Brian, how are you? JR, my friend, always an honor to join you. I'm doing great and I'm such a big fan of yours, so I love seeing you and hearing you win between when we talk. Well, thank you so much. I certainly appreciate that.
I'm surprised, Ryan, that you still have a voice, man. How you feeling? You good?
I'm great. And here's the thing, I expected to be here, just like every member of the Notre Dame football team and staff. Look, they lost the game. So did everybody else, right? I mean, so I just, I understood because of knowing how Marcus Freeman has consistently shown up for the players both on and off the field, having conversations with players one-on-one every week.
And some players tell me half the time they don't even talk about football, bringing his kids around the facility, getting Al Golden, getting the offensive coordinator to come in who, oh, by the way, gave me my first start and Mike Dembrock. The stars aligned and then they got Riley Leonard. So it was a matter of time, not a matter of if.
Matter of time, matter of if. If we think about what took place earlier this year, and it is, I don't want to call it a sore spot, it took place, it was that loss to Northern Illinois. A lot of teams could look at that moment and break as the season continues on, especially given how early it was.
How did they turn things around and go on this 12-game winning streak? By being honest and assessing and accepting the reality and acknowledging it. I mean, one of the things that bad leaders do all the time is they fail to acknowledge the mistakes. They fail to acknowledge the moment. And what that sounds like in football is, hey guys, I don't know what happened yesterday. We're going to burn that film.
We're not even going to watch it. We're onto the next week because I know you're better than that. And that's the easy thing to say. What did Marcus say?
He said, first of all, it starts with me. I didn't get you ready as a head coach and my staff didn't get you ready as players to get there. We thought we had a great week of practice and we are going to reevaluate our preparation and our opportunity. And you as individuals need to do that individually as well. And for those of you who need fear, I'm going to remind you of this every week for the rest of the season. Those of you who need direction, we're going to give you that direction as coaches. And when Marcus Freeman or any leader speaks like that, JR, it's over. Because now you understand.
Because here's the truth we all know. You are going to fail on the way to your success. It's not like have a bad day.
You're going to fail on your way to success. What happens after that is the difference. And that has been the difference these last 12 all winning games. Notre Dame radio analyst, former offensive tackle for the Fighting Irish, Ryan Harris is here with us on the JR Sportbreeze show. As a former player, you yourself and also thinking about Marcus Freeman, who I think is his birthday today, he has the biggest light on him at this moment.
Being a former player, how is it different from someone who's been in the locker room versus someone who's just yelled at you from the entire career leading the way as coach? Well, it's different because JR, as a Notre Dame man in an NFL locker room for 10 years, I was always different. I wasn't different at Notre Dame because yes, I could have went to Miami like everybody else on my team. Yes, I could have went to USC or Michigan. I wanted more. I chose more. I wanted to go to school. I wanted to beat kids in the classroom and on the field.
And that's a different type of person. Look, I've had SEC teammates all throughout my career and still I'm doing a podcast right now with Shelby Harris and Chris Harris Jr. and those guys couldn't wait to tell me how Penn State was going to beat Notre Dame. So for those of us who have been Notre Dame alumni who are different, trying to be a force for good everywhere we go, it is the greatest feeling.
I'm not going to lie to you because other things have won out. You've had a coach who got fired because guys were getting free tattoos. You've had guys who won national championships who you don't want to talk about at the dinner table, right?
Ed Ojeron says hello. So I mean, there's all kinds of things that have happened since Notre Dame won their last national championship. But at this time in a 12 team playoff with this media culture that we live in, this internet culture that we live in, this is the absolute best feeling that Notre Dame alumni and former players have had in a long, long time.
Well, Ryan, one of the guys that we actually heard from last night, Riley Leonard, he said he left Duke to come to Notre Dame to chase championships. Last night, we know he got knocked out before halftime. It didn't look all that good until maybe later on in the game, but still kind of shaky.
You had you on the edge of your seat. What are your thoughts on what needs to change with him and the offense to try to have more success against Ohio State of Texas? You might need to put Steve Angelion in the second quarter. I mean, let's be clear. If any time we're not doing our job and somebody else is and they go six for seven, right? And the one incompletion was a brilliant decision because no one was open, get the ball out of bounds, stop the clock. I mean, yeah, the pressure was felt, right? So Riley Leonard came back and clearly there was a fantastic halftime speech by Marcus Freeman and he was firing and he was throwing downfield.
He was hitting guys. And the big thing about the quarterback position in college and in the NFL, you cannot hesitate if you think it, do it, especially in big games. And in the second half, Riley Leonard just fired that football when he saw what he saw, making a huge throw to Jaden Greathouse for the longest, longest passing touchdown of the season and also making key throws to Mitch Evans and others while also rushing the ball, particularly getting a huge first down in the fourth quarter. And when I talked to him, J.R. a few weeks ago, I said, what's the biggest difference being here? He goes, Ryan, it was a bigger jump from it was a bigger jump from Duke to Notre Dame than it was from high school to college football. He said, I just couldn't understand the attention, the intensity, the way that other teams play us, the way that that I did even when I was going from high school to college. And I think that says everything about what it means to be in a top two program.
Ryan Harris is here with us, the J.R. sport re-show Coast to Coast. When you think about what's going to take place in Atlanta, it's going to be a few hours before we know who the opponent is going to be. What are your thoughts on on Notre Dame and how they might match up with one of these teams versus the other? Well, let's start with Ohio State. Notre Dame versus Ohio State would be the third matchup in the last three years. And in both matchups, Notre Dame lost by one possession, particularly the last game, Ohio State at Notre Dame, virtually on the last play where they were. Notre Dame had 10 players on the field. They can't wait to play Ohio State.
They don't care about what anybody says or who anybody picks. If you're a player, which most of that roster is 70 percent of that roster for Notre Dame played in that game, they can't wait for Ohio State. And then if it is Texas, well, I'm cheering for Texas. My son was born in Houston when I was with the Texans. If it is Texas, you just beat Georgia. Who beat Texas in the SEC championship game? But the best thing I heard talking to coaches this week, I asked last week at the Sugar Bowl, I said, what's the big thing with this team?
What's the message? And one of my longtime friends and coaches said, it's not about who we play. We're not worried about who we play. It's about what we do.
And Phil Jackson writes about it in his book, which I highly recommend, The Soul of Success. And I experienced it on a Super Bowl 50 team. When you, it's not a good team, it's us versus them. But great teams, it's just us. And that's where Notre Dame has played for the last 15 weeks.
Ryan Harris is here with us, a Super Bowl champ with those Broncos, Notre Dame alum. I can't have you here and not talk about some of the NFL playoffs as well. What are you looking forward to here over Wild Card Weekend and beyond? We know the two top teams are getting a little bit of a rest. I'm looking for the physicality and the execution. J.R., there's no way to explain. When you play in the playoffs, it is the most physical experience known to man. I mean, for hockey fans, it's like playoff hockey.
It's a totally different game. And I'm calling the game tomorrow on Westwood for the Chargers at Texans. I'm cheering for Texas. I'm a man of principle.
My son was born there. But I think that the Chargers are going to win. And then you got some more games this weekend that are just going to be phenomenal. I think Minnesota wins. I'm actually picking Denver for the upset. They won last year with Russell Wilson, J.R., in Buffalo.
So look out. And by the way, they just, in their last game, doesn't matter whether or not Patrick Holmes is playing, the Broncos went 4 for 4 on scoring drives to start the game. So Bo Nix has figured it out after that 68-yard touchdown pass three weeks ago against the Bengals. But it's going to be a fantastic matchup. I think it's just one of the best parts of the year as a sports fan are the now college football playoffs and the NFL playoffs.
Oh, man. You talk about Bo Nix. We saw him in the playoffs last year in college. And here he is now in the playoffs with Sean Payton. There are so many quarterbacks. We know the quarterback is the most important position in football, period.
He's the one out there making the decisions. What is different now about this transition from college to the pros where we see a Bo Nix, we see a Jaden Daniels. People are expecting miracles out of a Cam Ward wherever he ends up. How has that changed over the past 5 to 10 years where now guys aren't sitting and learning in the learning tree?
What's happened? Well, you're right that it is two players in the last 10 years who have done this. And that's Bo Nix and Jaden Daniels. This isn't the rule. This is the exception.
And with both players, the one thing that everyone needs to take away from their story is how to handle failure. Bo Nix went to Auburn, started his career in Auburn, ran double digits and passed for over 100 yards in like 8 of his games each year at Auburn. Oh, by the way, his dad went there. I mean, could you imagine if our dads were like, hey, come on over to this place where I used to go back in 1978.
Like, no, dad, I'm going to go to the XYZ. So he leaves there and goes to Oregon. And as you said, you've seen him in the playoffs before. And so he's saying to you, Bo Nix, saying to you, you're surprised?
This is what he does. He completed more passes at a higher rate than any quarterback in college football history with the most starts. 61 in college football history. And in his first game, he threw two picks. And they asked him, they said, what was it like to walk us through that first interception? He goes, step back, threw it to the other team.
And when you have a process for failure like that, where you understand what happened and also declare that it's not going to stop you, that's what's made Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels so exceptional this season in the NFL. And analyst Ryan Harris is here with us as we start to wrap things up. I do want to ask you about a quarterback who I don't I have no idea that. Let me just are we going to see Watson? Is Deshaun Watson done?
I mean, two Achilles AC? What's the deal with him? He's done. And for the deal is, like all of us, when do we when do we admit we don't have it anymore? I'm talking to a lot of parents out there. Now, Jay, I'm talking to you too, brother. No, not me right away in your mind. But was that the truth? Because that's what Deshaun Watson, you know, is has experienced that for every person who leaves an identity career, whether it's sports, whether it's accounting, whether it's business. You try at the end, some many people try at the end to elongate that as long as possible. And that's what Deshaun Watson did, because he said, as long as I show up, I'm getting $45 million.
I'm not sitting on my couch, right? And so there's going to be a push come to shove. But there's, there's, I don't know that there's any remorse in this situation in the way there is with many players, like even Kirk Cousins, you know, although he has not been successful in the playoffs, like everybody respects his career. It's just unusual and the exception that nobody really has those feelings for Deshaun Watson with what has happened. And that's just the honest truth of it. And he has not been the same player since and as a player from just a particularly player perspective, I don't know how you could be that player again, how you could ignore everything that happened. And for fans, it's in the Bill of Rights, you get to have an opinion and you get to believe that opinion. And that's what's happened.
And that's why I believe Deshaun Watson is done. Okay. Hey, Ryan, where can we follow you as you analyze college and Notre Dame and the pros? You're a busy guy. Fill us in. Check me out. Instagram and Twitter.
Same thing. RyanHarris underscore 68. I could check out my website.
RyanHarris68.com or go on Amazon. Get my book. It's a great gift for anybody. And it's a great read for you. Mindset for mastery. I'm gonna teach you how to be great. Hey, Ryan, I appreciate the time. We'll catch you on down the line. And good luck to them fighting Irish. Okay. Go Irish, JR. Go Irish.
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