Rapid Fire: Kirk Herbstreit Talks Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman, Jaylen Sneed, Biagi On Rendell

Vince we're on a little bit of a crunch so you ready for Rapid Fire Let's Go rapid fire I actually just realized what time it is and we said before that you know we great time yeah that's right it's a party it's the I cocktail hour with Yingling provided so you can't get it like through the screen here I know that'd be nice like just salty just kind of send it right over so Kirk KB Street was on the Pat McAfee show this week and they talked a little bit about marus Freeman in Notre Dame this one starts with one of McAfee's Sidekicks Boston Connor asking herb Street about Marcus Freeman Notre Dame there's a video of Marcus Freeman kind of getting the boys going before the game how do you feel about their performance obviously on offense kind of dude I appreciate you going there because man I walked out of there I'm glad you brought him up I forgot to bring him up I love that I love that me too a AJ knows him better anybody um played with James leonitis part of the Ohio State linebacking crew that was fantastic uh Wayne Warrior uh but he is an absolute I don't know if there's another coach that relates to the players better genuinely authentically uh than Marcus Freeman and uh you know he's got Jim Trestle you know and and his style and playing for him you know he even told me before the game hey a punts okay you know breaking in a freshman left tackle you know we got some new people up there and then he's like look at right in the fourth quarter I told you like he told his guys we're gonna find a way to win this thing in the fourth quarter so you know not another coach in the country who relates to players like Freeman you know I think it's something that that we're probably pretty aware of you know like we know what Marcus Freeman is in terms of his relationships with the players and stuff like that but what do you think of like the impact when when someone like herb Street sees that you know and talking about it in this way it's clearly in the minority as far as the stuff that I've heard so far so I was a little bit surprised I mean everybody thinks that Kirk herb Street hates Notre Dame and all this stuff it doesn't hurt that there's an Ohio State graduate leading Notre Dame right now I'm sure that doesn't hurt the cause any oh we're gonna go we're gonna go I'm just saying it doesn't hurt that's all say the Ohio State connection I didn't even think about it that way just saying doesn't hurt I'm not saying it's why I'm just saying it doesn't hurt okay but no he was very complimentary and I think everything that he said is legit and I had listened to these comments earlier today it must have yeah it must have been this morning I had listened to these comments and I was a little bit surprised because he didn't hold anything back from the love standpoint I mean he was loving some Notre aim uh with his comments which is a little bit of a cry from what he was saying at the end of the actual game itself so I honestly I feel like you're a little butt hurt over a little comment at the end of the game I am a little but hurt about that I'm not going to lie I think that I think that was it was uh it was Reckless Sean it was Reckless wow we're going to court now this like Lial slander Nick says where was this love and admiration during the broadcast I will say see that like watching herb Street you know like we're hearing him but like watching him and you know just just like his demeanor when he's on with on that McAfee show is so different than when he's when he's doing the broadcast and you know honestly I feel like he's he's a lot just more you know like you talk about I feel like he's a lot more just sort of honest and free flowing and and willing to give more opinion because I think that this would be my read on it sitting in a you know having satin broadcast booths and you have to like for for games it's like when you sit there everything that you say is going to be parsed and picked apart in term like even people reading into things you know exactly what he means about this and that and sure everything else and I think that um I think that it's good that you you got to see what struck me is just hearing Kirk herbstreet give his honest opinion right of of Marcus Freeman and we'll hear some more you know comments about you know what he has to say about Notre Dame as well just like in this setting I think we got a we got more from Kirk herb Street than we probably you know actually got in the booth in a long time I think he he he tempers what he says in the booth he's trying to be more professional and obviously the pat acav show is a little less than that so he's a little bit more comfortable to kind of speak his mind and so I me we you know we've talked about this before we were just talking about Cheryl swoops and what she did or didn't say about Caitlyn Clark in a broadcast game setting which is completely different than a talk show because like we talked remember a couple of years ago there was a little bit of a minor controversy when Olivia miles was healthy and Deb anelli one of the game analysts she works for you know like ESPN and ACC Network and all that stuff and I think she's in the North Carolina hall of fame or you know something NC State hall of fame or something like that but you know like the comments she there were there comments she made like well would you rather have miles would you rather have C and I just felt like that's more a show for that's like a debate show topic that's not that's not now it doesn't go to to like what swoops was was was talking about but I just feel like there are things that that should be brought up in a game and shouldn't be brought up in a game like there there are just certain directions that you can't go but you can go there in a more open form like a podcast or a talk show or whatever it happens to be and and and I will also say like I said it was a more laid-back position but I think he also had time to reflect on the game itself when when you're in the moment of a game and you're watching a game you know and you're seeing it all and you're commenting on it there's certain things that you could miss there's certain things that you see that you latch on to maybe too much I've been guilty of that you know what I mean when you're trying to analyze a game and do all of these different things so I do think at least one or two days removed he's had an opportunity to kind of think back and and and you know reflect on the actual game and so I I tend to take these comments more seriously than I do the comments he had during the game that makes sense no I mean it's a little bit like I was thinking about this with Brian Kelly today like I've said this before when Brian Kelly was here even Brian Kelly should not do postgame press conferences right he is far too emotional and we saw that the other night Brian Kelly should stay away from postgame press conference he should just do the Monday press conference when he's had time to get away from it reflect a little bit because he can actually you know like come up with thoughts and not explode you know in front of the cameras out there and it's a little bit the same you know you kind of have a little bit of time away and just we all rewatch games and stuff like that and you have different feels for what you see when you're rewatching it compared to when you saw it live right first time 100% shoot as a coach I feel the same way yeah yeah there's a reason they go back and look at game film right right okay so here's a little bit more McAfee and Herb Street on on uh Marcus Freeman an easy gig being a Notre Dame head coach so that's your first that's your first head job you're the head coach with Notre Dame couldn't even faom that's tough that's a tough as tough a ask in the college game as there is but I tell you what's great is he's being himself like you said but when you talk to him I I hopefully we do a Notre Dame game day cuz I'd love for you two to hang out you talk to him you're just you become a bigger fan oh yeah way bigger fan I mean he is as good of a guy as there is and it's no wonder they're recruiting well the program's doing this with him I mean they're they're only they're just beginning in my opinion of where they're going with with him as a head coach so when he said the program's doing this he was he was pointing like he went like straight up not even like a yeah he was like exactly you again some pretty High Praise there for M from KK herb Street it absolutely was and I agree obviously with what he's saying it is a very tough thing for this to be your first you know job there's no doubt about it I mean it's it's extremely tough and I think there was a learning curve there as well I think we all had you know we've been watching him learn on the job for Better or For Worse but I also agree with the fact that he is genuine and what you see is what you get with Marcus Freeman he's not a different guy at least in my experience and I I I see him outside of the Notre Dame bubble you know at at at some of his kids events and things like that like he is who he is like there's no there there's I don't think that there's a Persona I I think it's this is me man and if you don't like it cool if you do let's go I I I just think that that's who he is and I think the players can feel how genuine it is yeah I mean the players if it was phony the players would just roll their eyes and would matter you know yes like like when other guys have tried to have whatever you know kind of fight like I think you know you can read that pretty easily and obviously I don't think that's a thing but it you know it it is I think that that was one of the biggest questions for Freeman because you're going from a coordinator to being a head coach at Notre Dame with the spotlight and the pressure and all the expectation that comes with it didn't work out very well for Bob Davey yeah call the last the last coordin to get an opportunity like that didn't work out very well even Charlie Weiss like there was some initial success but remember he was a coordinator as well had never been a head coach before college Notre Dame yeah I mean and that was the biggest issue that was the biggest issue yeah for sure because he treated it like an NFL great offensive mind but just sure it was the college aspect and how to develop and build a program which is essentially what led to obviously to Brian Kelly being the head coach complete opposite so how about this one from herb Street on his impressions of what stood out to him about Notre Dame players when he saw him Saturday night they're only going to get better with Ryland Leonard at quarterback and that offensive line is so young when they come together uh I like the skill when they just you know how you look at when a team comes on the field Pat you're big on that like wow TCU they're big like Notre Dame through recruiting through the portal they look so so different than where they were a few years ago they used to always have big linemen big tight ends Big D lineman big linebackers and their skill it just looks different they're long they're bouncing athletic guys that really stood out to me Vince I don't know about you I mean you know there are obviously some people who just look at recruiting rankings and they're like well is Marcus Freeman really moving the needle but you know again like herb Street travels all over the country and regardless of what you think of him like he sees what elite players look like and you know so he he you know he knows the difference in what that looks like so that that really stood out to me hearing him say that about the change in a short amount of time that he's seen from what Notre Dame players look like right well again the vast majority of the guys on the field are Marcus Freeman guys right and so if he's saying that about this team he's saying that about Marcus Freeman and bringing these guys in so I appreciate that he has noticed I just don't appreciate what he says next which almost seems like a complete like 180 from what he just said this is this is Vince in a nutshell man like you can say 80 good things but you say one thing that gets in its C just he's he's just gonna remember you forever he's gonna hate you forever he's gonna yell at you to get off his lawn let's just go ahead and hear it freshly cut long uh you look at their schedule probably going to be favored in every game they play the game at the end of the year setting with USC at the LA Coliseum interesting game to remember and to put on the the back of your mind but Notre Dame is uh I think they're mature they got a great uh group together I think they're they're a team that's going to be in the playoff without a doubt it's just a matter of how much better and how much better can they get and can they stay healthy because I don't know what kind of depth uh they have right now massive win in College Station in front of that crowd obviously showing up big everything that's a huge win however pans very interesting they're going to be in the playoff but he's not sure about the depth I really that was the head scratcher to me there right Vince I think you feel the same because he just said he they walked out on the field they're big they're massive they're fast they're long but I don't know about their depth like I will give him a pass okay because of all the good things that he said I will give him a pass because I feel like he's a national guy who you know I I don't really have an issue what's he really GNA know about Notre Dame in one game right and I'm okay with that like you're not going to have the opportunity to really dive into the depth and all of that of every single team that you cover you're going to know who the starters are the contributors are the guys you're actually gonna have to talk about in the game so if you don't know that this is the deepest Notre Dame team that has been here in decades you know what Kirk I'll give you that cool I'll I'll I'll that's okay okay with that CU you know like I think it was in the countdown show when when you and Jesse and I were together last week what did we do the one word to describe noted a and my word was deep this is the deepest roster they have had that that I can remember and like um Leonard Moore played out there Saturday night against Texas A&M good point freshman true freshman true freshman right out there you know like the the only two position group you know obviously the offensive line stayed out there the whole night Leonard stayed out there the whole night but three running backs you know that was and three tight ends like those were the only two position groups that only played three guys like all those POs like look at the rotation of the defensive line like I would I would have thought that the depth of that defensive line would have stood out considering how that game played out in the qu you know right in the depth that was a little surprising but he was very complimentary otherwise he does think Notre Dame he was playoffs that's why I'm giving him a pass but like clearly the depth was there at linebacker you rotated Five Guys the depth at line or defensive line was there you know you rotated a bunch of guys there like clearly the depth was there but you know he said a lot of nice stuff so I'll let it go yeah let it go maybe Brian just jumping in Kirk herb street is the KH that is being referenced talking about K CB street so some interesting comments that I thought that he had fill in the blank it's blank that Jaylen Sneed said the last time he saw Marcus Freeman as fired up as he was last Saturday night was after the Marshall game two years ago it's fantastic frankly because he should have been fired up after that game for all the wrong reasons right I mean right I wouldn't I that that is not a a that is not a Time where you walk in the locker room and you're like all right guys you know what let's just flush this loss you know we're gonna we're not even going to watch the film we're going to move on like it's not time for that it's time for them to know that that's completely unacceptable period and it's not only unacceptable by the players it's unacceptable for the coaches and the support staff and the nutrition St everybody it's unacceptable right he should be fired up for that but I think that's a very interesting reference I didn't know he was that fired up I love that he was though like love it he didn't show that again like he stayed restrained obviously on the field but he obviously was you know was lighting into some people afterwards whether the cameras were actually on and and rolling it it it does strike me that not Dame did host Ohio State last year you know that was obviously a season after Marshall and he wasn't nearly as fired up like was he because it was his Alma moer and the hype around it and everything else was he restraining himself self a little bit I don't know I just I will say a lot of people have wanted to see a more fired up Marcus Freeman I I think that his emotion needs to be whoever he is again like going back to his authenticity I don't think he needs to you know to push it and you know like well like now I need to you know whatever kind of thing he just like if that's his personality he just needs to to let that personality drive him in whatever direction that he thinks is best for his team I will be kind of curious to see again like what that looks like this week when the atmosphere is going to look a lot different at that's fair that's fair I don't think he's gonna come out all fired up the way he did right you know because then it looks manufactured right you know what I mean because I don't think it be that fired up but at the same time whatever whatever the motivation job is I think that right I think that that's being reinforced this week because Sneed also did say that that they're you know they are taking this game very seriously like they don't look at it differently and that's ultimately I think how this season is going to be judged because if that's actually the case and they play that way all season I don't see anybody being able to beat them I see an unbeaten team going into the playoff at the end of the year if they're able to sustain and and do that throughout the course of the Year Notre Dame's favored by 28 and a half points this weekend against Northern Illinois scale of 1 to 10 once your confidence they cover that number like a six and a half seven because when it when it's that high you're Go I mean they should win by that much yeah exactly because you just never know how the end of the game is gonna shake out because Notre Dame's gonna have some backups in Northern Illinois might have some backups in you know how long does Northern Illinois keep their starters in against Notre Dame's backups like I you just don't know how that's going to go you know what I mean and so I don't I wouldn't touch that line even though I think they should win by that much if not more but those big numbers man it get just gets a little bit scary and the offense wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders last week so you know if that was the case if I've seen them put up you know some major yards and points and things like that I'd be a little bit more apt to it but finals look I'm a 10 that they're going to win but you know to win by that much I'm like a six and a half or seven yeah I think I'm a seven seven and a half for the reasons that you talked like you said the offense wasn't firing on all cylinders but at the same time they weren't playing Western Illinois they were playing Texas but but again I need to see what this looks like against a team like this before before I'm willing to be fully confident that they're going to cover these kind of because they they were big they were big favorites a lot of times last year the last two years basically and they haven't come anywhere close you know we thought that they were going to take it to the next level against some of these teams that were supposed to be pretty bad but it hasn't happened so my confidence is more in that seven range I you know I I will say this in you know last year they took care of business against the crappy teams right 42-3 against Navy 56-3 against Tennessee State uh 4524 against NC State even though that was supposed to be a tough game Central Michigan they won 417 um let's see what's oh and pit they won 58 to7 so I mean they and they were better last year 45 to7 against Wake Forest and 56 to 23 against Stanford like all right I'll push mine up to an eight my confence is an eight I'm like trying to convince myself I think at this point but like if we're just looking at last year I think they do take care of business against teams that they should so okay I'll up mine to like a seven and a half eight yeah I mean obious obviously that was that was the knock on last year's team right they more than took care of the teams that they should but against the better teams couldn't get over that hump you know you couldn't be better fill in the blank it's blank that Irish special teams coordinator Marty baji says the way James Rendell punted against Texas A&M was part of the game plan do you want me to read the quote or okay sure yeah read the quote so he said quote there was a a lot of game plan into it we always want to make sure in that kind of environment first game what he felt like for sure was what he was comfortable with that's a good that's the good part he's so diverse but even in the game we made a couple different calls or checks that we hadn't necessarily practiced because of some of the different things they were doing he did a great job being able to adjust really can put the ball anywhere on the field which is an asset end quote from Marty Bashi it's hogwash I'm going back to the word I Ed earlier in the show because look the end result was you know what like almost 43 yards average on the five punts okay that that's okay but those line drives you're out kick you're literally out kicking your coverage you're not allowing them to get down the field and so you look a 10 yard return on a punts too much that that's too much if if he is who he's being advertised as and I think he probably is but in this game he wasn't he's supposed to be the five 5.0 you know 55 yard kick guy that by the time the ball comes down he's surrounded by a bunch of Notre Dame guys and forcing a fair catch you know it didn't look like that it it looked a little too nonchalant for my taste and a little too too line drivey for my taste I would agree with both of those I don't know if the nonchalant the line drivey I just feel like if I'm like you know reading what baji says they were very safe they they were playing it safe out there in that environment kind of like they were playing it safe with the offensive line they didn't want a guy in you know a a big environment like that the first real big environment that he's ever been in because remember again he said the biggest crowd that he'd ever been in front of before that when he was in Australia was when he was playing in you know like some 17u national championship like 20,000 so the crowd was five times bigger than he's ever been in front of and just everything you don't want some crazy special teams play to be the difference in a win or a loss so I can see them you know kind of playing it safe with a guy who's never been in that kind of pressure pack situation before but line drives aren't playing it safe that allows them to return no I agree that's like the one part like because the coverage because what was one of the things they needed to get better at compared to last year the punt coverage not letting them have those extra yards and stuff like that now he didn't shank it out of bounds or anything like that and so okay cool that's great it was it was it was an average outing like I'm not mad about it I was just expecting more so you know let's see what he can do at home uh you know this week maybe I'll see big booming punts this weekend at Notre Dame I mean they might not have to punt who knows well that's fair too I mean you look I'm not expecting him to look like a traditional punter you know because he's never done it before I'm just expecting to you know what we've been told that he does that that's what I'm expecting you know supposedly he was booming them during pregame 70 yard kicks you know all this other stuff well didn't translate herck I tend to agree with you he says he's never punted in college football he wasn't sure of the Full Throttle timing he was rushing punts I could tell and I did you know that's what I said like those first couple especially he it felt like maybe like he was feeling pressure on you know like in terms of the rush on him that wasn't there like he was you know like very conscious of trying to get it out early and they weren't that great as a result well this is going to sound negative and that's kind of my thing but that and that so that's okay but that's that's on the coaching staff then heat him up in practice I don't understand why he was so like shaken in a game with with them coming after him they heat up the offensive line in practice but they played it safe with them in terms of what they were doing so true but they didn't give up any sacks either no but you know James renell didn't didn't make any negative plays in the punt game so he did not no he did not we're just gonna have the the harshest punter critic all season long in Vince Dario is what we're gonna have I think we need to bring on the other Dario who's actually an expert on the subject you might have to but just don't promise me 5.0 50 plus every time and not deliver that's all I'm saying don't give me the promises you got to deliver that's all that's going to do it for tonight Vince has got a roll good stuff a lot of good questions in the mailbag earlier tonight tomorrow is we in we out day so uh don't forget to go to the new Champions Lounge submit your we in we out questions for tomorrow's show we'll have uh some of the latest comments from Marcus Freeman at the start of the show as well from his noon Zoom call with the media that is not broadcast to the public so we'll have some of that on tomorrow's show as well Vince enjoyed it as always I will talk to you on Friday yes sir ready and waiting that'll be when we do countdown to kickoff of course until then hit the like button before you leave and of course subscribe rate and review and we will talk to you later on IB Nation Sports socer