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UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 16, 2019

Brian Kelly

South Bend, Indiana

BRIAN KELLY: Good afternoon. Just a quick recap on Saturday's game: You know, obviously the ability to have a nice performance at home is welcoming, but I think as we got a chance to look at the film in more detail, having some players that have not played significant roles, you know, having them step up and play very well was very pleasing.

I think defensively, a couple of guys stood out, some of our young defensive linemen played well. You know, linebackers, Bo Bauer played well.

Certainly from an offensive standpoint, Braden Lenzy had two really nice plays, Javon McKinley, you know.

For us, C'Bo Flemister had a number of opportunities, not necessarily in ball carrying opportunities but should be in blocking. Ran hard on a couple of occasions.

So overall it was really pleasing to watch a lot of young players get an opportunity to go in and produce. Any time you put together a win like that at home, it was good to see. It obviously will do well for us as we continue to move forward.

A lot of our veteran players played very steady football for us. There are some areas we can always get better at, and that's part of the evaluation as well.

So when we do our well, bettered, learned, there were certainly some things we did well certainly, some things that we'll have to do better against the opposition that we're playing this weekend, and I think we have learned a lot about our football team.

That was this past weekend.

The competition that we're playing this weekend will certainly require us to play our very best, Kirby Smart and the Georgia program are synonymous with winning and being successful, and we're quite aware of that. We played them a couple of years ago in a hard fought game which we came up short.

So again, we know the talent that they have. Offensively, an outstanding offensive line, they have four, five starters back there. Andrew Thomas is probably a first round draft pick. But, their extremely physical and a big offensive line that moves very, very well and protects Jake Fromm very well.

Jake Fromm obviously played as a freshman against us, showed great poise and has continued to, you know, obviously develop into being one of the premier quarterbacks in college football, throwing the ball at 75% completion percentage. He's an outstanding player, making all the throws, plays with great confidence. He has a great offensive line.

He has great weapons around him: Andre Swift at the running back position; Aaron Cook. They have probably five running backs that can touch the field and do great things with the ball in their hands.

Pickens, a young player, coming along.

They have got Cager, a transfer from Miami who is long and athletic.

So Blaylock in the slot looked really good this week.

They have great weapons all around them, a great offensive line, great quarterback. I don't know what else you say about them. Just a very balanced offense that can run it, throw it. A quarterback that manages it extremely well.

That's before you even get to the defense, that obviously Kirby takes great pride in that defense, and certainly has developed a great group again.

This one is talented, but it is really deep as well. The depth that they have. Especially on the defensive line, that they can run, you know, six, seven that we counted I think last night, eight guys that are interchangeable within their three and four down structure. You know, all of them productive players, and that's not even counting Rochester I mean, the guy that's been out. He's a great player too.

Both inside linebackers back, I think Reed has been there since you know, we remember him being all over the field against us a couple of years ago. Campbell Stokes, the corners, just again SCC top level defense, well coached. And attacking when they want to and can play zone coverage, man coverage.

Again, probably not telling anybody here what you haven't seen. It is all true. It is all true. Very, very good defense. Depth, talent at every position, experience. And I think more than anything else, you know, from our perspective probably the deepest defense that we have seen in the sense that they can keep bringing players at you.

We have seen some really great defenses over the last three years but haven't had the kind of depth that they have.

Can kick it, great kicker, punter, have all the tools, no perceived weaknesses in this group.

So we'll try to muster together 22 guys, get them on a plane, go down to Athens and see what we can do.

With that, I'll open it up to questions.

Q Brian, how would you evaluate your offensive line play to this point, and what's kind of out there for them to chase as they go through the season?

BRIAN KELLY: We're two games into it. You know, we're still evolving. They were, you know, not asked to do a lot of things on Saturday You know, we put a lot of points on the board. So I mean, there's no grades that we're giving out right now as a complete offense or complete defense, we're two games into the season chough I can and we need to continue to improve, we need to continue to get better. We need to coach better. We need to play better. So I mean, it's where we should be probably after week two in that process of working to get better as a unit, individually, and finding what works best for the group relative to somewhere we want to go.

Q Without giving away trade secrets, what specifically to can you want to see from them at this point, what's their evolution path going? What do they need to do better?

BRIAN KELLY: I just think, you know, overall, you know, each week is a different plan. You know, I don't know that there's anything specific. I mean, we put 60 something points on the board. You know, I think we could critically evaluate every position. We just want to see each one of our players continue to grow, continue to get better, continue to prepare the right way.

And again I think a lot of it is we want to have guys that, you know, are getting better each week. That to us is more important than any one particular play or play call. I thought they showed good resolve. If they had a negative play, they came back the next play and, you know, we're fighting.

You know, we're not a finished product. We'll keep working at it. They've got the group that we're working with on the offensive side of the ball, we've got some guys that really care. We really like them. It is the group that we'll work with each and every week. There's nobody that we're trading for. We expect them to get better.

Q With your defensive line, your pass rush, hasn't shown a lot of sacks and yet where it shows up for you is you're third in the country in pass efficiency defense. Is that okay for you that it shows up that way, or do you want to see need to see sacks and hurries for you to feel like they're moving in the right direction?

BRIAN KELLY: They're doing a great job. The ball comes out so fast, Eric, it is most of the time under 2 seconds where the ball is coming out both against Louisville and New Mexico.

You know, we just got to clean up some of the penalties on the perimeter, but we're getting exactly what we want in terms of pressuring the quarterback, making them get the ball out of his hands quickly. Those guys are doing a nice job for us.

Q Avery Davis was a guy you were pretty excited about as a potential as a corner. Now that he's playing offense, do you feel that he has that kind of future at running back? You know, a future that goes beyond college based on his skills?

BRIAN KELLY: Well, we saw it. He ran almost 22 miles an hour. We haven't had that since Will Fuller, we know he has elite speed. You know, again, I think this has been much more about trying to find him playing time. We know his skill set. I if the that way when we moved him to defense, that he had the skill set. It was just getting him on the field and getting him an opportunity. You know, probably the answer to the question is the same way, a skill set is one thing, it is getting him the opportunity, and I think he has the best chance of getting those opportunities on the offensive side of the ball right now.

Q And last one from me: Yesterday you felt pretty optimistic about Cole and felt there would be some finality about your decision on Saturday. Is he going to be able to start for you on Saturday.

BRIAN KELLY: Yeah. He's going to play on Saturday.

Q Coach, Mexico game in the fourth quarter seemed like a good opportunity to get Phil Jurkovec some more work. Was there a reason why he only played one series there?

BRIAN KELLY: We wanted to be careful with him. I think I mentioned this, that he was nursing a thigh contusion and he got hit a couple of times where we felt like we want to be careful with him.

So he did some good things. We saw what we wanted to see. Pushed the ball down the field vertically. Made a couple of tough runs. So we saw what we needed to see in that situation.

Q Brian, you mentioned some young guys being able to make some plays in the New Mexico game, even Javon McKinley and Davis who have been here a while, some guys that are inexperienced, does making a play in a game like New Mexico give you the confidence that they can contribute in a game like Georgia?

BRIAN KELLY: Absolutely. No doubt.

Again, a lot of it is the ability to have the confidence to go out and do it. Chase Claypool too.

Look, it is still about a standard. When you catch the ball, you run over three people regardless of who they are, you know. Go ahead, take that, and show that on film, Chase Claypool looks pretty good regardless, universally. Depending on the opponent, it really doesn't matter.

So all those guys just needed the opportunity to go up there and make a catch. You know, Lindsey needed to go up there, make a catch, take the ball away and run through a tackle.

So there is no doubt, you know, the competition will be greater, but you need to make some plays to build that inner confidence that you can do it all the time.

Q Patterson a guy you relied on at center, have you thought about his play in his first two career starts?

BRIAN KELLY: I think it has been good. He's far from where he wants to be, where we need him to be, but he's made great progress as a first time starter.

It's been with somebody on his nose. Hasn't had an easy way about it. We haven't talked about bad snaps. We haven't talked about you know false start penalties. We haven't talked about it.

This offense has done a great job of ball security. They have done a great job with not having a lot of penalties, and sloppiness in the first two weeks. So a lot of really good things to build on.

Q Last one from me, the offense started fast against Louisville, not so fast against New Mexico. How do you make sure it starts fast against Georgia?

BRIAN KELLY: Well, you know, there is factors in there. You know, I thought that they obviously there's a couple of plays here and there that you look at. But I thought all in all that the team was ready to play.

You know, when we look at our plays that we scripted we felt really good about them. So we expect that our guys will execute at a high level, and they'll need to each and every week. But nothing really alarming relative to whether we got off to a good start or a bad start.

Q The road warrior mentality that you keep talking about, your guys keep talking about, have you done that sort of offseason workout thing with the logos of each opponent coming up, as they mentioned you guys did, Balis did, and how much thought went into doing it that way to plant the seed and how many up times have you used the road warrior mentality as a phrase since the season ended?

BRIAN KELLY: I have done it other times in my career.

Matt and I sit down, we plan out the themes that we want in the spring. We set it to an overall theme in terms of how we set that workout up. There is a video, there's a presentation, and it is really to build the mindset. Whether it is protecting the house that we play in, that mentality, or going on the road, those are important elements within the entire year. Being on the road, being able to build that mindset is really what this has been about and certainly we'll need that again this week against gay.

Q You mentioned on the called yesterday, the series was appealing for recruiting purposes partially to go into Georgia. What's kind of the story of Georgia as a recruiting spot for you since you got here? Why have you been so successful in the last few years, and where could it go going forward and now that you planted the flag?

BRIAN KELLY: Well, obviously the high school football is outstanding. We have felt like it has matched what we're looking for relative to high quality, excellence in the classroom as well in the schools that we are targeting, and certainly from a football standpoint.

So our mission is excellence and graduating all of our players and playing for championships. The schools we're targeting in the State of Georgia have a similar batch of schools that we feel like demographically we can hit, and they match the Notre Dame kind of model that we want from our recruiting base.

Q Brian, I wonder if you would talk about the depth over the last couple of years, have you developed it maybe even from the last time you played Georgia? When you play teams of elite elite teams like that, what's that tell you that they have depth wise and what you guys needed to get to?

BRIAN KELLY: Well, I like our depth too. You know, I think we have got great depth on our defensive line.

I was talking about Georgia's, but maybe Kirby is talking about our talent and our depth right now at his press conference.

No. I think we have developed that. I think we saw that on display against New Mexico, that we have got the kind of depth necessary to compete nationally.

You know, it is recruiting every year. I know they had to go out and they had to address the outside linebacker position within their program. You know, we have areas that we have to address every year. It is an ongoing battle in this recruiting process that you're never exactly where you want to be. You're always trying to augment, strengthen areas.

I think we're at a point within our program where we feel good about where we are, but yet we're always, always looking to strengthen the depth of our program. We're in a much better position, but one that we always have to address every year.

Q Brian, you mentioned Kmet starting against Georgia. What does he bring

BRIAN KELLY: I didn't say starting. I said Kmet is cleared to play.

Q What's he bring to the offense?

BRIAN KELLY: He's big, physical player, obviously can catch it. He's what you're looking for in a tight end, right?

He's a guy that can control the point of attack with his physicality, he can go down the field, he can catch the football. He balances it out now with, you know, two other tight ends that give us versatility within our formations where you could have two players on the field or three at times where you could break that formation out H. and now you have got to cover them with base personnel and they're difficult to cover. It gives you a lot of flexibility relative to your personnel match ups.

Q How good has day Lynn haste been with you so far.

BRIAN KELLY: Really good. He's played very well this first two weeks and shown a consistency in his performance. At the point of attack, you know, there's that extra kind of step for him in everything that he's done.

Q When you look at drew Wyatt, he wasn't on the top of most people's list when it comes to fall camp opening that he would be the starting mic linebacker. What did he do to earn that spot?

BRIAN KELLY: You know, I think he's just been a pretty consistent player for us. He's communicated well.

You know, the mic linebacker needs to get people lined up. He's been a very effective communicator. He's done a job that we have asked him to do, and that has not been one that has been very difficult. We haven't put him in a position where he has to do a top of things. We have asked him to do some things and he's done a nice job at really being consistent at it. You know, he has some work to continue to do, he has not arrived. He's been a really consistent player for us and one that he's going to have to continue to do that.

Q Drew was a little vague when we asked him about the coach's reaction when he hurt himself skiing. What was the coach's reaction when you guys got that news?

BRIAN KELLY: Well, you know, I think it is important that, you know, anybody that, you know, puts themselves in a position where you could, you know, get injured and you're on scholarship, you have to be very cognizant and careful. You have to be careful and cognizant of those things.

I have no problem with going on a family vacation, but you're also on a scholarship. You know, it is unfortunate what happened, the good part about it, it is behind us, he worked through it. He worked really hard, got himself back in it, and it is behind him. But it was a message to our entire team that, you know, driving recklessly or putting yourself in harm's way while you're on scholarship can really, you know, put yourself in a tough position when you're getting your schooling paid for and a full scholarship, it can be a difficult situation and I think he learned a lot from it. I think our team did as well.

Q Brian, you said a lot of things about Georgia that is evidence of why they're such a highly ranked team, what are one, two things about them specifically that you think makes them a difficult team to beat.

BRIAN KELLY: The quarterback. The quarterback. He's efficient. He's unflappable. You can pressure him, and he doesn't panic. He makes great decisions. He's sound with the ball.

Generally, look, when you get down to the really great teams, you're going to get Trevor Lawrence. You're going to get you know, you're going to get the great quarterbacks that are the reason why they start to separate. Fromm is one of those guys that gets you to start to separate.

Q You talked a little bit about what you have done in the preseason to create a road warrior mentality, what specifically will you do this week to prepare them for the noise, the atmosphere, all of the stuff coming their way Saturday night?

BRIAN KELLY: We'll prepare them. They know we have to prepare for the kind of environment that they're going to go into and we'll address it today. We'll work on it during the week. We have an indoor facility that will be you guys have been in there. We can make that as loud as we want it to. It will be hot here too. The weather will be warm. There won't be any excuses relative to a acclimatizing to the weather conditions. So we'll prepare them for all of those.

The most important thing will be how we prepare. I mean, it will be in our preparation. If we do a great job preparing, we can go play the game, play fast, play free and then the best team wins. So it will be in our preparation. It won't be because the crowd was loud or that it was hot or it it will be because they executed better than we executed. So at the end of the day, it is still about our preparation and how we execute.

Q You said earlier today that you learned a lot about your team against New Mexico. What's the one thing that you learned that maybe makes you the most confident about your chances this weekend?

BRIAN KELLY: I think mostly that this football team is one that request score, that can make big plays, and that from a defensive standpoint when everybody is doing their job is very stingy. I think we had a couple of breakdowns where guys were fundamentally not on their job, but when we are fundamentally doing our job play in and play out, we're a stingy defense.

Q Brian, you guys played obviously a Clemson couple two, three games ago. In your prep, do you look at that tape going against another elite team? For Georgia, do you look at Clemson at all trying to

BRIAN KELLY: There is no real similarities in terms of what they do defensively or offensively.

So this is really about preparation for a team that runs three down, four down and an offense that is much different.

Q I mean, reputations usually are attached to games like these, legacies, things like that. I know you don't like to wax poetic, I believe is the phrase you like to say a lot. But for a game like this, do you think about that at all and what are your thoughts on this potentially being the biggest win in your tenure here at Notre Dame?

BRIAN KELLY: No. It is not even part of what we do for preparation.

To me, it's about our players, it's about our coaches giving them a great game plan, it's about my job to make sure we put together the best possible preparation for our team.

The rest of that stuff, I really could care less about.

Q Brian, going back to Daelin Hayes, talking about the game on Saturday, he said he's kept everything in perspective maybe in a different way than he had earlier in his career. Where is he sort of that he's able to just sort of go play without having pressure on him and, you know, maybe not reaching the potential that he has?

BRIAN KELLY: He's a lot more focused. I wouldn't say that he was distracted at times, but maybe he was more interested in the net outcome. He's so much more focused on details. Pays attention to the details of his position so much more, and being part of the defensive, being part of the 11 guys and he's benefiting from that. It is a much more focused player, driven by the fact that maybe he's been overshadowed a little bit and he's playing with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, and that's a good thing.

Q At the linebacker position, at what point in the season, if at all, do you feel like you want to condense that rotation? You may have played 8 against New Mexico.

BRIAN KELLY: Well, you know, I would say to you that like any coach if two guys emerged clearly and said we're your two, we would go that way.

I'll give you the last evaluation that I have, and that is that we saw some really good things from Asmar, close on the ball. His lines were better to the football. He's really getting to that point where he's playing and closing space to the football with really high level elite traits. I mean, the guy's got traits. I mean, physical traits. So now he's bringing along some of the things that he was lacking experientially in terms playing the position, we're starting to see that. That's coming.

Bo Bower played at times out of control. He's playing so much more in control. So we're seeing a guy that's not overrunning a play but staying in the backside, big gap and bouncing and doing some things.

So we're getting guys that are just evolving, so we're still in that process. Then all of the other guys are playing pretty good too. I just think we're going to keep on letting this thing play out until we find them and when we find them we'll have two really good players in there.

Q Brian, you graduated a four year player, four year place kicker, special teams looked like it would be a project, a punt inside the 5, a kick off return to really get things going. Special teams I thought was outstanding, overshadowed by what else happened but I thought they did a really good job.

BRIAN KELLY: I would agree.

First of all I l like our players attention to how important special teams is, especially with two young players at the helm in the kicking positions. You see a lot of veterans on the teams from Alohi Gilman, to Tory Pride to I don't know if you watched, but Chase Claypool was crazy good on punt coverage.

I mean, you've got elite players playing on special teams. That rubs off to the younger players. I mean, if you're a young player, and you watch the best players in your program playing hard on special teams, it has a great trickle down affect to everybody else. So we're getting that, plus we're getting our younger players playing at a high level and we're going to do that again this week. We're bringing up a couple of other guys on special teams to give them a chance. You know, we have the four games to use and we need to add a little bit more to it and we'll see a couple more guys this week.

Q The other question I have is about the patience that sometimes you really need to show as you did against Louisville of courser as you did Saturday

BRIAN KELLY: I thought you were talking about my patience. Thank you.

Q Okay. I seen you wait for your patience on Saturday offensively I thought was impressive. You don't know what they're going to do until they get on the field and they have a week to prepare. You made adjustments as you went along, look, if you're not going to eliminate our deep route you don't think we'll throw it, here you go.

BRIAN KELLY: Yeah. I mean, look, You know, we had a plan that we wanted to do some things and they are weren't letting us do it. You have to make adjustments.

As you saw, it was pretty easy to get the ball outside.

We wanted to run the ball inside. We were going to run inside zone. They weren't going to allow us to run inside zone.

Then you've got to make adjustments. We made adjustments and opened up pretty easy plays for us.

That's part of the deal. You've got to prod, you have to figure out, make adjustments on the sideline. I thought we did a nice job and were able to open up the offense.

Thanks.

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