinator check some stuff and go to middle of the field, closed zone, too. He played the game of chess on us. It’s there. I’m going to be honest with you. But at the same time, we’re pushing like hell to make sure we meet the mark so we can be there.”
(more)
GERAD PARKER
When you’re trying to build confidence, do you look at the things you’ve done well? Or do you look at the things you didn’t and find better ways to do them well?
“I think you have to. It’s the toughest thing in sport. How do you build confidence? Everybody says you have to build confidence through work ethic and all these things. Those are all true. But what’s also true is you don’t build confidence until you see the ball do something positive. I always equate it to the young days of basketball. It’s hard to say I’m get better at my shot until the thing goes in the hoop. There is positive affirmation from past success, which leads to future success, all the staff. Those guys, they’re smart. They’re sharp. They know. They know success. They know when we don’t hit our mark together. We know all those things. So you have to remind them of that. They’re pros enough to understand, hey, we didn’t our mark or I have to do this better. How do I get it done better? Then we get lost in the work of it. Yeah, it matters.”
When you’ve looked at the bad of those games, do you say, ‘I should have called something different,’ or ‘This was execution.’? How do you blend that?
“It’s a good question. I stand with our staff and our players. You have to have a belief in them knowing — I think if you come up there, I would hope. I’d be really pissed off if [not]. Our players know we believe in them. Our guys are happy here. They’re happy in our locker room. They’re happy with the way we treat them and coach them to be better. Now, that being said, there’s always stuff. I try to stay away from it. You guys know why. It’s really hard to do your job if you read too much. So I have to stay out of it to serve our staff and players the right way. But, at the same time, if you care about the players and the staff you serve, you’re always going to stay up and wake up in the middle of the night wondering, ‘Should I have …? Should we have used this? Should we have called this? What could I have done differently?’ If not, you’re sure to fail. That’s what’s kept humility within me maybe throughout a whole career when we’ve done well and hit our mark and when we fell short. I definitely have questioned those things. When you go back to it though, you stand behind — I mean this, and I don’t mean this wrong way. I stand behind the job we’ve done, the game plans you’ve put together, and that doesn’t mean we have to do them better. There’s things on that tape from the Clemson that we all collectively together would say, and I hope you guys like at it and say, ‘Ugh, if we just execute that the way I know we can, the way I believe as a coordinator we can, we feel really good about that result.’ Unfortunately, there were too many of those in that game that we didn’t. Then it falls on me first. I know Sam [Hartman] tries to own everything. That’s not true. It’s me. It’s me. We’ll own that together. Then hopefully we’ll all stand on top of the hill one day together, too.”
How often do you see the execution Tuesday-Thursday out here and then not see it for whatever reason on Saturdays?
“There are moments of that, for sure. Honestly, there won’t be — you guys don’t care that we’re young. You guys don’t care that we’re young at wideout. But you could take it back to detailing like even Rico [Flores Jr.] when he runs the corner route at home when we start against Pitt. I firmly believe tomorrow or next year he sticks that route sooner and we start with a corner ball in the end zone. That’s a touchdown that he took too deep that we start with a bad result. We know that. But sometimes growing through those things is the only way a young guy learns how to play. That doesn’t mean we want that result. It doesn’t mean you all want the result. But standing in that fire and learning how, sometimes there’s only one way to do it. I could tell you that he would have stuck it sooner. I’m just using that as an example. I’m not trying to bury anything on him. But it’s just those things happen. Sometimes when the bullet flies and there’s 78,000 people over there, sometimes the body responds differently as you learn how.”
What’s fair to expect from a wide receiver group that has three freshmen, one of them who is a lacrosse guy, and a converted running back?
“It’s fair to expect greatness, which is what is expected here. It’s also fair to understand that that’s where we are. We have to get them there. It’s my job to get them there. But there’s somethings that we’re trying to grow through, and there’s only one way to grow through them. But this place is special, and expectations are high. Nobody understands that more than I do. We’re going to fight like hell every day to try to get to that expectation. That’s what we expect of ourselves. I know the guys do too. We’re going to make it a positive experience for them.”
Where can you bring these tight ends over the last three games? How can you bring them along to help? Because Mitchell Evans became your most consistent weapon.
“He was. He put himself in a really good position. I’m so proud of him for where he got himself to as a pass catcher and run blocker. The expectation doesn’t change of this place. So we’re going to keep bringing our guys along. But I was very happy for him. For what it’s worth, it’s something we forget to ask about. It was great. Mitch is healthy. He came out of surgery healthy. It’s good for him that he did. We’ll get him back and help him out. Then the other guys have to step up. A young Cooper Flanagan goes down there to Clemson and has to play in that football game and play the amount of reps he did is going to be invaluable for him through these next two weeks, through bowl practice and as spring practice goes. I have to keep on repeating it. The expectation’s still high in the tight end room, just like everywhere. So we’re going to bring those guys along, keep on fitting it up, and I hope you see some steps of that this week.”
Was it an impossible task to get the chemistry between Sam Hartman and the receivers where you need it to be based on the youth and the injuries? That makes it tough on a quarterback, I would imagine.
“It’s fair to him. It is. It’s hard. With that being said, we all know society don’t give a shit. But there’s some realities to it. I swear if you all would have looked at it in a man game, because I did. I try to keep up with Katy [Lonergan] and make sure of what you guys, because I respect your all’s job piece of it and questions. You lose play actions when it becomes pieces of a man game. That’s what that game was. So there’s no eye conflict. If I’m guarding Pete, I’m guarding Pete. So what’s happening in action throws, [they don’t care]. We lost that some. When you do that in a man game. In a zone game where you’re able to find some windows and there’s a little bit more room for windows to sit in air in some ways. In a man game, precision, accuracy, route, depth, ball location and all those things are critical. You saw some plusses of that when we did it coming out of the second half and got through those things. Then you saw a good D-coordinator check some stuff and go to middle of the field, closed zone, too. He played the game of chess on us. It’s there. I’m going to be honest with you. But at the same time, we’re pushing like hell to make sure we meet the mark so we can be there.”
(more)
