Coach Kelly says practices have been going well and they're ready for Duke

 

Notre Dame's football team will kickoff the 2020 season on Saturday. Head Coach Brian Kelly held a press conference Thursday to give his final thoughts before the official start of the season.

Coach Kelly said the team only participated in 22 of its 25 allotted practices this season, but says his team is finishing strong.

He said Tuesday's practice was one of the best ever and they are ready for Duke.

"High energy, as purposeful as a practice that we've had in my time here at Notre Dame. Ian Book, a lot of veterans, this is a veteran team, know how to practice there was an attitude in the way that they went to work. Difference in working with a purpose, they were looking to set a standard and they certainly did. Now we didn't win anything that day, but we set a standard and if they can keep doing that, they will have success on Saturdays," Coach Kelly said.

There were times fans were worried there wouldn't be a football season, but now we're just 2 days away from the 2:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.

Coach Kelly says it has been an unprecedented build up, unlike anything he's experienced before. He says even though other conferences postponed, he kept his program moving forward.

"When you hear a conference won't play, you're concerned there will be ripple effects.-30 years as a head coach, I had a hard time envisioning not playing, but now it's hard to imagine how we got here. When we heard noise, we kept our head down and kept going. Knew we had good protocols and procedures- we were following them diligently. Had some ups and downs in this. But we were seeing great results. Internal optimism, being in conference calls, we felt some comfort as a group," Coach Kelly said.

ABC57 Saturday Kickoff returns this Saturday from 10 a.m. noon.