IB Nation Sports Talk: Marcus Freeman Talks Offensive Line Depth Chart

[Music] ivation Sports Talk up rolling it's Monday and there are five days to go until the football season begins game week is here baby finally finally here we had a discussion last night on our show whether does game week start on Sunday or does game week start on Monday I contend it starts on Monday I think Monday because like the course of the Season Sunday you're still doing you know like yeah you're talking about the day before and writing about the day before and getting no sleep because of the day before seriously all that kind of stuff yes night games uh you know you got to sleep in a little bit on a Sunday yeah I'm not that part I'm not looking forward to now the best part for me personally is I get Labor Day off as well from my regular job true so a little bit more rest time but then you know two shows in a row so you know just Bing Bang Boom Father David those were the absolute best moves I have so I'm a heck of a chair dancer it's when you get the legs involved that you know stuff starts you know going downhill yeah that was there there's no that's that's my one that's my dance move I was the total white man over bid in high school you know that's that's what it was usma 87 if you only knew like what you caused I was I was I saw this comment in the chat he says will Shawn be like every late like every other Notre Dame media Rel ated event today and literally as I was doing that I slid my chair and it flipped the switch on the uh the power what do you what do you call that thing like the uh surge protector surge protector there you go flip the switch and it rebooted my Internet modem and and the whole thing so little PSA the press conference was not actually late today they have rescheduled the they're doing the press conference scheduled different press conferences used to start at noon now they're going to start at 12:30 because they're giving food to the media at 12 o'clock whoa yeah really y so bring back to Media lunch so on Monday I'm going to the media okay got it yeah got it I knew you'd find a way to show up at the press conference that's interesting because that is not on brand right now for for Notre Dame really I mean that's I mean literally it's probably been about 20 years since they did the pre press conference yeah this is what I'm saying I want to say we like goes all the way back to the Tyrone Willingham era like the last time they did it so yes I did not partake today I had like other things I was getting done before I went there out hopefully next week I'll be able to stop in have a lunch beforehand so there you go so because what isn't the email that we got yesterday didn't it say noon well I had to read it and reread it and rad it to make sure because of the things that I had to get done beforehand I was like okay so what starts at noon lunch starts at noon press conference starts at 12:30 so like you had to kind of look closely gotcha but yeah yeah okay so uh so yeah press conferences on Mondays interesting are going to start at 12:30 now assuming they're sticking to the same schedule but they had the video scheduled for noon I think that's what threw some people people off because like it it said 12 and it kept saying waiting and waiting and waiting and that kind of and literally as I was driving there I was double-checking it to make sure once again after I had checked that email 10 times you know so all right well we've got a lot that we're going to get to today we got the first depth chart today in addition to the Marcus Freeman press conference and that means we know officially who the offensive line starters are going to be so we're gonna have some of Marcus Freeman's comments about that I I wanted to I saw this DJ who you know shows up in our shows fairly regularly and he's a subscriber on the Champions lunch he posted this and I saw it over the weekend and he says I I I I wanted to share it he says I appreciate if you could bear with an old guy rant I'm old enough to remember getting the newspaper like magazine blue and gold something in the mail okay that and an occasional article in the Indies in the Indies St we knew very little about the new freshman half the sophomores we didn't remember their names game one there was a big anticipation for the season to start it was fun and exciting every Irish fan you ran into was fired up for the season about 10 days before game day your mind would start wandering a few times a day wondering how strong the team would be and I guess you know the reason I saw it was like like literally like when I moved here 24 years ago to cover noted aim it was basically you had blue and gold Tribune you had the radio stations in town talking about Notre Dame Notre Dame football basketball you whatever but like none of the stations at that time you know streamed any of the shows you know like the talk shows and stuff like that literally nothing so like think about where just like the wall to--all coverage like you weren't getting these podast there were none of the websites around blue and gold was still just that it was a magazine yeah that blue and old magazine newspaper thing you got like you said you got it in the mail yeah because they've been doing that since the 70s I want to say they've been doing that probably before then even but I know it was around in the 80s and and that's where a lot of the guys who were still on the beat to this day got their start was writing for the magazine you know and blue and gold still puts out a magazine by the way every week uh I've got the lack of sleep to prove it when I used to work for blue and gold uh because you got to meet those print times those print deadlines but uh that is just cra crazy working after the game to do that aw nuts it a Sean it was awful but anyway I they must be making something off it if they're still making it guess well there's you know a lot of old guys out there a lot you know wanting to still read the lot of DJs and yeah I mean it just is what it is but it's cool look I will say this there was nothing cooler than when I got the first edition of blue and gold the blue and gold magazine and it had my name in it like that was cool you know what I mean where I I had written some articles and you know so I I will say that was still pretty cool but is was it worth like literally writing until three or four in the morning I don't know I don't think so it's why I work for our breakdown now but I dig used his paper rout money for the subscription that's kind of cool actually that's awesome look that look that's awesome and but you're right the things have changed drastically I mean like well think you know just just kind of like Piggy backing on what he was saying like if you didn't have blue and gold and you were even only reading the South bin Tribune like like to read the Tribune you still would have had to be in in town yeah or like if you know blue and gold you could get your subscription across the country but for the most part like this is where the season started for the average fan sure like maybe not even today it started on Saturday I mean that's how it was for me I wasn't getting subscriptions and all that kind of stuff you and so think about just everything just the all the 800 websites that cover nine football now and and the podcast and you know just just the whole thing everything is is so different in terms of what you can get as a fan and I think that's I think it's pretty cool especially if you're a notre aame fan because the fan base is so National it's not just right here in town well and if you wanted like day-to-day coverage on the team I mean you had to listen to like sports beat for example I mean you had to listen to The Daily talk shows I'm kidding no but you know what I mean like that was your daily fix if you wanted to get one and it wasn't even all about Notre D but that was here in town still exactly there was no there was no apps like there was no internet to to get that information I mean you had to be in town so yeah if you lived out of town basically you're tur turning on the tube on the first day of the season and you're like okay who is this team like you literally needed a roster to figure out who's who you know what I mean and uh I don't know where you would have gotten that said roster if you lived out of town to be perfectly honest so yeah things have changed a lot I look mini old man rant I still miss the days though with the newspaper covering like high school football you know what I mean and actually having the stories of each game in the paper the next day like the morning I mean that's that's the shame of Saturday morning newspapers going by the wayside is is like the the local coverage and stuff for stuff like that for the like yeah you know cuz even we kept our subscription to the Tribune until a couple of years ago because you know like you and I were doing Friday night high school games we were broadcasting games together and it used to be Saturday morning get up and see how everybody else did in the area and now that's not coming out until Sunday sometimes even Monday yes I think and yet same with Notre Dame everything is there's so much delay in terms of the print edition it's there's there's just completely Superfluous yeah at this point everything is is online obviously but you know but again like that's that's the shame of the way of the newspaper I get it you know they've been buying for a long time totally get it like that was my thing man I would I would coach Friday night and I'd get up Saturday morning for early morning practice and the newspaper was already there I'd grab it take it with me to practice ractice you know and while we're watching film or while the guys are working out or whatever you know sifting through the paper seeing who did what you know what I mean like that that was I really enjoyed that and that has just you know gone I remember being in the noted aim Press Box the football Press Box when there was a conversation taking place someone you know like one of the higher-ups in sports information talking about when he got the first request for a notre name football you know like game day credential for website only oh and they didn't know like they didn't know what to do with it like do do you credential it do you you know like how do you handle this and now you know obviously everything's a virtually everything website now yeah so I mean you know again 20 years you know that's that's 20 some years at this point which is yeah a pretty good chunk of time that's yes that's right all that does is make us old you can remember that so go old man rant that's all that is seriously yeah I I ran into my old uh Junior High football coach today and I was talking about my son looking at colleges I was like I go oh coach I go that makes me feel really old he goes no you can't say that because that makes me even older I was like yeah you're probably right about that so yeah it was interesting conversation but anyway I digress back in my day we didn't have no peacock app and we didn't have no Odyssey listening to the radio right we had a transistor it had antennas we liked it yes we did yes we did but we like Notre Dame football that's why we're here thanks for being here hit the like button the season is basically Upon Us Jesse's gonna be in tomorrow there's a promise of whiteboard a promise he'll be fired if there's no whiteboard tomorrow because we've we've gone over we've gone over White material for tomorrow show so I'm pretty pretty excited about it I think everyone's I want to know how much film he's digging into here you know are we looking at uh are we looking at Kansas State film we okay okay looking at some Colin Klein Kansas State stuff nice wow doing his homework okay yeah okay Young Gun ratcheting it up bringing bringing the noise depth chart yes Anthony knp Sam Pendleton they are the starters starters left tackle left guard six total starts on this offensive line Vince fantastic six career starts on this offensive line going to Texas A&M I mean it really is mindboggling if you think about it Notre Dame is returning both of their starting guards from last year both of them and neither one of them are starting neither one of them are starting and they're both backing up a different position than they started last year because Rocco started at Right Guard he's backing up left guard and Pat kugan started at left guard and he's backing up the center so like mind blown for me Anarchy just like I I was I don't want to say holding out hope because that's not even the right phraseology to use but I was like man they weren't that's not who they're going to start like that that was just that was ey candy to get people talking you know that kind of stuff and hey man I was wrong I I was very very wrong so let's hope we were worried that they were just going to focus on experience and not how good a player was yeah we talked about that right like we worried way they went that is not the way they they they did they said oh yeah we're gonna go the complete opposite so okay see what you got see what you got Anthony naap left tackle Marcus Freeman talked a little bit about him today I think you make decisions um in the moment based off previous experiences and then that's the B the beautiful part of practice like there's competition and I tell those guys every day you should be trying to take somebody's job right and and every day if you're a starter you should know guys behind you are trying to take your job and and we've had 10 practices since then that that um basically kind of got us to this conclusion that um Anthony and I will be our starting left tackle but uh he he's worked tiously uh he's done a really good job of building trust um with his coaching staff and and uh and that's why we made that decision pretty impressive he's just he's going to be the third Notre Dame freshman to ever start on the offensive line in a season opener look I am surprised yet happy I guess is the best way to put it because I I was I didn't think that they would have the guts to do what they're doing and they're literally saying look this is these are the best two guys that have been playing on the left side all through camp and we're going to go with them and I just wasn't sure they had the guts to do it and they do and so I hope it works out I hope it's what you know I hope it's what everybody wants to see and they pick the best guys for the job all of that and you know we didn't see enough practices to make that kind of a conclusion but that's the coach's conclusion and they didn't just go well with the experience so you know this struck me today because I think for the first time someone asked about maybe the second time since training camp started somebody asked about ail Wagner yeah and yeah like all the talk has been on the left side of the line mostly at the left tackle sure justifiably so obviously but Emil Wagner he came into Camp he was number one on the depth chart at right tackle but Wagner's not experien right like that's that's hardly even been talked about like all the you know all the concern and you know even even before that when jasaw as good as jagas saww looked against Oregon State I mean he still only had the one start under his belt but it was basically like well we came into Camp those two guys were at the top of the depth chart and everyone just kind of took that went with it and you know but again like Emil Wagner doesn't have any more starts than Anthony knp has on the other side he's just been around the program a couple of more years and gotten a little bigger and stronger and all that kind of stuff right I hey here we go I mean I I don't know what else to say to be perfectly honest with you because I haven't seen enough of either one of those two guys to really give an informed intelligent you know analysis of their Collegiate play like I've seen him play in high school high school doesn't always translate you know what I mean and so I haven't seen enough not on the offensive line we got to trust the coaches at this point right I mean that that's kind of where we're at they they've decided that those guys went above and beyond frankly because they usurped two guys that have starts under their belts and now those guys are backing up and backing up at different positions so okay well and to me the the most shocking one is the move of Sam Pendleton yes going from number two Center to passing like you said I mean you had two guys who started 23 games between him at the guard positions last year and he passed both of them yes basically in the last two and a half weeks I guess right yeah in the last like 10 practices like right okay cool let's roll let's see what you got I mean no better litmus test than uh Texas A&M right I mean you're you're we're going to see what these guys have and there's going to be mistakes because they're young and they're inexperienced and all those different things but apparently the upside is is better and the upside is is one that they're willing to take this chance and take this risk and they don't think it's a risk these are the best two guys to go out there and win the game look no coach and I want to be very clear on this no coach has ever put a guy on the field thinking he doesn't give us the best chance to win right you know what I mean like these coaches believe that these two guys give them the best chance to win in College Station on Saturday okay let's roll see what you got it's kind of amazing it really is about it it really is you know it really is I know so here's here's what Freeman said about Pendleton making his move yeah I would say the same thing with nap right is is just it's consistency and doing the job you're expected to do over and over and over and that's why you make decisions right it's not a one-day thing um and it's not a last year thing it's okay who do we believe has consistently shown in practice um to get the job done over and over and over and and and that's why we made those decisions you know we have a lot of of of confidence in in the to deep of our offensive line right there's guys with experience that are in the two deep um but at the end of the day you have to make a decision on who you want that first group to be and and Anthony and and Sam are two guys we felt uh would give us the best chance to have success there you go Sam Pendleton in there Anthony nap in there and it's interesting because Mike Elco at his press conference today down there at Texas A&M was asked about Notre Dame and the and the young offensive lineman and he said something to the effect of basically well if Notre Dame is starting freshman they're probably gonna end up being NFL guys you know like they might be freshman but they're very talented because what what's Notre Dame been known for over the last several years offensive lineman and tit yeah I mean there there was never any lack of talent right it's just lack of experience I mean that's where this offensive line is and the only way it's like when you go to get your first job right and they're like well you don't have enough experience we're like well what am I where am I supposed to get that experience you know what I mean like the only way to get experience is to get the job these guys are going to get experience and they're going to get it it's not going to be spoonfed it's going to be shovel fed obviously going into college station and Kyle Field and all that stuff so we're going to find out real quick if they're ready and these coaches seem to think that they're ready and and this team has Championship aspirations they're again they're not going to put somebody out there that they think is are going to lose that they're not going to be able to do the job right so well I'm excited to see it and in terms of Readiness here's the qu here's the here's the quote from from Marcus Freeman I'm gonna I'm gonna play it because he was asked about the inexperience of Notre Dame's offensive line going up against that talented Texas A&M defensive line yeah it's going to be a great challenge their defensive line is going to present a great challenge no matter if you're experienced or not and um that's that's what you'll see on film over and over they got a really good defensive line um but the guys that that are going to play they go against our defensive line every day and uh we feel very confident in the defensive line we have and so they've uh shown to to have success against really good defensive lineman and and we feel those guys will give us the best chance and that's why we made that decision and I think that's why you have to feel confident in this Vince because we we know how talented and deep Notre Dame's defensive line is and I mean you can throw the front seven in there for that matter and these guys winning these jobs they're not just proving it against the guys they were directly competing for the jobs they were doing it by proving it against that very talented defensive line that we've been talking up this entire off season that's who they were proving it against and so regardless of the amount of you know like there's there's bound to probably be a mental mistake or two especially when you got the environment and all that stuff and that's why I think you and I thought maybe for the opener because Freeman said what's it been nine days ago now the last press conference that he had the starters on game one might not necessarily be the starters in game five or game six and that could still be the truth here but that's also why we thought if nap was going to be the left tackle then you're going to stick with that veteran cougan next to him right you know again because there are so few starts shra and Craig each have three career starts they were the end of last season those are the only six starts on the entire offensive line but again you've been proven it every day in practice against that Notre Dame defensive line and obviously that has to mean something and and it did ultimately for him well and here here's the best part about this whole thing right if this offensive line is the one that starts all season you can add you know what potentially 13 14 15 16 starts to every one of these five and then all five of them are coming back next year and so we're having a completely different conversation right I mean well think about I mean I don't even want to think about next year yet because you're getting jagas saww back for one so now what are you doing good point I mean if this is the five that you have going into next year you're looking at 75 80 starts you know for the offensive line that used to be six you know what I mean and so but you're right jagas saww comes back he's gonna find a spot someplace he's arguably the best offensive lineman you have right so yeah it is like I said it's never been a lack of talent it's been it's been figuring out where the best pieces fit this is where they think the best pieces fit so let's have some fun usmaa 87 says all those offensive line starts for Florida State didn't really seem to help I mean didn't help their defensive line I was going to say it was the defensive line that was getting smoke showed so yeah man big time well we'll we'll talk up a little bit about you know some of the other spots on the depth chart that kind of stood out here's um a little bit from Marcus Freeman just kind of on like where the depth chart is and re ating sort of his whole stance on where things stand right now we put out our depth chart today um which I'm sure I I'll have questions about here soon but uh I reminded our team last week that in my two years here uh out of 52 possible starting lineups with o d uh we've had 39 different starters different starting lineups and um I think that's about 82 different starters and it's just a reminder that you know there's one guarantee that the the future is uncertain so everybody on this trip has to uh be ready um for any role and uh and that you know we're going to need everybody everybody that makes a trip down there um as we go throughout the season we're going to need them all and so um you know I just as I told them like the first depth chart doesn't dictate uh the value of this team of of you on this team but also what the future will hold uh when you have depth the depth tart is sort of a a starting point right like especially like you look at those linebackers they had to somebody had to show up on the on the two deep depth chart but if you know everything that they talked about with the linebackers it's going to be that's going to be a very fluid situation for example but I you know I I just I I I like the points that he hit one you're always competing for a job just because you win the job in in week one doesn't mean you're going to keep it for the entirety of the season but again you know injuries happened and I think that there were a few different points throughout the press conference where he brought up depth and that's that's the biggest difference in the roster right now and you can talk about well are they you know at what level are they really recruiting and all that kind of stuff well the entirety of the roster is so much different and there's so much the depth is so so much different now compared to just three years ago no question about it that the depth is what makes this team what we think this team can be right I mean you know if you want to talk in the short term about all the heat that's going to be down there in Texas you've got some depth to combat that you know that's one of the ways that you combat temp hot temperatures right and this is one of the best rosters that I think we've seen you and I since we've been covering the team uh in in recent memory I mean this is a deep deep roster I there you know maybe at the top there's some spots that you might cherry pick you know where you know you could put a better player in or whatever from Past Notre Dame teams okay cool get that but this is the deepest roster that we've seen at Notre Dame in a very very long time because in the past it would be okay the starters are pretty darn good and then there's a heck of a drop off and so if there's an injury then you're in real trouble you know that kind of thing th this depth chart is crazy which is what makes these position battles so fascinating because there's guys coming out of nowhere that are taking these jobs because of how deep the depth is on this roster offensive line included right so this this is this is a very very deep roster I think it pays dividends throughout the season when you've got Nicks and scrapes and bruises and things like that I mean it's kind of a plug-and-play situation with a lot of guys that are within this to deep Adon Schuler gonna start at safety next to Xavier Watts that was surprising yeah that that one that one took me by surprise I think we all assume that Rod herd was going to you know step into that safety spot but I think we also all assume that all three of them were going to play I just didn't anticipate seeing ad Don Schuler being the starter without an ore after his name I mean Rod herd is backing up Xavier Watts on the depth well that's what I was gonna say it's not only that he's not starting he's not even back it up Schuler they've got him at the field behind Wild watts and they've got Luke talich back up Schuler and then in an or situation with Kennedy irocker who I think maybe is a little bit of a surprise just that that irocker is is you know at at that spot right now basically in an or situation with talich for the number two at the bound safety right yeah crazy but again it speaks to the depth right so I look I'm excited man I bottom line I'm excited about seeing this team we all are right we've been talking about this 20 four you know 2024 Notre Dame football team for eight months like it's it's time to see something and so I'm I'm excited about it so does that mean to Tommy Gunn's question is this year the current season yet I I mean this year started the first day of fall camp in my opinion like that was when this year started I agree I would concur with that Christian Gray is gonna start opposite of Benjamin Morrison they'll be two corners I don't think that's surprising at all um maybe somewhat interesting Jordan Clark is the nickel Carson Hobs is the number two nickel so I think that there's probably a pretty good chance that we see Carson Hobs out there on Saturday with that being the case I mean the Freshman are stepping up which I love to see I mean that that part by itself I mean you you've got Leonard Moore in the two deep behind Benjamin Morrison right I mean lotss of freshman kind of sprinkled in here right offensively and defensively so you know gerby Lambert's in the two deep at tackle I mean you've got what one two three you got about five freshman in the two deep I think if I'm counting correctly so they recruiting continues to be very very good at Notre Dame and and those guys are going to get an opportunity to to show their medal early I added I kind of did a little late add-on after I sent you the rundown but the wide receivers they're all listed as ores so you've got yeah Jordan Faison or Chris Mitchell Bo Collins or Jaden Thomas Jaden greous or Jaden Harrison you know nothing really noteworthy in that other than those are the six that basically we've been projecting this whole time and there was an argument last week about is it six or is it eight you know and that whole thing these at least this week these are going to be the primary yep six guys that you know like based on everything that we did see with how things were running with first team and second team and stuff like that those guys Faison Mitchell Collins Thomas great house Harrison those are going to be the core six guys yeah going into the season and I like you said I think this is what we expected and the fact that they're all ores is not overly surprising because I think they are going to sub liberally with those six guys I think they're going to you know depending on matchups depending on you know situations in the game you're you're going to see some form or combination of all six of these guys right so not in any way surprised by the fact that they have an AA there it's just hey you're gonna see these six guys play and we don't care who starts it doesn't matter these are the six and they I think they kind of consider all six of them starters you know what I mean excuse me Jason said Osberry in the rotation at will and Rover he thinks and yes that'll be the case he is number two Rover that was always gonna be the case he was one of the five right exactly Drake Bowen is listed as the number one middle linebacker with Kingston bamu ASA behind him at will it is Kaiser then Osberry and then an or Osberry and KVA is listed as an or at number two will linebacker and then Rover is listed Jaylen Sneed at the top and Osberry at number two but again remember like that's we talked about that when we got to talk to Max bull a couple weeks ago a five for three situation with those spots so a lot of talent there and again it's going to be gonna be somewhat intriguing to see kind of how they deploy those guys in what situations they're in and that kind of stuff 100% it there's going to be a lot to on Saturday let's just put it that way have your have your notebook and your pen ready and then you know all of you can just sit and watch the game and then just tune in afterwards to the postgame show and we'll try to let you know everything that you could possibly want to know about that game and as Williams by the way the number three running back and then Devin Ford the number four running back so based on that I'm guessing maybe price or Williams is like the short yardage type guy I'm curious to see what like what that role what the roles are I mean the fact that they have an or between love and price pretty much tells me those two are yeah I me we know those two are going to play a lot yeah they're going to get the majority and then there's going to be a big drop off and then they get to three and four and whatever that looks like yeah Y no other real you know no surprises vanelli's the number two quarterback I know that makes you happy well you know it I I and I'm not in any way surprised by that it was one of the last things I looked at because I knew that's what it was going to say it doesn't really mean a whole lot you know what I mean and they only go too deep so we have no idea who three and four are right so okay cool Angeli is your second string guy on paper if R Leonard goes down with a serious injury let's see if that actually shakes out I'll say that correct because I don't think it would so a couple of different things sty said the line moved at half a point he says he's seeing plus three and plus 120 on the money line line was at plus three the end of last week yeah it's been it's been plus three for a while yeah and I think we were talking about because Jesse and I were talking about this a little bit on Thursday I think at least one of the books had plus 120 I know there were some plus 118s plus 120s and stuff like that again like the line moving at this point with you know with with Texas A&M having been the favorite the entire time with the line bumping up a little bit in the last week or two all that essentially means at this point is there's more money going to Texas A&M so ex the line moves and you're because they're Vegas is trying to hedge it and get more money oh yeah you know going to Notre Dame and the line has actually Frozen at three for the last probably five days now at this point right so they're probably starting to get even money on those sides but again like if you think Notre Dame is going to win the money line is where the value is because you're getting plus odds on that oh I will be putting some money down on the money line at some point between now and Saturday you can guarantee that that's absolutely happening try to win some of my ill gotten gains back win some of your ill gotten games that didn't make any sense did it some of my uh uh how do I want to say this some of my ill-thought out bets how about that there you go so you're chasing you're chasing bad money with is what you're saying that's exactly right and I feel very very good about the problem was in the like in 22 like everything I bet Notre a won like I like that I felt real good about every bet I had against for for Notre Dame 23 Notre Dame burned me a few different times man like was not it was not a good year for me that's for sure well Vince are you ready for Rapid Fire w is it time already let's go rapid fire baby let's do it I don't know what we're waiting for I got a couple more comments for Marcus Freeman today it has actually warmed up in Southbend over the last couple of days Marcus Freeman asked today if it's too late for his team to kind of use this increased heat and humidity here at home to prepare for the heat they're going to see down in Texas Saturday appreciate the good Lord Almighty bringing the heat here you know what else would you want being here at Notre Dame and the the the our mother on top of the golden dome bring a little heat on Monday Tuesday and probably into Wednesday but um no it's not too late uh we've been preparing for the heat but now it's not just preparing like you'll feel it right you'll feel it out at practice and um it's probably going to be warmer tomorrow during and practice and it probably will be for the game and so it's a great reminder for our players like now you're doing you have your routines for hydration and refueling but now you have to do it with the heat it's not just hey remind you to to drink fluids and to you know have carbs during these breaks that we have it's like the heat will force you to do that too and so um it's going to be good to be out there we'll go out there today we'll go out there tomorrow um and get a little bit of it on Wednesday too um but it's it's going to be good for our team to really just feel uh the Heat and and double down on that routine we talked about to to help them perform at a high level Heat's back Vince what do you think I mean he's not wrong it couldn't have be a better timed situation because the Heat's going to go Monday Tuesday Wednesday and then it starts to dip again back down to I guess quote unquote normal for this time of year you know it'll be like 81 I think on Sat on Friday and then it gets down back into the the mid upper 70s next week it's perfect timing man like I everybody's like well how do you prepare for the heat how do you prepare for the heat it's going to be 97 tomorrow like that's how you prepare for the Heat and I don't and it's not even going to be that hot I don't believe on Saturday down in College Station so they're actually GNA be practicing that's what he was say attemps yeah that's what he was saying it's actually probably GNA be hotter tomorrow when they're practicing here in South Bend that it is Saturday for the game shocks so it's perfect like you you felt the heat a little bit I saw somebody say don't wear them out you know like they're not going to you know kill them during game week at this point they and we're going to get to the health here in just a second but it's like to me it couldn't have come at a perfect time because you had these people a few weeks ago saying well you pack up and you go have Camp you know for a week down there in Texas so you get used to it and everything else and it's like the law of averages said that sooner or later that there had to be some heat here in South Ben you know like because and of course it's like today was the first day of class as well so as soon as classes are back and students are in those non-air conditioned dorms that's when the heat rolled into South Bend course of course of course it did yeah but yeah I mean it's it's perfect timing they'll get to get out there practice in the 90s get you know get your sweat on and then like you said it it it it becomes you know you're not just telling them drink more and stuff like that it's like they actually want to drink more they need to drink more and you get get them in that habit where they where they actually have to drink even more this week because they are expending more fluid and electrolytes and all that yeah kind of stuff so hopefully we don't we don't you know that we we can put that uh particular conversation to B exactly now Freeman also had some interesting comments on the health of his team during this Camp he had some numbers to back it up this has been the healthiest fall Camp um really since I've been head coach but but as we've really taken data uh probably from the last 12 to 15 years um we've had the uh fewest injuries in in I think 15 years um we practiced 15% more uh this fall Camp than than we had previously um we only had one concussion uh and we're we're down 30% overall and in concussion strains and sprains and so um just wanted to say I'd like to to give credit to our Sports Performance team and um in the way they've supported our players outside of practice and and to our coaches that have bought into um the adjustments we've had to make going into each practice the way we've structured practice um the results have shown that it's it's been really good we practiced more and had less injuries and and that's a great um statistic uh practiced more and less injuries how significant do you think that is I mean it's it's significant in the fact that they had no injur or I shouldn't say no it's sign it's significant in the fact that they had less injuries for sure you want to be at full strength as much as possible and and look football's a collision sport there's going to be guys that are going to get hurt there's going to be concussions there's going to be sprains there's going to be ACLS there's going to be shoulders you know whatever the case may be it's going to happen you just hope it doesn't happen to somebody that's crucial to your season right and I don't I think they escaped fall camp at this point without losing anybody crucial to their season I mean look jagas saww is obviously a huge loss he's never played for Notre Dame really I mean he played one game you know what I mean like I don't well that's not a season when when you tear a pectoral muscle in practice and you know up into the shoulder the way he did and you had another guy obviously with a broken foot and you had another guy you know with with an ACL like when the like but especially you know like my my point being like the shoulder it it's not like the strength coach it's not like there's something that he could have done to prevent that because obviously there was a very awkward type situation that forced you know that arm right shoulder to do something that it's not meant to do for it to for it to tear to that degree and for the for the injury to be as bad as it you know was and like Bryce you know look every time that there's an ACL everyone wants to blame the strength coach for the ACL like acl's at all levels and all different and they happen at random times like no contact like right yeah yeah look at look at the Super Bowl last year with the you know remember the the 49ers linebacker yeah running on the field tearing the ailles just running onto the field how crazy that was there's nothing the strength coach could have done to prevent that when you get into these torn you know like there's a diff like the it's it's like the you know the the the muscle PS and things like that that were such a big issue especially at the wide receiver position obviously last year those are the red flags and you know again like the concussions there's nothing the strength coach can do to prevent that but they're almost all of them wearing those Guardian helmets Yeah now you know and like that's that's a thing you know so those of all that preventative those preventative measures have obviously gone a long way and that's that's awesome coming out of Camp to have as few injuries is is what they ended up with yeah it's huge it's not insignificant in any way some of it's luck some of it is the strength coat like there it's a combination of all of that right I mean sometimes you're just unlucky sometimes you can just do everything right and you're just unlucky I mean that it's just the way it is right but you also want to have a good system in place and a good foundation and all of those things and it appears that they do interesting one here Carter Carl saying that Texas A&M defensive back Jaden Hill will miss the first half of the Notre Dame game due to a targeting penalty against Florida state from last season okay good to know yeah interesting little tidbit little little note so this next one is a we in or we out from salty that I missed last week so he says the A&M game features the widest psychological distance between fanbase expectations for the Irish in the last decade Aggies are massively enthusiastic about their team's likelihood to go 12-0 while Irish fans are habitually full of dread and expect catastrophe around every corner so you inner you out on that Vince I mean it's very clear that Texas A&M fans think that Texas A&M is going to be really really good otherwise the money line wouldn't be moving the way that it is they're putting a lot of money on it they are very confident not only in game one but I would assume for the rest of the season as well right so and then you know you look at Notre Dame fans I think Notre Dame fans are only happy like if you know somebody you know their dog dies and you know just anything negative could possibly have it's like Notre Dame fans live in a country song like that's how I view a lot of Notre Dame fans you know what I mean they just want to be miserable at all times and only happy when it rains yeah seriously and and so I guess that part I agree with that that is the way the fans are looking at it but man you got a really good team to root for this year if you're a Notre Dame fan and hopefully they start to get on board I guess is the best way to put it it's to me it seems like you know I don't know there's there's a wide range I guess like when you look at this from salty there's a wide range in what what everyone you know what they definitely the ultimate pessimists who we have pop in and you know like they usually stir things up in our chat room during the show and then either get booted out because they just won't quit or right or just just excuse me leave on their own I think for the most part most noted aame fans are pretty optimistic about this season but the situation with the offensive line has definitely oh sure thrown a a pretty good wrench into their thinking about this whole thing I I am I am very very interested to see how Mike Den Brock deals with the offensive line you know what I mean very interested to see how he deals with the offensive line you know well and you know like there's a lot of questions about well how do you coach this thing how do you scheme this thing you know with with the left side of the line being a weakness you know again like we're presuming weakness yeah right you're presuming it's going to be a weakness you haven't seen it yet and now because they're young you would again you would expect that there would be some you know kind of mental mistakes and and that kind of thing but I think that there are a lot of different things that Mike demock can do you know whether it's screen passes or whatever else to try to negate that Texas A&M defensive line and and you have a you have a mobile quarterback that's part of the offense that's something they have to be aware of yeah big time that's huge there's no doubt about it it negates a lot of the issues that could arise from an offensive line standpoint I mean look in 2021 the offensive line didn't play very well early on obviously and there was nothing Jack Cohen could do about it right because I think you and I move better than Jack con so with with Riley Leonard it's a different conversation right I mean they're going to do things with Riley Leonard they're going to move the pocket they're going to you know have designed runs with him they're they're going to do lot of different things with Riley Leonard that's going to negate a lot of that so again my yeah my point is Mike Den Brock is is good I mean he's really good at play calling and he's good at masking negatives with positives there's a lot of positives a lot of things to be excited about with this offense and a lot of people are assuming the offensive line is going to be a problem yeah look I'm not going to debate with anybody the lack of experience it's because it's true that that's just just facts right not going to debate that with anybody but I think there's a lot of Talent on this offensive line too the question is can Joe Rudolph get the most out of them as young guys who don't have a bunch of experience you know what I mean can can Joe Rudolph do it we said it at the beginning of the year before Charles Jags saww even got hurt this gonna be a big year for Joe Rudolph and that still is the case so we'll see what he can do with this group salty said his question was more about the over the habitual OV exuberance of Aggie fans I mean I think that that's always there but again you know like they think that they've got this roster stocked with talent and there's a there's a decent amount of talent down there that that they've got that Jimbo fiser recruited that that he was never able to maximize but they've been through a lot of coaches over the years and what ultimately has it got him you know now they've got a really good head coach and Mike Elco and I think that people are just probably overly excited about that and what they think they're going to get not only in year one but in game one yeah right out of the gate against another ranked team sure yep no doubt about it Andre is asking what's the biggest opportunity for this team outside of winning a national championship this is a hard one to answer for me because like what what else is there other than like in terms of big opportunities I mean winning multiple games in the play playoff is a big opportunity for this team I guess that's true there's there's stuff that they haven't done before hosting a playoff game sure absolutely that's never been done before right so there there's a lot there's a lot to play for for this team there's no doubt about it there and there's I mean look the biggest opportunities winning a title no doubt about that there's nothing bigger than that so that's the biggest and then the next biggest thing would be getting to the championship right and then the next biggest thing would be getting to the final four like you can just back it off uh but any one of those things would be would be big for for this team because they are things that this team has never done before I'm shaking my head for for those listening for those audio people out there yes yes Tommy put this question in a couple of different times who decides to go for it first on fourth or six say marus say Marcus he's the only one that decides whether you go forward on Fourth six the offensive coordinator's job is to counsel the head coach and be like hey we got a great play for the situation I think we can make it or you know Marcus shman says look we need to go for this and then it's the offensive coordinator's job to come up with a play that will obviously get the job done but at the end of the day the offensive coordinator is suggesting things that the head coach gets to make that decision that's the answer but then you know I was reading it that's that's the way I initially read it as well you know like between Freeman and den Brock who's making that decision but he says who goes for it first like is he saying between Notre Dame and Texas A&M yeah so okay yeah he just snuck that in there so is it like between Freeman and Elco I'm gonna go with Freeman like Freeman has shown that he's not afraid to go for it on fourth down I don't know exactly where elco's confidence is going to be you know it's interesting because the way I my initial gut thought was that Elco would be that guy because he's got nothing to lose I mean yes he's favored in the the betting lines or whatever but let's be realistic Notre Dame's the better football team right Notre Dame should win this game so the way if I'm Mike Elco I'm in front of the home crowd I got nothing to lose let's do this let's go for it let's you know let's trust my defense you know I mean that's the strength of the A&M team is the defense I trust my defense to make a play if we don't get it so I'm GNA go with Elco you're GNA go with El see I I just feel like Elco is a little more conservative and ant VR you know like he said he was played scared maybe a little bit against okay Notre Dame last year I feel like he's a little more conservative than Marcus Freeman we know Freeman will go for it on Fourth you know again it's like Elco new offensive coordinator I mean basically it's a whole new team for him I don't I don't know you are at home so you've got that environment and all that kind of stuff your first you're coaching your first game against a ranked team at home high-profile all those different things I I still feel like Marcus Freeman is uh is the one who's more likely okay so I'll go with that I hope it doesn't come down to a fourth down for another Dame so Georgia Tech knocked off Florida State Saturday in Du and both of course Are Notre Dame opponents this season so did the Irish schedule get tougher or easier after the seminal loss this is tough because I don't think I still think Florida State's going to be a tough team to beat because they are well coached and I think they're going to regroup and I think they're going to be fine this obviously hurts their chances of of playing in the ACC Championship but the it's still in their hands right they they still have everything left in front of them even though they lost game one and was a conference game but Georgia Tech is better than I thought they were going to be now I still think they're a little one-dimensional you know obviously run the ball over pass the ball so I'm not necessarily saying as a Notre Dame fan I'm scared of Georgia Tech and Georgia Tech if anybody looks at their schedule Georgia Tech has a tough schedule this year and that's going to be tough to get up for and play the way they played on Saturday every single game that they play right they could be battered and bruised if they're going to run the ball the way they ran the ball on Saturday and that's their offense they're they're going to be battered and bruised by the time they get to another Dame so I will say it's still the same in my opinion I think one got a little better one got a little worse maybe but I think it's still the same just gonna use this opportunity to say that anyone who is listening this summer heard me say Georgia Tech is gonna be a pretty good team this year now I didn't think they were gonna beat Florida state but I did say on Thursday Florida state was a 10 and a half Point favorite and I said take Georgia Tech on that all day long and they did hannes King I I think I heard Joe tesor say what I had said over the summer as well uh something you know he might have said well somebody said I don't think it was testator but somebody said poor man's Riley Leonard but that's virtually a l I didn't say Poor Man's Riley Leonard but that's kind of he's like a you know a different version of Riley Leonard with the running I will say this he's gonna have to throw the ball a little bit more if he's gonna beat the Notre Dame defense you know oh my gosh they're not just he's not just gonna be able to run around they're not just gonna be able to pound it I don't think Florida state was nearly as good as obviously what everybody thought DJ I angal still can't throw the ball deep I don't know how much the rain affected any of that he looked really bad trying to throw the ball deep and I mean that's that's where if Florida State's offense is going to be anything this year he's got to be able to hit those deep shots and he was just not able to do it against Georgia Tech the other part of this though too is that Georgia Tech defensive coordinator was an assistant for Mike Elco last year at Duke so like you're basically like the defensive scheme that we see this weekend against Texas A&M is going to be pretty much the same scheme that we're going to see when they take on Georgia Tech later this season I don't think that that George like I don't think Florida state was nearly is nearly as good as a lot of people thought remember they had a lot of roster turnover sure Georgia Tech is better like I don't I don't expect Georgia Tech to be a top 10 team at the end of the day so I'm more like you like it's still in the middle I think that these are both very winnable games but games that are not going to be pushovers by any means either right right completely agree completely you can't take them lightly and I don't think they would have in the f look both Georgia Tech and Florida State were still in the top half you know of Notre Dame's schedule and I think they still remain the top half of Notre Dame's schedule and they're both going to be tough games right Notre Dame gets to host Florida State and they go on the road to play Georgia Tech so you know I don't see the schedule looking all that different if I'm being honest I agree I agree like that was kind of that was kind of the Georgia Tech has been kind of like people were asking us for sleepers that was kind of the closest thing I think that most of us could come up to come up with for a sleeper just because I or yeah not not a sleeper but a trap game you know maybe something those lines that was the closest thing just because I mean they're going to be a good team they were second to last second to last or third to 131st out of 133 teams in in defense last year they didn't they didn't look that bad um Saturday over there in Dublin big win for them fill in the blank it's blank that Deion Sanders has banned a Denver columnist from asking him or others in the program questions at their media availabilities this season Petty and childish I mean it's just because he was asking question that Dion didn't like like dude you are a power four head coach you're going to get asked tough questions man like that's what comes with being a head coach you're gonna get asked tough questions and you know what you know why you also get asked T tough questions when you go four and eight or whatever he went last year gonna ask tough questions man like you can't have that thin skin I I'm sorry I I think that's weak I think that's very very weak on his part I think so is well and you know like he tries to Dion tries to sit up there like oh he can take the Heat and all this stuff like how are you so thin skinned you know and trying to do the whole BS of oh I don't read any of the papers or listen to any of this stuff so apparently this guy um Sean Keeler is his name he uh he made different references to Dion Sanders deposition Dion the Bruce Lee of BS called him a false profit and used phrases like Planet Prime the Dion Kool-Aid and circus you know referring to what's going on excuse me there in Boulder I don't think a lot of people would disagree with most any of that but you know this guy happens to be sitting right there in Denver not very far yeah from uh from Boulder now they are gonna let this guy go to games he can still go to the games he just can't ask question cover the games just can't ask any questions basically it's just it's really weak I think weak is is the perfect like I just I I don't understand a guy like Deion Sanders who has lived in the spotlight for basically his entire adult life played in the NFL played in the World Series you know like the whole thing to still to to to sink to this level yeah well then yeah I I agree with dck that this is this this is weak on the admins part two like if the coach comes to them like we need to ban this guy but like no no we're not going to do that right stop yeah so someone tweeted last week about this whole would you punch your best friend in the face as hard as you could if it would guarantee your favorite college football Brian's response to that National Championship I did I did see that he's punching you it feels to me like this is the wrong question though like shouldn't the real question be you know isn't it whether or not you're willing to take the hit as opposed to like hit somebody like that's the real question right 100% that is absolutely the real question and clearly the question was posed to me and I was like do it you know my my response specifically was faces heel championships last forever right I'll take it I'll take one for the team on that I mean shoot I've been waiting since I was seven years old for Notre Dame to win a title if you're going to guarantee me one good sock to the jaw is gonna get Notre Dame title I'll take it let's go now it has to come from one of my friends who none of them are professional boxers or MMA fighters or anything like that like you're not willing like you draw the line no Mike Tyson none of that kind of stuff has to be I mean that would have to be that would be a lot for me like I would volunteer a lot of other people to take punches from those guys but it has to be no threat of of surgically needing to heal anything no real threat of surgically needing to corre I mean yeah I'm I'm like going through the Rolodex of like my friends right now I'm good go ahead have at it like we're all old yeah yep yep you know like I said it like it it felt like the easy question is you know like oh would you be willing to punch your best friend that's not the question the question is like what kind of shot are you willing to take as the recipient of the punch that's who you need to be asking 100% would you be willing to take a punch from youread that's the question that and gosh well I I would try to have like some rules you know like okay where you going to hit me you know are we talking like straight on like in the nose are we talking like a you know across the jaw kind of a deal like what what are we talking about are we talking like you're gonna give me a black eye I don't know have you ever seen Tropic Thunder long time ago where Tom Cruz is up on the video conference screen and there's like a whole you know conference table there's all this stuff going on in this movie set and so the director is sitting there and the director is kind of sniveling and he's you know like going back and forth with Tom Cruz and Tom Cruz is like who's the ex itive producer and the guy over on the side Tom Cruz goes go over to the direct to that guy and I want you to punch him in the face and he did okay but that's what it reminds me of yeah so I think but I think you have to avoid the nose like yeah thank on the side if we're avoiding the nose I'm all for it like I I have a very fragile nose so you come after me let's go Anthony thank you very much for the Super Chat we do appreciate it Ryan's coming at you right now he wants to know what part of your face you choose to get punched anything except anything except for the nose right here you can go chin you can go cheek you can go eye I don't care I think the eye yeah I have had it I'd say IE because like Jaw like you never know like depending on how it lands you know you could have a sore jaw you might not be able to eat it it could break your jaw if it good am I allowed to take the punch am I allowed to go with it you know what I mean to would you be willing to do one of those slap contests oh God that looks awful I know have youve seen some of those holy moly I'm surprised more people on those things don't get concussions I don't know how you don't I mean concussion is literally your brain bouncing around in your head how do you not get a concussion from what those people like the the women smack each other with some serious verocity like oh my gosh and those dudes that do it those are those are not small guys it's not like you and me going up there like these are like bodybuilding guys I always think it's hilarious because they're always like like they they're like winding up and then they just W you know oh my gosh like that is unbelievable Brian van gord's mustache where did this come from maybe I can get the former voice of Misha Sports Sean styes to give me a let's go caveman did I ever like do it let's go I don't think you ever did uh because he was trying to get me to say it I was like dude this this is M because of pen M waka this week like this is pen Mishawaka weak like I used to call Mishawaka games and I used to be a big Mishawaka fan frankly but then my son went to pen I have to cut ties I have to cut allegiances I mean that's just it's just the way it is man changed everything did changed everything I can't come on man I can't root for Mishawaka I wouldn't be able to go to work like this is not what you do big rivalry game coming up this fridal game G to chrisen the new field over there that's right they've got new Turf and the whole thing don't they oh yeah yep they have yet to play on it so this is going to be the big dedication and they got that new Statue out front you know the big man out front oh yeah this it's a real deal it's a real deal all right big week it is finally game week for Notre Dame we've kicked it off talking a little uh offensive line a little depth chart some thoughts from Marcus Freeman uh tomorrow we'll have some of that whiteboard we'll get into Texas A&M of course with the Whiteboard as well we'll get into some of that Colin Klein offense and some more and of course we'll have more throughout the week as well and kind of fast forwarding to Friday don't forget there won't be a live show from us on Friday but we will drop the countdown to kickoff show every Friday kind of early evening-ish it'll drop both on YouTube and on the podcast platforms starting this Friday so looking forward to that all right appreciate you being here hit that like button if you would and of course subscribe rate and review game week is here Notre name Texas A&M this Saturday and we will talk to you later on IB Nation Sports Talk