Freeman reveals standout players, intense quarterback battles, and the defensive staff's impact as Notre Dame builds momentum for the season opener.
Spring training is in full swing and the Irish are full-steam ahead on their way to the Blue Gold game at the end of April and are one step closer to their season opener against the Wisconsin Badgers up at Lambeau Fields. Notre Dame has had some impressive performances so far throughout the spring. Head coach Marcus Freeman spoke today about the standouts thus far, the new defensive coaching staff and some of the early new comers between early-enrollees and transfer portal players.
This year, the Irish don't have an on-going battle for who will be starting at quarterback this season. But they do have a heated position battle for who will be backing up rising redshirt sophomore CJ Carr. Freeman highlights how that has been going along with other players in on-going position battles. With all three of their coordinators coming back this season, Notre Dame is firing on all cylinders and are significantly ahead of where they were at this time last season.
You can watch the entire press conference here:
Here are some of the main quotes from Freeman in today's press conference:
Freeman On Wide Receiver Progression
"Shout out to Coach [Mike] Brown and the job he's done in recruiting and developing," Freeman said. "He's done an excellent job attracting the right guys to this program and creating a great relationship with them and getting to trust them. Right now, they're practice and playing at a high level. It's good to see Micah Gilbert back out there after an injury-plagued 2025 season. He's making plays and he's competitive. Cam Williams is getting better; Logan Saldate is getting better. You're seeing Mylan Graham do some really, really good things."
Freeman On Redshirt Freshman Will Black
"He's doing a good job," Freeman explained "Will Black had a lot of hype coming into this program, and he got here in June and like any freshman he had a bumpy road that first year. His career will be bumpy but his ceiling is extremely high. he's doing a really good job at the left tackle position and he's going against really good players/ He's going to improve because he has to block Bryce Young and Boubacar Traore and some of those really good players every single day. That's going to make him be the best version of himself."
Freeman On Having An Edge In The Spring
"I think you need an edge every day," Freeman shared. "If you don't you'll get complacent, you'll get comfortable and you won't improve. We have to struggle. Nothing great is achieved without hard, tough struggles mentally and physically. But you have to sacrifice. Nothing great is achieved on your own. You have to be willing to sacrifice for someone of something other than yourself. That's an every day reminder and there might be a time I need to say 'keep the pain' to get them to remember why we have to struggle and to get them to understand and remember why we have to sacrifice."
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