Norvell says all the players and coaches are excited about playing inside a packed Doak.
Says Notre Dame "is a talented group. ... they play hard, play fast and (the new DC) is going to bring an attack mentality. ... His defenses have always performed really well."
"They've got great length, play physical up front .... I'm expecting multiple fronts. .... This is going to be a great challenge for our guys up front."
On Coan: Says he's a talented player that's had a lot of success. He's played in big games and adverse atmospheres. ... He's a new starter at Notre Dame, but he has a lot of very productive collegiate experiences. ... We've got to try to make him uncomfortable."
Says it's a balance between looking at Coan's Wisconsin film and scouting ND's offense. "We're going to get a sense of him as a player ... we've had time to look at those things .... it's a very versatile offense in how they attack when you look at the run game, the pass game and the different ways they're going to try to move him around."
Says returners Jay, Wren and Douglas are all home-run hitters. "That's a unit that has to be better for us this year. ... We know this week is going to be one of our biggest challenges."
On Fitzgerald winning kicking job: "It was just the consistency. Very talented young man. Has a strong leg. And I think he's had a great camp. ... Day in and day out, he's in a great place."
On QB situation: "I'm really excited about that quarterback room ... the versatility of the skillsets." No real answer on QB situation, which isn't a surprise.
On O-line: "They've really grown. ... We've got to be able to play ahead of the chains. ... Those five guys up front have to be consistent and play with the right mentality. ... Still a lot of competition that's showing up day in and day out in practice. ... I feel much better than we were a year ago."
On Deloach and Lundy: "Consistency of play and mentality and how they've grown in all ways. .. When you sit there and compete day in and day out, you're looking for consistency."
On staying calm before opener: "There's going to be a lot of emotion. That's something we embrace. I want them to be emotional, I want them to have passion, to have energy. .... But make sure you play with great technique, great fundamentals. ... We are an emotional group, that can be a really good thing at times. ... Sunday night, we need a great crowd. We need a great atmosphere."
On Milton: "He's really excited. It's fun seeing him as he's getting into Game Week. ... It's going to be a special moment. It's a special moment for him, all the work that's gone into it. ... he's really adapted well. ... Sunday night is going to be special for him, and i'm excited about what he brings and what the future is going to hold for this season ahead."
On Briggs being a starter: "He's worked in every way." Says he has made transition from DE. Says he was one of the most consistent players in fall camp. Was a 'disruptive force.' Says he's a man of very few words.
On ND offense: Says they're very well coached. Committed to the running game, always have great TEs and RBs that run with a purpose. ... Says he fully expects to be see two-back sets. And they have an overall toughness within the program, and that's something that we aspire to be.
On Vaccination rate heading into opener: Norvell says over 90 percent of the team has started process of getting fully vaccinated. ... Myron Rolle and other doctors have talked to the team and Norvell says that was just to provide all the information to his team. "I'm grateful for that, and obviously we're well on our way."
On Travis: Says it's almost unfair to judge him off that season. Says he missed all of fall camp. "He was really just thrown into it." ... Says he's a great talent. He's now had a complete offseason, spring practice, a fall camp, he "growing each day. I think he's an incredible quarterback and has a great future in front of him."
"I really like this team. ... But a lot of them haven't necessarily had the example ... with all the changes we've had in our program." Says transfers have embraced being team leaders. "That's what you want to see within a team."
Kenny Dillingham is up first for the coordinators
Says first meeting this preseason with offense was all about effort. Says throughout camp that effort and smarts started showing up. Says any good offense has to be efficient or explosive. ... "we've become more explosive than we were last year, but on same token we're a little more efficient." Says they still have false starts, but they've improved drastically in that category.
Says they've tried to teach the "why" to all of the players, so there's a real sense of what the team is trying to do. And understanding.
On ND's defense: Says he's watched a lot of Cincy tape this offseason. "He's a phenomenal football coach," he says of new ND DC. "They play super hard, they play aggressive. ... He wants to play defense like offense plays offense." ... says his players will have to win one-on-ones. That's what that defense does. They play one on one. "So, that's going to be the game."
Says the most important play of a drive is the first one. Says he has confidence in quarterbacks on third and long, and has confidence in the WRs and TEs and O-line, where they don't just have to call screens on third and long.
On the WRs: "A ton of progress. Those guys just come to work. We've added some players to that mix, too, that are talented. ... I think this year more than last year we've been able to move our guys around, because we've had three players come in that are going to have significant minutes at the wideout position. ... There's been an extreme amount of consistency from that wideout group that really excites me."
On O-line: He says he has "a lot" more confidence in that group. ... WRs very rarely cause a negative play, it's up front that causes the negative plays. ... And with an experienced O-line group that can communicate they can keep them from the big negative plays. And instead of 2nd and 15 it can be 2nd and 9. ... He says Year 1 was about teaching the verbiage, and Year 2 was about teaching the why. Says he feels good about eight O-linemen and maybe 9.
On RBs: Says they have a specific plan on how those guys are going to get touches. You don't want guys to have 30 carries in a game. Says they want to be fresh in the fourth quarter and be able to run the ball in the fourth quarter. ... "If there's a hot hand, you're going to keep feeding the hot hand. But at the same time, we've got a bunch of guys that are going to be successful."
On the TE position: Says they get into 12 personnel, 32 personnel, 22 personnel. Says having Jordan Wilson being available is big. ... "An influx of talent in that room. .. I'm fired up about him (Wilson)." Says that's a dude you can trust when he goes onto the field. Because of the work he's put in to get back to this moment.
On QB position: "It's good for our guys to get out there and run our game plan." ... Says camp can be boring for QBs in a sense because they're running the same plays against the same people, mostly the same looks. Now they're game-planning makes it a whole new dynamic. Says you have to watch one tape for the scheme of ND's defense, and another tape for the ND players.
On Gibbons and DLT: "It's huge having guys who have played a lot of football." Says O line is most reactionary position on the field. So having veterans who have played snaps and been around a lot of football is huge, in going back to not taking TFLs. ... Says Coach Atkins has done a great job and he's fired up about where that unit is heading. Says it's the best combination of 5 that will play, not just putting the actual best player at each position and seeing how they work together.
Adam Fuller is now in here
On the D-line: Says it was a major push this offseason and is very excited about where it is now. Says they're going to lean on them to make an impact early.
Says the new D-linemen have brought in leadership and game experience. Says they've been everything they were looking for, on the field and in their approach. "They've brought a lot to that group and a lot to that football team."
"I feel a whole lot more comfortable with the group we have right now." Says continuity is big, having guys that have experience and have played before.
Says Notre Dame's O-line has older players. They have a starting transfer at guard (a kid FSU wanted!) ... and they're always really good up front. "They do an outstanding job coaching those guys ... it will be an unbelievable challenge."
On Lundy and backup Andrews: Says Lundy is being used at FB, too. Played in critical plays last year. Some games he played up to 30 snaps. ... He's somebody that's going to be on the football field. He's going to play a lot of football for us." Says Andrews adds to the depth, hometown kid, heavy handed player. Says he's somebody that can find a role for this season.
On Briggs: Dennis could be most improved player from where he was at UNC game last season. Was recruited as a DE, has put on natural weight. Dennis is the type of athlete they look for at DT, powerful, super long, can make plays in short and big spaces.
On Cooper and Lovett: Says Fabien is in much better shape. Storms has done a great job with him. Can be more of a playmaker and not just an A and B gap player. Cooper should be better too because he'll be fresh.
Says Kevin Knowles will definitely play on defense. He's the only true freshman that he knows for sure will play significant reps on Sunday night. They're trying to get Shyheim Brown all the reps he can get as well. Farmer, too, was mentioned as a guy who will play this year, but not sure how much he'll play Sunday night.
Special teams coordinator/DEs coach John Papuchis is now here.
On Jermaine Johnson: "I have been super excited about him. I thought his work ethic in the offseason was tremendous. The day-to-day physicality that he brought to you defense."
On the kicking job: Said they came out of spring feeling it was 50/50. Said the thing that separated Ryan Fitzgerald was that he was consistent throughout camp. Said Fitzgerald also did an excellent job in late-practice pressure kicking situations."
On investing a lot of time in special teams. Said the fundamentals developed through special teams play allows you to be a great player on offense and defense, said a lot of it carries over. Said a lot of guys have done a good job of investing.
Said the players now believe that special teams can be an edge for them. Said the most challenging aspect of special teams in camp has been replicating the speed of the game in practice.
Said Derrick McLendon and Quashon Fuller have made progress. Said the overall the core group coming back is better.
Said one of his favorite parts of coaching special teams is getting to coach and interact with so many players on the team. Said the buy in and team feel of special teams
On Patrick Payton: Said he's gotten stronger and bigger, and his ability to pick up the playbook is impressive. Said George Wilson's speed and athleticism is a weapon.
That's all from today folks! Thanks for reading.
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Good morning!
We are scheduled to have Game Week press conferences today with head coach Mike Norvell, offense coordinator Kenny Dillingham, defensive coordinator Adam Fuller and special teams coordinator John Papuchis. It's supposed to start around 11:30 ET and go for about an hour.
Live video:
Corey will post live updates in this thread, and Aslan will have full videos afterward.
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