by Kyle Golik
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, who received the 2024 Bobby Dodd Award, is already among Notre Dame’s coaching elite. Through three seasons, no coach in Notre Dame history has more wins than Freeman, but Freeman is two wins away from truly joining elite company.
Knute Rockne (1920), Frank Leahy (1941), Ara Parseghian (1966), Dan Devine (1977), Lou Holtz (1988), and Brian Kelly (2012) either went undefeated (Rockne) or won the national championship (Leahy, Parseghian, Devine, Holtz). In the case of Freeman’s predecessor, Kelly went undefeated in the regular season but lost the BCS National Championship Game against Alabama. Now Freeman, who already has done something that Brian Kelly hasn’t: winning a New Year’s Six bowl game with Notre Dame’s 23-10 win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, has another chance to one-up Kelly if Notre Dame can beat Penn State in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Orange Bowl.
Freeman, who already has had plenty of success early in his time in South Bend, took time with the media to reflect, “I think it’s human nature to enjoy people saying good things about you. But we talked all year about being misfits, and that’s what we have to continue to be,” Freeman said.
“You have to make the choice to either waste time listening to people tell you how good you are, or what the past has been, or you’re going to put your time into preparing for this opportunity right in front of us. And that’s been my message loud and clear, and we all have to make that choice. It’s not the initial thought of daydreaming about the past or an uncertain future. It’s the second thought that, as soon as you start thinking about the past or what somebody’s saying about your future, that’s it’s uncertain, get back in the moment and put the work in that it takes to get the outcome that you want.”
The outcome Freeman would like is to advance against Penn State, a program he has tremendous respect for.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for coach [James] Franklin and the job he’s done at Penn State and Vandy before that. It’s a very disciplined, tough football team, very creative offense that utilizes a bunch of different personnel, a bunch of different formations. They’re going to force you to be extremely disciplined in terms of your eyes and your adjustments in terms of defensive football.”
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To get past Penn State, Notre Dame will have to slow down the most explosive offense in terms of yards per play that they have faced all season: Penn State. Since the Big Ten Championship Game, Penn State has averaged 410 yards of total offense per game, notably including 232.3 rushing yards per game, behind the only duo to each rush for over 1,000 yards this season in Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton.
The Notre Dame offensive line has been one of the more stout units in the nation allowing just 18 sacks all season. With the health status of EDGE Abdul Carter uncertain, it gives Freeman a chance to breathe a bit.
While Freeman had an offensive plan against Georgia that was ball-controlling and conservative, they can ill afford for Riley Leonard to be held to just 90 yards passing on 15-of-24 attempts, to be successful against Penn State. What made Leonard effective was his ability to be a dual threat and control the game, something Freeman commented on regarding his game.
“It just confirms what we’ve all learned about him. He is an ultra-competitive individual that finds ways to get his job done. And it’s never perfect, but in the most crucial moments, he’s going to find a way,” Freeman said of his senior quarterback. “That’s through decision-making, that’s through his legs, that’s through having to jump over somebody and flip on his head to get a first down. He’s doing exactly what we asked him to do. And he’s the first one, just like I would tell you about myself, that wants more.”
As the final hours tick away until the Orange Bowl, Freeman has his final preparations to review. A win would put Freeman in a class of Notre Dame coaches that define the history of the program. They are coaching immortals. A loss doesn’t set Freeman back, there are plenty of golden days that lie ahead for Notre Dame.
Freeman runs into a version of himself in James Franklin, Franklin is a great recruiter like Freeman and both are aggressive in their approaches. They are both extremely organized and prepared; this is what has allowed them to ascend to the positions they have attained. But I feel Freeman is still growing, Franklin as well. The Year 3 luck of the Irish is on Freeman’s side in college football’s penultimate game, Freeman has the team to get to Atlanta and join Notre Dame’s and some of college football’s immortals with that success on Thursday.
