The coach did not call for any executions.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish head football coach Marcus Freeman met with journalists Thursday as the team aims to bounce back from its 16-14 loss to the Northern Illinois Huskies last weekend. The coach dropped names, cleared up sideline remarks and illustrated the Irish mentality as they prepare for the Purdue Boilermakers.
The Irish QB
On the state of Irish signal caller Riley Leonard’s practice since the NIU game, Freeman said, “Nobody’s roles have changed. Riley’s had a really good week of practice. He’s made some really good throws and done a really good job at decision-making, taking care of the football, and everybody else has done a great job, too, in terms of what they’ve been asked to do, but no one’s been asked to do anything differently this week than previously.”
Clarifying Comments
Leonard had spoken ahead of the NIU game about wanting to test limits against the Huskies. Before the matchup, Freeman said to NBC’s Zora Stephenson that he wanted to see Leonard “play within the offense,” and continued, “Do exactly what your coaches tell you to do, play within the game plan and the rest will take care of itself.”
Freeman explained Thursday, “I don’t want my comments with Zora to be misconstrued that me and Riley weren’t on the same page. I think Riley was excited for the opportunity to go out there and compete on Saturday. And I was really intent on making sure our guys focused on just getting their job done, doing the job that their coaches tell them to do. And that’s probably more so what I meant by those comments, as far as the coaches and players on the same page. It does take time, like anything that we’ve done, anything we do.”
Freeman continued, “With experience comes improvement. I think what Riley and Coach [Mike] Denbrock and Coach [Gino] Guidugli, they’re continuously being intentional about making sure we are very clear on what we want out of the plays that we call. Sometimes, we might give too much freedom. We have to make sure that we are very clear on what is expected, but there also is a part of playing the game at quarterback that you have to give them certain freedoms to make good decisions. That’s just been something that I think we’ve been continuously working on. It’s important that us, as coaches, we call plays that our players feel very confident about.
Intentional and Impactful
On the effect and growth of Irish linebacker Jaiden Ausberry considering his strong showing in the third and fourth quarters against NIU, Freeman said, “Jaiden has improved tremendously from year one to year two. He is still improving and he’s doing a really good job of practicing at a high level and you see him playing at a high level in the games. He’s a guy that’s helping our defense. He’s a guy that, like a lot of our players, just wants to get better and is really intentional about practicing that way and it’s showing up in the games.”
The Mental Game
On the Irish mentality since coming down from the win against Texas A&M, Freeman said, “The mindset after a big victory, ‘how do you handle success?’ That’s completely different than the mindset you have after a defeat. Our guys have been great this week: hungry, extremely driven, competitive, want to improve, embarrassed. But they’re ready to grow. But I think the biggest challenge we have to learn from week one to week two is how to handle success. [There will come a time] when that challenge, we’ve got to make sure that we’re ready for, no matter what the previous game’s outcome was.”
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