Marcus Freeman reveals what his football aspirations were growing up

New Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has always wanted to be the best at what he does. When he was a player, he wanted to be the best player at every level. Once he decided to get into coaching, that philosophy only grew.

Earlier in the week, Freeman spoke about what his goals were in football when he was younger.

“It was to be the best at what you do,” Freeman said when asked what his aspirations were growing up. “I didn’t care if I was in high school, I want to be the best football player I can be. I got to college, I want to be the best college football player I could be. Be part of the best team. I could get drafted to the NFL, I want to be the best NFL player I can be.”

Now, Freeman wants to be the best coach he can be for Notre Dame

Freeman didn’t care if he was a head coach or an assistant coach, but he wanted to be the best. He said that once he began seeing players reach the goals that he once set for himself, he knew that being the best coach he could be was the goal he would follow for the rest of his life.

“And then I had a moment I had to make a decision, what’s next for me. And I got into coaching, and I’ve told the story before, but I got into coaching because I was like, man, I want to stay around football. I want to stay around the game, I want to be on the sidelines, I love it,” Freeman said. “But then you realize very quickly that the satisfaction and gratification you get is seeing young people reach your goals. So the minute I realized that, I said I’m going to be the best football coach I can be. I never said I’m going to be the head coach. I just want to be the best football coach, the best leader for a group of young men that I can be. And that’s how I’ll continue to attack the rest of my life.”

Freeman has also set a specific standard for Notre Dame since taking over as head coach. He sold Notre Dame on his vision of greatness for the program before being officially hired.

“We’re going to achieve greatness as a group,” Freeman said. “As a team. And they accepted it. And that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to do this thing together as a team.”