Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman met with reporters Monday in South Bend, Ind., less than 48 hours after the Irish fell to 0-2 following a 41-40 loss to Texas A&M.
Here are three things we learned from Freeman as the No. 24 Irish turn their focus to Saturday’s game against Purdue.
1. Freeman put it on himself and his staff to figure out how to fix the execution problems on defense.
Notre Dame allowed Texas A&M to rack up 488 yards of offense, including 275 on eight explosive pass plays.
Freeman said in his postgame news conference Saturday night he believed the defensive issues stemmed more from a lack of execution than from new defensive coordinator Chris Ash’s play calls. And he stressed Monday that the coaches must figure out how to fix the execution issues.
“What does lack of execution come down to?” Freeman said. “It could be a lack of focus, a lack of proper technique, a lack of understanding what’s expected, a personnel issue where you’re asking someone to do something they can’t do consistently. All of those things are the responsibility of us as coaches.”
Freeman emphasized he’s evaluating what he tolerates in terms of practice and preparation habits. He gave multiple examples of how coaches should evaluate such habits as it relates to giving up explosive plays.
“You can say this guy didn’t have his eyes where they needed to be,” Freeman said. “Well, you can say it’s the player’s fault, or you can say, ‘OK, were there times in practice that maybe your player didn’t have his eyes in the right spot, and the outcome might have been different but we tolerated it?’
“If a guy had a mental error on a play, he went the wrong way. You can make yourself feel better and say, ‘Well, that’s his fault. We did it right one time in practice.’ Or you can say, ‘Did we do it enough ’til we couldn’t get it wrong?’
“A guy gets beat deep on a big-play pass. If he’s not playing with the proper technique, did we stress him enough with speed in practice so that he understands the velocity that you have to be able to play with the proper technique?”
2. Freeman might spend more time with the defense amid the struggles.
Freeman said Saturday night he wasn’t considering stripping Ash of defensive play-calling duties just two games into his Irish tenure. Ash, who has been a coordinator and position coach at multiple major college and NFL stops and was the Rutgers head coach from 2016-19, took over this season for Al Golden, now the Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator.
But Freeman, who rose the coaching ranks as a defensive position coach and coordinator, said he might invest more of his time on that side of the ball.
“As a head coach, as a leader, it’s important to wear the hat that’s necessary in that moment, no matter if it’s offense, defense, special teams, recruiting,” he said. “I spend a lot of time with our defense. That’s obviously where my background is. I’ll continue to do it.
“Will I spend more time? Maybe. If that’s what’s necessary, I will. I’ll spend more time there. I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure we improve and we have a performance we believe is the standard of Notre Dame football.”
Notre Dame boasted one of the best defenses in the nation last season under Golden, totaling an FBS-best 33 takeaways and allowing just 15.5 points per game, tied for fourth.
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In two losses this season to now-No. 4 Miami and No. 10 Texas A&M, the Irish have one takeaway and one sack and are allowing 413.5 yards and 34 points per game.
Freeman repeated that he doesn’t think it’s the play calls or the scheme.
“There are some new wrinkles, but it’s not a new system,” Freeman said. “It’s easy to say it’s one person or a new coordinator. It’s all of us — in terms of our players, our coaches, myself — evaluating where the lack of execution came from, why is it happening and what each of us can do to fix it.”
3. Freeman believes quarterback CJ Carr will be an ‘unbelievable player.’
In his second career start Saturday, Carr completed 20 of 32 passes for 293 yards and a touchdown with one interception and two sacks. He had many good moments but also was quick to shoulder the blame in his postgame news conference for some of his mistakes.
Carr said his interception — on which he tried to sail the football over Texas A&M’s leaping three-technique tackle, resulting in a tipped pass — “just can’t happen.” He expressed regret for clapping his hands in frustration as he walked away from the line at the end of the first half, a mistake that could have been worse if Jeremiyah Love hadn’t recovered the snapped ball. Carr called it “selfish” when he missed a block for Love in the Wildcat formation.
Amid the ups and downs, Freeman said Carr is “as solid as any individual I’ve been around.” He believes the moment isn’t too big for him, despite some of the miscues.
“As I told him yesterday when I met with him, the ceiling I have for CJ Carr is extremely high,” Freeman said Monday. “He is doing things right now that are really, really good. I’m talking about really good. But sometimes he needs to hear how great he can be. He can be really special.”
Freeman’s comments echoed the big praise Carr received from Love right after the game.
“His future is very bright,” Love said. “CJ could become one of the best quarterbacks in college football, and I really see that. I see the work he puts in every single day. I see his leadership growing every single day.
“I have a lot of respect for CJ. I just see a lot of greatness in him.”