UPDATE: Here is What Ohio State, Notre Dame football coaches said before CFP championship……

What Ryan Day, Marcus Freeman said before Ohio State vs. Notre Dame

• Day: “We always want to use the transfer portal as an opportunity to fill holes that may come up now with the way things are designed within college football. We do that. But we also try to make sure that we’re using a lot of great judgment on who we bring into our program.”
• Day was asked about OSU having multiple players from Georgia, including safety Caleb Downs. He said recruiting Atlanta has been beneficial and added, “When they saw that the National Championship game was in Atlanta from the jump, they were excited about that opportunity if it arose and we reached this game.”
• Day praised his team’s maturity and the journey OSU has been through to reach this point. Day: “Those stories are not told unless you win it. So that’s our focus right now, is winning the game.”
• Freeman on recruiting international players: “I think the game of football continuously grows, and that obviously started with the NFL, and now you see it’s trickling down to college.”
• Day on the international topic: “As it becomes on a national stage, it just provides for a better game.”
• Day noted various things Ohio State has done to keep its players fresh for a 16-game season, including playing slower on offense. Day: “It’s all been up to this point, and it was all working towards this moment right here on Monday night.”
• Freeman on his connection to Ohio State: “This isn’t about where I went to school. This isn’t about the last two times we played Ohio State. This opportunity is about this opportunity, and we’ve got to make sure we focus on that because this opponent is this current opponent.”
• Freeman on Notre Dame defensive line coach Al Washington who previously spent time on OSU’s staff: “He’s done a really good job of recruiting and developing the defensive line. We’re grateful to have him part of our staff.”
• Freeman on the importance of players watching film: “There’s only so much you can do physically, but mentally I think there’s always a nugget you can grab as you prepare and watch film.”
• Day on his pregame speech tomorrow: “Being in the locker room is a special moment. It is. But you all of a sudden can’t just like ramp a guy up in the last second to get a guy to go play really, really hard.”