Skip to main content
Join Now
Team Avatar
Notre Dame

Kyle Hamilton reveals moment he knew Marcus Freeman was the coach he wanted to play for

photos -jpgby: Ashton Pollard12/03/21ashtonpollard7
kyle-hamilton-marcus-freeman-coach-wanted-play-for-inside-garage-podcast
Safety Kyle Hamilton had eight interceptions in three years at Notre Dame (Joe Robbins/Getty Images).

Newly announced Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman already has the blessing of one of the nation’s best players. 

On the newest episode of “Inside the Garage,” a Notre Dame football podcast hosted by players Kyle Hamilton, Cam Hart, KJ Wallace and Conor Ratigan, Hamilton revealed the situation that proved to him Freeman was the coach he wanted to play for.

“During camp, it was still really on in his career here, the defense had made a big play or something like that, and I think Coach [Brian] Kelly was mad about something,” Hamilton said. “Freeman huddled us up, and he was like ‘I’m glad he’s mad. That means we’re doing good.’ I think at that point he got me. I was like ‘Alright, bet. I wanna play for this dude because he’s a gamer.’”

Freeman, who is now the youngest Power Five head coach at age 35, was announced as the head coach on Friday. Hamilton took a second to acknowledge just how impressive the last year of his coach’s life has been.

“How far he’s come in the past 11 months, from Group of Five [defensive coordinator] to Notre Dame head coach,” Hamilton said. “I think he’s going to have a really big impact on the program. I think people are going to love him. He’s a real players’ coach.”

The Ohio native and former Ohio State player was the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati prior to coming to Notre Dame. After less than one season as the Irish defensive coordinator, he is now running the program. 

Clearly, Freeman already has a lot of love coming his way from his team, as is evidenced by a Friday morning video showing the formal announcement being made to the Notre Dame players. The program also released footage of the first speech Freeman gave to the team while they await their postseason fate.

Injury update on Hamilton

A Thursday report from The Athletic offered an injury update on Hamilton. He still has a chance to return this season, but only on the condition that the team makes the College Football Playoff.

Hamilton has not played since Oct. 23 against USC after suffering a knee injury. Prior to the setback, he had recorded 19 tackles, three interceptions and four passes break ups this season.

Despite missing significant time, he is still labeled as a potential top-10 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

On3’s Chandler Vessels contributed to this report.