Marcus Freeman opens up on what he would tell his past self after early loss to Marshall

There are very few jobs in college football under as much scrutiny as being the head coach at Notre Dame. For Marcus Freeman, it’s his first head coaching opportunity and in his first season, it got off to an awkward start when the Irish were upset by Marshall.

Freeman recently appeared on The Joel Klatt Show. There, he reflected on that upset loss to Marshall and explained what he wishes he could go back in time to tell himself about that loss.

“Probably one very clear statement is that the greatest things in life take time,” Marcus Freeman said. “There is no such thing as instant gratification if you’re talking about creating something great. You learn so much more from the losses — you can’t lose. You can’t continuously lose or you’re not gonna have a job, but losing is a part of continuous growth.”

Marcus Freeman spent the 2021 season as the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame. He’d replace Brian Kelly as head coach for the bowl game and moving forward after that year. Young and well-regarded, it was a slow start for Freeman and the Irish, losing their first three games. That Marshall game was the third loss and the first where Notre Dame was a clear favorite. After that, Notre Dame kicked it into gear and won nine of their final 11 games that season.

“Nobody enjoys it,” Freeman said. “But I think there is a desperation, I think, every individual naturally has when they’re in the dumps when they’ve lost, when they feel embarrassed. I think I’ve had my most growth as a leader from some of those difficult losses.”

Now having coached three full seasons at Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman is considered one of the best coaches in all of college football. Notre Dame is 33-10 under him and is coming off a 14-2 season in 2024 where the Irish made the College Football Playoff and then went on a run to the national championship game, falling short to Ohio State. Still, that run solidified Freeman as one of the best head coaches in the sport.

“But just understanding if you would have told me when I was hired as a head coach I would play in a national championship game by year three, I’d be, ‘Heck, yeah. That’s awesome, man. That’s a good start,'” Freeman said. “But, if you would have said you have 10 losses on your record before you did that, or nine before you did that, that’s tough to swallow but that’s what it took. That’s the experience that I’ve had to go through, that we’ve had to go through as a program, to put ourselves in the position we’re in now. Now, we’ve got to continue to use those experiences from the past as the new foundation for the future.”

Now, Marcus Freeman has set a high bar for his own success at Notre Dame. The expectation is to make the CFP again and go on another deep run. He’s also past the point where fans are willing to accept difficult losses to teams like Marshall or even Northern Illinois.