Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Well, one way to go from here…
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman made his debut in a head spot Saturday and things looked great for him and the Fighting Irish until it all went south.
Notre Dame blew a 28-7 lead and ultimately fell 37-35 as their streak of not winning a major bowl game since January of 1994 continued.
Freeman spoke after the contest and had the following to share in regards to all things Notre Dame and Fiesta Bowl related:
Underrated perk of being the head coach? Getting to give the horn signal…
Notre Dame continues to prep for the January 1 Fiesta Bowl as they’ll battle Oklahoma State in Marcus Freeman’s debut as head football coach. As the countdown to Christmas is in its final days the Irish seem hellbent on finishing the year 12-1.
The recently improved behind the scenes look that Notre Dame’s advanced media team has put together featured a close up of Marcus Freeman on Tuesday. Check it out below as Freeman starts the team’s day with a quick competition before getting after it on the practice field.
See the video below and see one of the unique powers that comes Freeman’s way now that he’s the head coach.
Related:
Ladies and gentlemen, the #FreemanEra is upon us. Use one word to describe your feeling for it:
If you’re a Notre Dame football fan whatsoever and you haven’t yet seen the eight-plus minute video that advanced media team put together that recaps Marcus Freeman getting the Notre Dame head coaching job then stop what you’re doing right now, put your phone on silent, give your dog a bone to play with for a few minutes and tell your kids they need to go lay down.
Now enjoy the next eight minutes and fifteen seconds because you are going to want to run through a brick wall by the end of it.
Why did everyone want Marcus Freeman to be Notre Dame’s head coach so badly? Why after he was interviewed for the job did Jack Swarbrick not feel the need to talk to anyone else?
Watch and you’ll quickly understand.
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐑𝐀#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/BghosjGqFH
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) December 10, 2021
I’ve been watching Notre Dame football since the early nineties and I’d be lying if I said I was ever as excited for it at any point, and that includes for a 2006 team that I thought would be capable of winning a national championship.
Freeman has something that can’t be taught and isn’t the easiest thing to explain but for certain it’s there and I can’t wait to see the heights he brings the Notre Dame football program to in the coming years.
Related:
Everything Marcus Freeman said at his Notre Dame introductory press conference
Marcus Freeman already out visiting five-star recruits
Best images from Marcus Freeman’s introductory press conference at Notre Dame
Tommy Rees talks all things Notre Dame football and Fiesta Bowl
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This should be music to Notre Dame fan’s ears…
Marcus Freeman met the media as he was officially introduced as Notre Dame’s head football coach on Monday. One of Freeman’s greatest strengths is in his ability to communicate and connect with players and the recruiting benefits that come along with having those skills.
So not that he is the head coach and he’ll have to be dragged in countless directions and tend to things he never had to tend to as an assistant, will his emphasis on being such an important recruiter remain as high?
Try higher.
"I better be the lead recruiter in every kid that we recruit and I plan on doing it."@NDFootball head coach @Marcus_Freeman1 on the importance of recruiting. pic.twitter.com/mgV2uUFOrM
— Notre Dame on NBC (@NDonNBC) December 6, 2021
That’s music to the ears of Notre Dame fans as the Irish continue to try and close the talent gap between themselves and the truly elites of college football.
We’ll have a ton of content in regards to what Freeman had to say at his introductory press conference Monday so keep it right here at Fighting Irish Wire as he breakdown everything that was discussed by Freeman and certainly plenty that wasn’t brought up.
Related:
Marcus Freeman discusses wild week that was with Dan Patrick
Notre Dame OC Tommy Rees talks all things Fiesta Bowl
Watch Marcus Freeman’s entire introductory press conference
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What is your favorite college bowl game and why (non-CFP)?
Marcus Freeman had the recruiting itch so was out and about trying to make the future of the Notre Dame football program better Sunday evening. As a result, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees met the media instead of the head coach in advance of the Fiesta Bowl which the Irish had been announced to be playing in earlier in the day.
Below is everything Rees had to say about Notre Dame’s invitation to the Fiesta Bowl, his initial thoughts on Oklahoma State, and everything else in regards to the health of players and the crazy week that was for the Fighting Irish football team.
The #Freemanera has officially begun.
The first domino to fall in Notre Dame’s head coaching search went down Wednesday night as offensive coordinator Tommy Rees did his best impression of “The Wolf of Wall Street” and declared he was coming back.
Seemingly no time later reports that Marcus Freeman would be the next Notre Dame head coach came out. On Friday morning Notre Dame made it official as they announced Freeman as the 30th head football coach in program history.
Freeman spent one year as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator while previously spending time at Cincinnati, Purdue, and Kent State. The former Ohio State linebacker also served as a graduate assistant for the Buckeyes under Jim Tressel.
Freeman is a rising star in the coaching ranks and is a star recruiter. The biggest concern upon is his lack of head coaching experience and that’s something that makes me uneasy as well, but him taking this job now, especially with the strong assistant coaches who have opted to return to Notre Dame instead of follow Brian Kelly to LSU.
Freeman’s introductory press conference will come at 2 p.m. ET on Monday.
Stay tuned to Fighting Irish Wire for everything related to the Freeman hire!
Related Links:
Twitter reaction to Notre Dame’s hiring of Marcus Freeman
5 reasons Marcus Freeman is the right man for the Notre Dame job
Photos: New Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman through the years
Lou has weighed in…
Has anyone associated with Notre Dame not come forward and stated their displeasure for Brian Kelly’s actions in leaving for LSU?
Brady Quinn has, assistant coaches may not have by words but certainly rallied together based off their actions, and plenty of fans and former players did the same.
You can now add Lou Holtz to the list of those agitated by the now LSU head coach.
“You just don’t leave Notre Dame,” Holtz said Wednesday on The Crowd’s line which he co-hosts with Mark May. “You don’t go to Notre Dame for the money!”
“The other thing that bothered me about him, he never talked about Notre Dame and what really made it great,” Holtz continued, “To be part of Notre Dame you’ve got to talk about the Lady on the Dome…you have to feel the spirit of Notre Dame and you’ve just got to be part of it!”
Holtz also mentioned how Kelly’s biggest win at Notre Dame came against a Clemson team playing without their best player and did praise the accomplishments of Kelly under the dome, but did finish with a bit more of a jab:
“To go somewhere for money, I just don’t think that’s the right reason.”
Personally I was fairly surprised how reserved Holtz was in discussing this compared to how he often can be.
“His head coach calls Marcus a once in a lifetime ballplayer”
Recruiting has certainly changed over the years as sites like Rivals and 247Sports have soared the last two decades and seemingly every high school football player who sees the field has their own Hudl to display their skills.
Not that long ago the recruiting world was quite a bit different, however. For instance, when soon-to-be Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman was being recruited one of the biggest outlets to learn about the future college stars was in “Tom Lemming’s Prep Football Report”.
Lemming was one of the first to really start to cover high school players and recruiting in the capacity it’s done now. Lemming is still active in the craft and on Thursday morning shared Freeman’s profile from his 2003 edition.
New ND HC Marcus Freeman was a 5* in May 2003 summer magazine. I interviewed him in Jan 2003 when he was a JR. I noticed his leadership qualities right away and selected him for the 2004 US Army All American Game. He was 18 going on 30. Dedicated, motivated and goal oriented. pic.twitter.com/eEySECTS4m
— Tom Lemming (@LemmingReport) December 2, 2021
It reads exactly like that of the elite recruit Freeman was when the Wayne (Dayton, Ohio) High School star took his talents to Ohio State.
Freeman will turn 36 on January 10 which just so happens to be the date of this season’s College Football Playoff championship game.
Related:
Photos Gallery – Marcus Freeman through the years
