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The Notre Dame locker room was apparently an “ugly” place after Ohio State’s 34-23 victory over the Fighting Irish in the College Football Playoff national championship on Monday.
Dan Wolken, a national columnist for USA Today Sports, described it as a tense environment, with players yelling at reporters in a tweet posted after the game — which led to some blowback online.
“Bizarre scenes from the Notre Dame locker room, players yelling at reporters, coaches warning people not to ask certain questions,” Wolken wrote on X, adding, “Amateur hour.”
Wolken further detailed his experience in a post on his verified Reddit account and claimed “a few [Notre Dame] players said some pretty threatening and insulting things to me” as he exited the locker room.
Wolken explained that he went to the locker room specifically to speak with Notre Dame sophomore cornerback Christian Gray — who was beat by Buckeyes receiver Jeremiah Smith for a 56-yard pass late in the fourth quarter that sealed Ohio State’s victory over the Fighting Irish.
“I was going to write a piece about Jeremiah Smith’s game-clinching catch,” Wolken wrote, adding that he had already asked Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman about the play in his press conference, and that he wanted to get Gray’s perspective in the locker room.
“When I walked into the locker room, there were a small number of reporters in there. But some of them had already approached Gray and tried to ask about the play,” Wolken said. “As I walked in, a few players were shouting obscenities at the reporters who had been there and complaining about the fact that Gray was asked about Jeremiah Smith.
“I noticed that a staff member had walled off access to the locker and said that he wasn’t going to answer questions about the play. So I turned around to leave because there was no point wasting my time and was going to go over to the Ohio State locker room. As I was leaving, a few players said some pretty threatening and insulting things to me as well.”
Wolken added that other media members, as well as CFP staff, witnessed the situation.
“I don’t really care, but it was ugly and unbecoming and unprofessional,” he wrote. “It was also seen something that a few other media members and people working for the CFP staff saw, so any suggestion that this didn’t happen is – quite frankly – complete and utter bulls–t. It was also something I’ve never really seen in 20-plus years of covering these situations, even in some of the most distraught and heartbroken locker rooms you can imagine.
“The reality is, whether people like the locker room situation or not, this is the opportunity that is given to media members to ask questions of players who are not chosen to go to a press conference. Is there a better way to do it? Maybe, but that’s not something I have control over. I always feel like when a player is involved in the biggest play of a game, even if they are on the wrong end of it, giving them the opportunity to explain it from their point of view is the right thing to do.”
Wolken explained that he posted the tweet “because it was completely out of the norm” of standard postgame procedure.
“And I think 100 [percent] of the blame goes to the Notre Dame sports information staff and the CFP staff for not preparing players for what they’ll face in these postgame situations,” he concluded.
Similar reports also surfaced.
A separate report by On3 said senior Notre Dame wideout Jayden Thomas shouted expletives at a group of reporters over a question asked to Gray about Smith.
“Have a heart!” Thomas said, while Gray covered his head with a towel and walked to the players’ food station.
CBS Sports also reported that a few Notre Dame players grew frustrated with reporters and yelled expletives at them in the locker room after the game.
ESPN college football sideline reporter Molly McGrath painted a much different picture of her experience while covering Notre Dame in the national championship game.
“It was an honor covering @NDFootball during this run to the championship game. Their players, staff, and Coach Freeman handled every media request and every interview with kindness and grace,” McGrath wrote on X. “After interviewing Ohio State on the field, I was tasked with interviewing Marcus Freeman outside of their locker room after he spoke to his team. He was kind and patient with my questions, and then proceeded to stand in the hallway and watch Ohio State’s trophy ceremony from a television across the hall. He looked heartbroken and determined. Freeman and the Irish will be back. The look on his face said it all.”
McGrath also explained that she never entered the Notre Dame locker room.
“To be clear, I posted this before I ever saw @DanWolken’s tweet,” she wrote. “I don’t know his experience last night, but he reported what he saw and I reported what I saw. I was never in the locker room, but my experience covering this team has been incredibly positive.”
