Freshmen Media Day - Defensive Line // UHND.com

Here are some highlights from the freshmen defensive linemen available which can be seen on UND.com’s All Access. If you have the time, definitely take a look as it’s always great to see how well spoken Notre Dame’s athletes are – especially for freshmen.

Ian Williams

On how things are going so far, “Things are going great. The guys are great. I’m having a fun time here”
On the adjustment from high school to college, “It’s a very big adjustment going from high school to college. I’m still just adapting to everything.”
On the biggest difference between high school and college, “Study a lot more. Some things in high school were easy to adjust to and things in college are totally different.”
On his impressions of the 3-4 defense, “It’s great. We get after people and just have fun. That’s basically what we do.”
On Corwin Brown, “He’s a great guy. He’s gotten on me a couple times, but you know it’s expected.”
On his goals for this year, “I’m just doing my best to make it on the bus so I can contribute to the team.”
On the team unity, “You can’t win a game by yourself. You need people around, you need 10 guys around you to do their best and you need those 10 guys.”
I loved watching Williams interview because he was very well spoken and his answers were all very short and to the point.
It’s funny hearing Williams talk about “just getting on the bus” because not only is he on the bus, he’s going to be playing a lot.
It’s great to see that Brown has been getting on Ian since ND is going to need a lot of quality minutes out of him.

Andrew Nuss

On why he came to Notre Dame, “First of all, academics. You can’t beat it, and playing a high level of competition of football there’s nothing better than this.”
On his impressions of the 3-4 defense, “It’s just a great defense and coach Brown’s dong a great job with it. I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people with it.”
On how he’ll feel after his first tackle, “I don’t know. Right now I’m just trying my best to get on the bus.”
On what it will be like to run out of the tunnel September 1, “You try and picture it, but everyone I’ve talked to, even the freshman from last year, said it’s a whole experience they’ll never forget it.”
On the best part of being at Notre Dame so far, “Just playing. Just being around the team and everything its just a great experience.”
Nuss’s answers were fairly boilerplate responses and he didn’t say anything off the wall which is always good.
It’s also always great to see a freshman saying he came to Notre Dame for academics first.
The defense surprising people was a common them among the defensive players when asked about their impressions of the 3-4 defense Notre Dame is installing.
Nuss was labeled as a defensive end during the interview.

Emeka Nwankwo

“It’s real exciting, but right now I’m just looking forward to helping the team win and trying to get on that bus.”
On his impressions of the 3-4 defense, “The 3-4 is real exciting because you can do so many things with the 3-4. From what I’ve seen its going to be real exciting.”
On the emotions of coaches, “Everyone gets emotional. When we make plays – the defense makes plays, the offense makes plays – it can get real exciting during practice.”
On the biggest challenge he has faced so far, “The biggest challenge right now is going to be balancing the college life with education and school because its different than high school, but I’m up for the challenge.”
On why he selected Notre Dame, “The alumni, graduation rate was a big key, and just being a part of this program. The tradition it has is just outstanding, it’s been than any of the other schools I had on my other list so that just made it even better for me to come here.”
Again, these were some pretty standard responses. I wonder if Charlie had them practice?
As with Nuss, it’s nice to see graduation rates listed as a reason for coming to Notre Dame.