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UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 15, 2017

Greer Martini

South Bend, Indiana

Q. Greer, I had heard that as a kid in elementary school you randomly out of the blue asked your grandparent for a Notre Dame hoodie. They don't know where that came from. So I'm wondering if you could explain where that came from.
GREER MARTINI: Yeah. I think from an early age I was kind of like always intrigued with Notre Dame and the prestige behind it, and so one Christmas I just kind of said, hey, I really want a Notre Dame sweatshirt, and that's what I got from them. I think I still have it at my house. It just goes to show that I've always loved this place. I still love this place. It's going to be really emotional for me after this game to walk off that field in my last game.

Q. And in North Carolina were you the only person with that fandom or did you have allies with that?
GREER MARTINI: It was just kind of me. But like I just remember like growing up my dad and I like every Saturday would watch as many college football games as possible. So it wasn't specifically Notre Dame only. Just for some reason I was drawn to Notre Dame. So I always watched their games, always wore that green sweatshirt.

Q. When you think back on the memories you've had at Notre Dame Stadium, is there a game or a memory or a play that sticks out?
GREER MARTINI: I don't think it's just one play. There's going to be so many different things going through my head. But I think that one memorable moment definitely was in my freshmen year when we beat Stanford, the last-second pass to Koyack. That's one of those moments that kind of stands out the most to me.

Q. What do you think Saturday is going to feel like? Is it just going to feel like another game in the moment or do you think it'll feel different than the ones before?
GREER MARTINI: I think it's definitely going to feel different. But as a player I want to leave that Stadium playing the best game I've ever played as a senior, just go out on the right note. So you gotta channel all that emotion that goes into running out, senior, family, all that kind of stuff. Kind of getting ready to play.

Q. With it being Navy and obviously your first start was against Navy, you kind of made your name against Navy, is it kind of fitting that it's Navy for your last game at Stadium?
GREER MARTINI: Yeah, I think so. Definitely. It's always been kind of like a big game for me. That's kind of what my first couple years did was play the triple option. So it's definitely fitting, I think.

Q. After what did happen on Saturday, what's the mindset of everyone?
GREER MARTINI: Definitely it was a tough loss for all of us, but we had a couple days to kind of dwindle over it, but now it's kind of about getting back. We still have a lot to play for. There's a bright future for this team. We win out these next two games, will be in a great bowl game. So I think the attitude is we gotta tell all the guys, look, we still got something to play for. And definitely moving forward we got 26 seniors on this team. I think as an under classman it was always my goal on senior day to get those seniors a victory, and I think that's a big goal on the list this week.

Q. And with National Championship chances a little bit slimmer now, has the goal shifted a little bit more now to a say a 10-win season or a New Year's Six bowl game?
GREER MARTINI: No. I don't think so. I think the legacy of the senior class was to get Notre Dame on the right track again. Obviously after a 4 and 8 season, it was our goal to kind of bring back the prestige to Notre Dame. And I think that as seniors we want to finish out strong; the rest of the team does. So not even if it's college football playoffs this year, like continuing on to the next years and kind of creating a culture at Notre Dame that's going to last.

Q. And defensively for you guys, what's going to be the key to top Navy's offense this week?
GREER MARTINI: I think discipline. You gotta be at the right place in the right timing against an offense like this and if you're not, they exploit you. It's all about playing fundamental football and executing.

Q. Coach Kelly talked about earlier this year during the off week that you did get a little preparation in for Navy, because it's not a defense that you see -- or it's not an offense that you see every week. Tell me how that would be helpful and what specifically are the tough things that you have to do against a Navy or an option team?
GREER MARTINI: Yeah. I think that against an offense like Navy's, it's tough to get prepared in just one week, because it's such a unique offense. Not something that we see every day. So it takes adjustments with whatever plan you have; it's a different defense you gotta run against them. So I think it lies in becoming familiar with the different plays, and then it's so fast, by the time the ball is snapped, you gotta be able to understand where you're going and go at it really fast and execute at a high level.

Q. And you guys have had some success and sometimes you haven't against Navy. What is it about a Navy football player that makes it tough to play against?
GREER MARTINI: I mean these guys will come at you for four quarters and have relentless effort, and so like the mindset you bring to the game has gotta be a physical one. And I think we have all the athletes and capability to be successful against them on Saturday. It's just a matter of what mentality you bring to the game. These guys are the guys that serve our country kind of have that resilience to them. So I think that's the biggest thing about Navy.

Q. Coach Kelly has talked about the importance of just refocussing this week after Miami. What is that process like? How do you refocus after Miami?
GREER MARTINI: Yeah. I think obviously like it's a really tough game to leave Miami, come back here. We got back late. You have all the distractions from every which way that Notre Dame brings. But I think what he's talking about is refocusing is that for this team we need to kind of step back and be like, hey, we still got things to play for, not let this game affect the rest of our season. We gotta finish out strong.

Q. How do you maybe make sure the rest of the team is doing that this week in practice and not reverting back to maybe the way things might have been the last couple weeks?
GREER MARTINI: Yeah. I think the biggest thing for us is just going at it every day like we have throughout the rest of the season. Even though the outcome wasn't what we wanted against Miami, we prepared as well as I think we could have. So it's just about coming every day with the work mentality. Just kind of just reiterating to all the guys that, look, this is still a special season. We can still do a lot of things with it.

Q. B.K. said just yesterday that you guys learned a lot on Saturday night. What's something that you learned that's also maybe applicable to the rest of the season, whether it's this weekend, at Stanford or a bowl game?
GREER MARTINI: Yeah, I think that at a high stage, especially being in Miami there's like a lot of external factors that came into that game, whether that being how loud it was, whether it's like coming in on the buses, just seeing all the different fans. Kind of as a team we need to learn how to get rid of those external factors and just focus on what's important and that's winning.

Q. I mean is it a situation where there was enough going on around that game that I think you guys used the term optimal zone, that very few guys were actually in the optimal zone?
GREER MARTINI: Yeah, I think there's a lot of hype that goes around that game. All week we saw it all over ESPN. So that also goes into it. But like I was just saying, goes back to the point that as a team we gotta learn that like if we're going to be playing in the future in those high-stake games, that we gotta channel all that out and just focus on the what's important.

Q. And I want to ask you something just Xs and Os related. Miami had a lot of success with the quarterback draw on Saturday. What do they do to have success there? Was that more about maybe you guys getting your eyes distracted? Can you take me in that aspect of the game?
GREER MARTINI: Yes. The QB draw obviously, especially from the second level, is tough to play just because we're getting back in our pass drops, trying to man up route, whatever it may be. And then when he took off running, I think that we just weren't ready for it. And I think that as the game went on, we got better and better at it, but it's definitely a difficult play to defend.

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