Marcus Freeman details Notre Dame's plan for return to America

Notre Dame had some travel issues the last time it played in Ireland back in 2012 as its flight home was delayed, sleep was hard to come by and the Irish struggled the following week. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman doesn’t expect to have any troubles this time around.

Freeman and the staff at Notre Dame have put together a very detailed plan for the trip to and from Dublin. He feels great about the plan going in.

“They didn’t stay the night [in 2012], so they came back right after the game, whereas we’re going to stay the night, get up early in the morning and fly back,” Freeman said. “So I’ve always been told coming West, you should be better because you’re gaining hours. So I’m less concerned with the trip back. But still, everything’s been planned out to the minute – what time we’re leaving, when we’re getting back, what are we doing when we get back? All of those things have been planned out to the minute.”

Marcus Freeman is also altering the practice schedule for when the Irish do get back to the United States. With a long flight home, followed by preparation for a matchup with Tennessee State, it won’t be a typical practice week.

“And then you’ve gotta think about the next week of practice, right. And understand there still is going to be some fatigue when you travel from a different country back to here in Indiana,” Freeman said. “So that has been taken into consideration in terms of the practice schedules for the following week – how do we make sure that we’re able to get out what we need but take into consideration it’s going to be a full week of school, we played in a different country the previous Saturday, and we have to be ready to perform.”

Notre Dame is a 21-point favorite for the opener against Navy and should also be heavily favored for the game against Tennessee State the following week.

There are high expectations for Notre Dame entering the season as the Irish return a lot of talent and added former Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman from the transfer portal this offseason.

Freeman believes the staff at Notre Dame has put together a solid plan for the Irish to get off to a strong start to the 2023 season

“Again, it all goes back – let’s look at the end result. We have to be ready to perform Saturday at 2:30,” Freeman said. “Now, how do we make sure we have our plan that our guys feel physically ready to perform that next Saturday?”