Marcus Freeman, head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, met with reporters on Thursday after his team’s 23-13 win over the Texas A&M Aggies. Before the Irish face the Northern Illinois Huskies, the coach spoke to them about training, development and confidence.
Employing talent
When asked what makes defensive end Jordan Botelho an “unstoppable force” for the team, Freeman said, “Jordan has really good God-given skills. In my four years here, I’ve seen him be able to turn talent into real skills. That’s because of his preparation and the work he’s put in. He’s in his third year in (Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al’s) system and he knows exactly what’s expected of him in every defense we put out. It shows in the game. He’s a talented football player, but talent and skill are two different things, and you’ve seen Jordan be able to turn his talent into real skills that are relevant to this defense now.”
About the Irish tight ends
As for what he expects from tight end Mitchell Evans heading into the new season following his season-ending knee injury last year, Freeman said, “Mitch played about 10 games against A&M and he’s increased the number of scrimmages he’s been able to do, and he’s not a finished product yet. He’s going to continue to increase the volume of what we’re asking him to do for us on Saturdays. I expect we’ll see more than 10 games, but I also understand he’s on his way to really becoming the best version of Mitch. I’m really happy with … where he’s developed, but we also have to be smart about our expectations of … He practiced in fall camp, but he wasn’t able to do everything. So I don’t know how many games he’s going to play … We’ve got to continue to work on increasing his load every week.”
On the tight ends, Freeman said, “I’m really pleased with the tight ends team overall. (Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike) Denbrock has done a great job of really developing some of the other guys (like) Cooper Flanagan and Eli Raridon, and they played really well. They make mistakes like everybody else, but I was really pleased with how they played Saturday and their development as football players in blocking and even in the passing game. But they’ve really got the technique and the part of being a tight end that involves blocking, and I’m excited to see what they do on Saturday.”
It’s all about trust
On building confidence in wide receiver Beaux Collins after he enrolled in the summer, Freeman said, “He has a great work ethic. His body can take a lot. He trains at a really high level and he played at a high level. It’s so hard to play that position sometimes because you can do exactly what you’re supposed to do and you don’t always get the reward of getting the ball or getting the stats you want, but Beaux was a consistent team player. He was a leader by example and vocal for the wide receivers and he was a great teammate.”
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