Texas A&M | Post-Practice Press Conference (8.27.24) | Notre Dame Football

Al Golden coach how are you doing great thanks just uh what are your impressions as we are just a few days away now from from the opener and where you feel your defense stands yeah I mean we still have a long way to go this week you know we just finished our early downs we'll get into our our third down um uh tomorrow and then uh finish up with Red Zone and some uh special situations on Thursday so we got a long way to go um I like where we are you know but it's a it's a great challenge uh not just their personnel but the scheme and the environment so uh we have a long long way to go here before we can uh get on that plane and go you have a lot of experience obviously but what's the biggest strd you feel you've met from start a camp to this point well I just think we built some depth you know uh as a coach you know you can uh you know we call it the tyranny of comfort right it's easy just to play Jack cuz Jack knows everything but if you you have to wake up certain days and force yourself to turn the reins over to Kingston or to Jaden or or in the in the back end and turn it over to Luke talic or Ben or whoever it is um so that you build depth that way so I think we we have built depth and uh you know we're going to have to play a lot of guys Saturday Colin Klein does some interesting stuff in the Run game how do you prepare for all that as a DC but also prepare the players so you don't overload them yeah I think I mean incredible respect uh for for Colin you know uh you know he's done an unbelievable job wherever he's been and uh just love the scheme you know uh challenging scheme um a lot of different variations to it a lot of forming a lot of shifts a lot of motions um and a lot of different Personnel Group so uh it's a challenge you know they got the quarterback to to that it can run through um so we're going to have to be on our game no doubt then kind of along those lines coach Elco mentioned he had to watch eight nine teams to kind of get a scouting report on Lord Dame's offense what's the challenge of watching preparing for transfers but also what clined at Kansas State yeah so you're trying to put it all together you know what did the guys Personnel wise that are returning to A&M do really well what did the transfers do well and then uh then you know see how you you know make a you know a guess on how they you think they would be used in this system uh again first games it's always better to control your variables uh because you really you don't know what the other variables are so control yours and uh we have to execute Play really well uh play with great effort and intensity and uh and uh just do our job don't make it bigger than it is coach because what has a guy like RJ Obin been able to tell you about what Elco is capable of offensively planning that system at D yeah so um it really that conversation really it really hasn't gone down that path um because it's more you know of what Klein has done certainly there's certain elements uh of how the head coach wants to conduct the game I think that part of it uh is all Elco and I have a great deal of respect for Mike uh and the job that he's done and and obviously the job that he's doing there so um you're trying to pair it together you know but at the end of the day if anybody stands up here and tells you to game one they know uh everything they're going to see um you know that's incorrect you know so we're going to have to be able to adjust adapt and uh play with a lot of PO on game day being that it is kind of unpredictable what's your confidence and the guys that you're putting out there you know you're switching guys out yeah ultimate ultimate confidence and our guys to run what we have to do uh we know the challenges uh that they present both scheme and structurally and and obviously the talent level they have cuz it's it's really good um so again just uh limit limit the limit you know the the explosive plays tackle well uh make sure we're all on the same page just those simple things coach is a game one the game that scares coaches the most because of that unpredictable nature of knowing what to expect yeah maybe um there's a tendency to you know look too broadly um but I I think right now we're in a place where you know we we have to just kind of pair down now and just say okay here's what we're going with and if x y or Z happens we'll we'll plot a different course and what makes their qb1 so talented well I mean he you know I watched all his reps from last year I mean he he threw the ball he stepped up really well in the pocket he threw some seam balls at Miami through the fade uh the inside Fade to number three um uh you know down the field hit nine on Diggs you know they got the back out of the back field he threw a laser wheel route against Miami so uh and then he can win with his feet right so uh they didn't run him per se uh but he can run and uh we're anticipating him running more last question Kennedy eracer popped up on the dep short I guess where's his growth come from since he got here in January again a big change for him is uh that that that time from the end of Spring ball till training camp just working on what he needed to work on his fundamentals um got better with his transitions his back pedal got more comfortable in the scheme he's physical um just got to you know keep getting better and play with poise he's got some guys back there that are really helping him improve every day and we're really pleased with his development thanks guys have a great week thanks coach what Marty Biagi allowed F on in great house to kind of take over that punt returner job I'm sorry what kind of allowed Jordan Faison and great house to take over that punt returner job you know it was good just to get Jordan back you know especially for Camp uh with with the lacrosse season going so long and everything but uh you know we feel like they're a one-w punch kind of dynamic duo and so just being able to show their consistency um show that they uh you know are committed to doing it they want to do it and so um you know then they they have Elite ball skills so that's what we're looking for we have to protect the ball back there and then snapping wise Andrew you know what do you kind of see from them to kind of pencil them in those yeah uh cross has done a great job even all the way back from Spring you know um so you know having him uh again what we're looking for is consistency so him doing the long snaps Reno doing the short snaps and uh making sure they understand they Master their role it's been probably a while since Notre names had return units that could really be dangerous do you feel like this is a group with the talent that you have back there on both kickoff and pun return that that can be a really dangerous group yeah I mean I would I would accredit to the to the buyin of everybody and so uh you know everybody's embracing their role uh but we we definitely have some speed back there that which which is always very exciting and so um but it's not going to work if if somebody doesn't do their job and doesn't uh you know get their block or do their assignment and so uh again it's all 11 have to be on and uh that's the challenge on special teams and getting everybody to to refocus and reload for that one play cuz they might have been coming from an offense or defensive snap so um being really disciplined and detailed is what really I think allows those explosive plays you've been on a stack that's one in college station is there anything from that experience that you can help your players or even the staff with uh you know I I think understanding it's you know uh field is a field you know could show him the movie hooers and and show them when when uh Jean Hackman takes him there to the to the championship and drops the tape measure down but uh no I mean it's a it's a great place to play it was a loud environment um and so you know we're just trying to day by day make sure we maximize every single opportunity and put our players in specific you know chaotic situations so they can uh Focus about you know what happens on the field what's the pros and cons to having two stofers back there I guess um in in the return game what the pros and cons uh I mean guys the pros definitely are that you know you know you're going to have them hopefully for for a couple years um proven they can do it you know I I don't know if there's a con per se as much as just uh getting them into the game you know but the best part is this isn't like they haven't been on the big stage both of them have played you know and so uh it was just a matter of time and so we feel really good especially you know even Jaden Harrison in the kick return game I mean being a a veteran guy but um all those guys are are working every day to be able to perform and we can hear the noise from outside when your guys were practicing here today how much confidence you know you see your guys out here playing and operating that kind of makesh noise do you have guys out you know really confident you know and I think coach Freeman's done a great job making sure that uh when we need to need to stress that environment he does and when we need to Throttle Down and make sure they can hear our coaching points you know uh he does that too so you know um they've played in they've played in big games they've played in big stadiums and and so I think uh I think we'll be ready when it comes to punting how important is maybe that first or second first two punts or so to just get James involved and just have success and and know okay I can do this in this environment sure uh I mean we talk about one play every single time so we don't even worry about whether it's one punt whether it's six punts um he knows what he's you know being called out there to do and to perform but you know just like anything we want to we want to be able to uh send him out there and and know that he can perform in the moment and he's consistently showed that so um we're looking to to to see that happened on Saturday Riley coach Elco Riley Leonard mentioned yesterday that you may have a good feel for his scheme what makes a Mike Elco defense challeng here yeah uh I think I have a really good feel for the defense obviously I've been playing against it uh every day I practice for the past couple years um he obviously has a good feel for for my game and my Tendencies as well but um I think they really do a good job of disguising everything uh everything kind of looks similar pre- snap so if I if I'm able to you know uh you know piece that apart and and uh figure it out I think we we'll be all right and then you played in some hostile environments at Duke how does that kind of help prepare you for what you're going to see yeah yeah obviously it's a huge crowd and it's something you always dream about like as a kid you want to play in these moments I think it's just really cool and and a great opportunity um I'm coming at it as just you know you know my I my mindset is just like be a kid again uh enjoy this obviously I've played in a bunch of big games with a bunch of loud crowds and we've been practicing over with the speaker so um um I think I'm very prepared for it and and really just excited more than anything how how big is that first drive just for you to be back out there live live and just feel that again yeah I mean the first drive uh I just kind of look at it as the whole game but yeah it'll be great to be back out there um you know I feel like I didn't appreciate um how much like I loved and cared for football until it was taken from me and uh obviously it was taken for me for for a long uh for a big majority of the offseason so to be able to get back out there healthy feeling good um taking hits would be a lot of fun for me I just can't wait kind of talked about it just now but the defensive side of things how much have you and RJ oen been able to help each other prepare for Mike two only people here to know the syst yeah of course yeah we we've had a lot of conversations about the defense of course and uh hopefully that's what we'll see on Saturday but you never know these days they had a lot of time to prepare so we're kind of just preparing for anything anything that can be thrown at us obviously with our defense you see a lot of looks and uh things like that so it'll be a lot of fun to to play against that and see if they change anything up El mentioned at media day that you and him had to talk a little bit a little bit about coming up with some sort of a script you know anwers as far as people asking about playing each other you know what was that conversation like what what was the you know the script that you guys came over with it's good man uh obviously it's it's weird you know a year a year ago who would have thought we'd be in this situation um but we're both very competitive uh I tell people with that all the time and um you know we like to talk a little Trash too so it it'll be fun and it's not just him like a lot of their coaching staff came from duke so to be able to play against all those guys I'm sure they'll be scheming me up so yeah well I'm excited I know going answer this back on quarterback day when you guys talked earlier this month but does it feel any different now you say you don't want it to be Elco versus Riley lard does it feel different attitude just a couple days away from the game has your mindset shifted her heal um no I think the closer I get to the game the more I realize like it is US versus them like I just throw on A&M tape I throw on you know I'm I'm really I'm going against A&M at the end of the day we're going against A&M at the end of the day so yeah I don't want to make it about us hopefully that's not the narrative if it is you know obviously I get it uh makes sense but yeah I'm really just excited for our team to prove what we can do talk about the the offensive line man it's just a young Court um and experien six starts between two between the five guys up there but what's your comfort level man what's the conversations like with the young guys on the offensive line um going into the season and more importantly going into Cal yeah um Notre Dame uh it's the mecca of offensive lineman in college football so anybody who's going to be blocking for me on Saturdays is going to be the best of the best that's who we recruit here um they're going to be great men they're going to be fully prepared they're going to be able to get the job done so like it's Notre Dame that that's what we do is we run the ball and we protect the quarterback I you have to have conversations with the Freshman Anthony n have have conversations with him about hey don't worry about it we'll get it next next I boost those guys up but I mean these guys you know they got their head on straight you know they got a million different people telling them oh like Saturday you going to start y y y y you know I I got no I got no problem with it like they're going they're going to do their job great uh and I got full Mike Denbrock confidence in those guys Jeremiah love those backing motivation confidence I guess how motivated is he going into this week and what do you kind see from him yeah I mean Jeremiah has been great uh from day one um you know the the offseason work that he put in um to add muscle and and put himself in a position where he could be in every down back uh the work he's done out here tires tirelessly on the practice field to improve his game and his knowledge of the game um and then when we put him in spots to make plays he makes them so uh couldn't not be more excited about uh what he's going to do in the framework of this offense as we move forward and then you started Will Campbell as a at LSU is there any experiences or lessons you learn from that that you can help Anthony with yeah that it's you know it's it's it's always going to be a little bit of a learning curve right and um it's it's not going to be necessarily smooth sailing but if you've got the right mentality about yourself which will does which which uh our young freshman tackle does as well that you're going to learn you're going to grow you're going to continue to grind and and work on the things that you need to get better at then it always works out in a positive way as the did for for Will Campbell heat noise which of those two variables uh concerns you more heading into this game yeah I mean probably the atmosphere the noise you know I mean we we've tried as best we can uh to create as much chaos surrounding our practice time as we possibly can but uh there's nothing like being there in the real thing it's it's hard to replicate so how we handle that is going to be a real key to um you know staying ahead of the chains and having success offensively it's a huge piece coacho said he felt Riley has the advantage in the fact of them two knowing each other so well do you feel that's the case that he would have the advantage knowing his coach or a coach knowing the player no I mean I I think in in Mike's opinion you know coach elco's opinion that's probably true in my opinion he's got the advantage because he knows more so I don't know who actually has the advantage we got to line up in play and hopefully at the end of the day we're the ones who wind up with the advantage do you have to put different wrinkles because of that relationship just knowing that their coach obviously and their staff knows him so well yeah I mean I I I think we're different already schematically from from what they did uh last year uh at Duke so I don't know if there's as much of that I think it's it's more making sure that the scheme that we're emphasizing this week matches the coach El Co defense and and the things that we have a good idea that they may try to feature in in how to slow us down and stop us speaking of that that defense have you had a chance to talk with R.J oen about what his D Duty was while he was at D plan on the ELO and what you can expect Saturday no we we haven't visited much about it although you know we we we've kind of grilled Riley Leonard to no end about some of the things that uh he faced in practice and especially in scrimmages when uh you know uh a jersey scrimmage for instance that we have here that determines what color practice jersey you wear the big moments uh when they're going against their own team what are the some of the things that they featured against him and some of the things that they tried to do to take him away but uh again I think the structure of what they were at Duke will be part of it but I also think there'll be an influx of some of the things that you see from the new defensive coordinator who came from Florida and some of the things that we faced uh against them a year ago at LSU so uh I think it's going to be a mix of a little bit of both so we'll we'll get as good a handle as we can and uh make a lot of ingame adjustments and get this thing rolling your thoughts on the offensive line obviously you guys feel comfortable putting those Five Guys on the starting lineup um kind of give me your thoughts on that and you know what it looks like what the the younger guys now le in charge yeah they're they're Warriors they're Battlers they're they're they're guys who it it's football's really really important to them and and they will get better and grow and and every time they take a snap a live snap in particular in a game situation they're going to get better at what they do um I love how they're communicating together I I like their knowledge of the scheme that we're running and how to adjust it in the communication that they've had with each other all those things help lead to success last question when you um had you talked about allseason like offseason rather your intensity has intensity ramped up are you feeling more Juiced up coming into out game week yeah game week's always a little bit different for sure and uh I make sure the the players feel it a little bit extra um but you know I mean the excitement my excitement comes from um putting them in a position where they can have success and then them going about executing it in a way where they do have success and that's where my excitement for the game of football has always come from from a coaching standpoint and uh I look forward to uh continuing that on Saturday night Riley Rylie Mills have you seen a run scheme anything close to what and's expected to run just with them pulling guys from everywhere yeah you know I think now with teams getting guys some you know the trans support on stuff like you never know what A team's going to run different Personnel so you know for us just by watching film watching they done before and you know looking at the coordinators and just trying to game plan off that and then what's the balance in watching film is like is there too much like Kansas State film you can watch or do you have to Kut yourself off at some point uh no I think it's good just get exposed to everything you know it doesn't hurt to watch too much and you know for us especially the D line it's really about you know hey these are the kind of looks you can get But ultimately you got to come off the ball and knock someone back so you know it's good to have that in the back of your head but ultim got to play football and then what's just your excitement level to get your last year in col College just officially rolling yeah I'm I'm I'm super excited this is the last ride this is the last chance I got and you know it's assumption that like when I come out we have a hot day like this and people are like oh it's hot like I'm kind of soaking in like wow this is my last time I'm going to be practicing like on a hot day in South B cuz this is probably the last one we're going to get for the next like two months or you know 6 months so yeah it's just it's it's exciting but I just take it one day at a time and then how about going into an environment like that you guys will go into hostile environment to open that that last campaign what's that like yeah you know luckily I've been here here for you know 5 years so I've been through a couple big games to start the season so for me it's kind of something I'm used to and I've got a good routine for it and I think it's you know turning down the noise and really just focused on your preparation but you know especially for the young guys if they haven't seen it before I know you everyone's going to be excited you know as soon as you get there it's going to be crazy but just about keeping your composure and doing what we practiced you guys have opened away from home the last four years and three of those have been in hostile environments how much does that help going into a game like this yeah I mean it to have that experience of kind of knowing it's going to be crazy but you know at the day it's going to be a crazy environment for me like I love situations like that where it's hostile and you know people are screaming at you like that just gets me going so I'm excited for it and I think you know everybody here as we get closer to game days just we're ready to you know kind of show we've been practicing off fall Camp Riley I guess um what is it been like for you going against this younger inexperienced offensive line after going against Blake fiser and Joe H for the last few years yeah it's been great you know seeing the young guys you know especially uh you know nap and Sam and kind of showing them some things that you know I've seen the older guys do and kind of get my perspective on it but you know Alo they they come out with the right like the right mindset each day and you know as long as they're coming out and they want to you know they want to knock me back I want to knock them back so you know they just given their best effort you know it's been great kind of getting looks from them and you know seeing them kind of develop have you been have you and RJ Oben have conversations about what to expect from a Mike ELO offense offense potentially alternative yeah we've definitely talked about know it's been big in the D line room just kind of like what some things you know he seen when he was there but you know ultimately it's you know you can't really be sure exactly you get on game day you know so we can't sit there and say hey we're going to get this we're going to get this so we're just watching as much film as we can getting as many looks as we can and you know going out there trying to play our ball Ry what's this defense capable of it's got a lot of hype obviously with so many guys back what do you feel like you guys can achieve this year as a defensive unit I mean you know we got a lot of guys coming back and we got you know a lot of new guys a lot of young guys that are com up playing so I also we look at what we did last year and you know we try to wipe that we want to knock that out of the water we want to be you know a new version of ourselves we want to be a new defense and ultimately set a standard that's you know going to be the standard for you know years to come of What Not Dame football Benjamin Morrison is benam been just the the the excitement for maybe just start with you individually after obviously coming back from injury what what's your excitement level to get into a a real game again I mean I'm I'm ecstatic I mean just being able to play football again is a blessing um so I'm just excited to get out there and compete with my brothers I mean it's fun when you're out there playing dudes who um you generally care about um you know they have your back and I got their back so I me I'm just exced tied to get back out there um and start the season and then when you throw in hostile environment on the road on top of that how does that add to it for for for you and your teammate I mean I just think that that's what's so special about coming to another Dame you get to play in environments like this and atmospheres like this um you don't come another Dame for anything less so I think we're we're excited as a team to go into this environment um we're trying to simulate uh kind of just the same idea or the same environment but obviously that's going to be tough um so just understanding what what comes with it so it is what it is you're getting to simulate the heat as well uh does that does that help you guys just to with what you're going through last couple days of practice no I say it would I mean coach free keeps talking about it was a blessing from God that we get this weather um so I mean he says to give thanks out there on the field the way you practice because um I think it was 97 out here and that's what it's going to be like uh uh when we go down there to col station what are some of the challenges or even advantages of facing a 66 receiver in the boundary I mean I would just start off with one great good receiver good route running um and when you have a do like that I mean you got to understand what what could hurt you obviously the the Deep threat um also he he gets out of his breaks well um so I think he's a really well-rounded complete receiver so I think I just got to do my job of um uh kind of scouting him um scouting their uh formations their their offense as a whole but I mean there's a lot of challenges but there's also a lot of Pros when you when you can kind of see with they at what they're doing beforehand and then Coach Freeman mentioned it was important for you to take contact and practice was that like the final mental hurdle for you D yeah I mean that was the final that was the final step I mean I was able to do everything else but then once you put the uh the pads on someone else I mean it's a little different um so seeing that I could do that and do it um how I used to I mean I'm excited and then what does their quarterback do well in your your eyes yeah he's athletic he's he's very athletic I think um I think people don't give enough credit for how athletic he is he can run the ball um and then his his passing arm is is really good um so I think that uh they have a good chemistry with the receivers in the quarterback back so I mean just playing our brand of football um and we'll we'll go out and see how how how it ends up Benjamin how have you challenged Riley lner and vice versa also yeah I think me and Ry were able to more so work together and just challenge each other from the standpoint of us both being injured um how can we stay president how can we still make our voice be known when we're on the sidelines how can our brothers know we care about them know that we're we're here from they have questions so I think that we really worked really well for each other I think it was cool asking him like Hey like how are you dealing with this um and understand it was a mutual kind of respect for each other understand that yeah some days are tough um but that's why we come here and that's why we're going to we're going to choose hard when you got game we like this man how do you you know stay stay calm and stay relaxed yeah I think for me this is my preparation me and my pops uh talk a lot about just our preparation my separation um so that that's that's my my saying since uh even in high school um so for me I I think if I'm prepared I'll be fine um and I over prepare so when when you do get that feeling of the nerves and stuff you understand that I'm prepared for this I mean you're prepared for this moment and you can't allow the environment to change the way you're going to play how excited or anxious are you for that first SN man I mean I'm just excited in general I think that just there's a greater appreciation for football when you are on the sideline and when you're injured and it's taken away from you and understand that every single snap every single play is a gift um so I mean that that's what I'm was excited for is that I could showcase that um and just be out there and uh honor Gotham my play last question obviously there's a lot of hype for you but tell us about the other guys on the other side in terms of Christian Gray and Jaden Mickey what those guys bring to the table as quarterbacks yeah I think they Gams for itself Mickey um is is a very good Corner Christian gr's a very good corner I mean those guys are just special talents um different players but they still get the job done um and I'm got the utmost confidence in them on the other side that they're going to do their job um but I think our whole defense is Exceptional from the ones to twos to threes we all work together it doesn't matter what what your role is I think the biggest thing is just like making the best of your opportunity and that's the biggest thing if each and every one of us do that I think we're going to go far