Notebook: James Franklin's big-picture takes dominate Orange Bowl presser

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, left, and Penn State head coach James Franklin shake hands in front of the Orange Bowl trophy. (Photo by AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

DANIA BEACH, Fla. — James Franklin had opinions, and he was ready to share them. As Franklin, Penn State football’s head coach, and Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame’s head coach, shared a stage Wednesday morning ahead of Thursday’s College Football Playoff semifinal matchup in the Orange Bowl, the longer tenured coach had much more to say about some broader topics. The 52-year-old Franklin, who’s been a head coach since 2011 with three seasons at Vanderbilt prior to taking over Penn State, turned a question about the challenge of playing so many games this season into an opportunity to share his vision for the future of college football. “I think it's something that we're going to have to look at in terms of what's best for college football, what's best for the student-athlete experience, what's best in a university setting, because I don't know if this is really what it was designed to be,” Franklin said after crediting his program’s sports science team, tweaks in the schedule and the development and depth on his roster. “It's turned into that. I know a lot of times when coaches talk like this people roll their eyes, but I think when every decision that we make is based on finances, then we're not making great decisions that's in the student-athlete and the game of football's best interest.” SUBSCRIBE TO INSIDE ND SPORTS TO STAY IN THE KNOW ON NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS

Advertisement

Embed content not available Manage privacy settings

Related Content

Franklin went on to say that every program should be in a conference, every conference should play the same number of games, the calendar for the season should be examined and the sport needs a commissioner as he suggested Nick Saban, Chris Petersen and Dave Clawson for the role. Franklin later explained that his view on conferences and their schedules was a suggestion to make it easier for the College Football Playoff committee to rank and seed teams. Freeman didn’t come to the press conference to argue, and he quickly shared his views on Notre Dame’s independence. “Coach Franklin has a lot more experience, one, being a head coach in college football, and even just being in college athletics where you can formulate a strong opinion,” Freeman said. “For us, whatever you're going to tell us, we'll make the most of. We pride ourselves on our independence. If they come out with a decision we can't be independent, then we'll make it work. “I don't have a whole bunch of opinion on it. I'm a guy that just, tell us what we're doing and let's go and move forward and let's make the most of it. Not the answer you're probably looking for, but I'm not strongly opinionated about it. “I love where we're at right now, and [athletic director] Pete Bevacqua and our Notre Dame administration will continue to make decisions that's best for our program.” JOIN THE CONVERSATION ON THE INSIDER LOUNGE MESSAGE BOARD

Embed content not available Manage privacy settings

Injury updates on star players

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, who continues to deal with a right knee injury, wasn’t included on Notre Dame’s availability report earlier this week. That’s because the Irish expect him to play despite being limited to 17 offensive snaps in the 23-10 win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl last Thursday. How effective Love will be is a bigger question. He’s rushed for 1,076 yards and 16 touchdowns on 148 carries this season. “Jeremiyah has had a great week of practice,” Freeman said. “We have to be smart in terms of how much we're asking him to do in practice. We've got to get him ready for the game. But he's confident. “And nobody, I think, feels 100% right now,” Freeman said. “We're in game 15, 16 maybe for you. Nobody feels 100%. But J Love will be good to go. Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter, who exited the 31-14 win over Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve with an apparent upper body injury, is being closely monitored as well. The unanimous All-American has tallied 21.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks this season as one of college football’s top defenders. “We anticipate Abdul playing,” Franklin said. “He's doing everything he possibly can to play. His approach has been awesome. He's lived in the training room. But it'll be a game-time decision, and we'll see.” CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO INSIDE ND SPORTS ON YOUTUBE

Embed content not available Manage privacy settings

Defensive coordinators with head-coaching experience

The defensive coordinators for Notre Dame and Penn State were both head coaches earlier in their careers. Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden was an assistant coach in the NFL for six seasons after his college head coaching stints at Temple (2006-10) and Miami (2011-15). Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen was Indiana’s head coach from 2017-23 before being fired. Freeman was intentional in targeting Golden because of his head coaching experience. “When I hired Al Golden three years ago, it was for two reasons,” Freeman said. “One, I believed he had a great defensive mind and could do great things with our defense, but two, at that point we did not have a former head coach on our staff, and I thought it was important to get somebody that had experience where I had none on our staff. “The growth we've made in three years has been tremendous, the growth of our defense. And our defense is doing really great things right now, and Coach Golden gets all the credit, and that staff and the players.” Franklin said he’s always interested in hiring qualified and experienced coaches on his “If you know Tom, Tom has just been awesome,” Franklin said. “There's not a better guy in the profession. His humility is impressive. His faith is impressive. But he's been awesome. He's jumped right back into this thing and is really doing a great job, and I think his family is enjoying it. I think Tom is enjoying it, and we're enjoying having him. We feel blessed to have Tom Allen and his family and really the rest of my staff, too.” Both Golden and Allen have led excellent defenses this season. Notre Dame ranks No. 2 in the FBS in scoring defense for allowing 13.6 points per game. Penn State ranks No. 7 at 15.8.

Embed content not available Manage privacy settings

Why the run game rules for Notre Dame

Thursday’s game will pit two teams against each other who have been successful at running the football and stopping the run. Notre Dame’s rushing offense ranks No. 11 in the FBS with 217.5 rushing yards per game, and its rushing defense ranks No. 34 with 127.9 rushing yards allowed per game. Penn State’s rushing offense ranks No. 18 at 202.2, and its rushing defense ranks No. 8 at 100.9. “I think for us, it's what we do well and what we have to do to have success with this current team,” Freeman said. “As you look at the course of our season, it's been a big indication of the outcome of the game, our ability to run the football and our ability to stop the run. It's a mentality. It's a mindset. “Just from our defensive coaching background, when you can't stop an offense from running the ball, it can be demoralizing. That's why we say we have to do it now.”

Embed content not available Manage privacy settings

Another coach of the year honor for Freeman

Freeman won the Dodd Trophy on Dec. 31 as the top college football coach in the country. He added the George Munger College Coach of the Year Award to his résumé Wednesday Freeman is the second Notre Dame coach to win the Munger Award following Tyrone Willingham in 2002. The award has been handed out since 1989. Legendary Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz informed Freeman that he won the Munger Award. Freeman was also named Wednesday as one of eight finalists for the Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award. He was joined by South Carolina's Shane Beamer, Indiana's Curt Cignetti, Boise State's Spencer Danielson, Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham, SMU's Rhett Lashlee, Army's Jeff Monken, Texas' Steve Sarkisian. The winner will be announced Jan. 22. Holtz is the only Notre Dame winner of the Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award in 1988. The award was started in 1986.

Embed content not available Manage privacy settings

Click here to read article