Embracing NIL? Five things Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman told BCSN
On Tuesday, Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman spoke at 62nd annual scholar-athlete awards dinner of the Toledo/Wistert Chapter of the National Football Foundation. Afterward, Freeman spoke to Mark Kunz of Buckeye Cable Sports Network (BCSN). Here are five things Freeman said.
Note: Quotes have been lightly edited for length and clarity. To watch Freeman’s full interview, click here.
On if he looks at the changes in college football with excitement or dread to adapt:
“Well, I think you have to look at it with excitement. The minute you dread it is the minute this game will pass you by. Changes happen, right? It’s our job to adapt to the change and see how we can thrive amongst the changes in college athletics.
“A lot of people are trying to figure out what it’s going to take to ensure that we still do what’s best for the student-athlete—making sure that we help young people progress throughout the college years. If they have a chance to grow professionally, great, but if not, they’re still our future.
“It’s my job as the head coach at Notre Dame to ensure that we thrive with these changes.”
On if he’s comfortable with the way Notre Dame has embraced NIL:
“I think Notre Dame’s in a position to thrive with all the changes in college football with recruiting changes, NIL, transfer portal and conference realignment. We are well positioned as a football program and our administration has done a good job of ensuring we’re ready to compete with all these changes.”
On Notre Dame wanting to major and minor in the transfer portal:
“We’re going to always minor in the portal. We have very specific needs on our roster that we want to address through the transfer portal. We cannot major in the transfer portal. The foundation for the future of Notre Dame football will still be created through high school recruiting.
“I feel like we’ve done a great job identifying high school talent and now beginning to develop it. So we will ensure that we are always built on high school recruiting, and we’ll minor in our specific needs.”
On recruiting quarterback CJ Carr:
“He came to our campus when we first had our first meeting. You could tell instantly that he was a leader and wanted to be different. After he committed, we had to keep hold of him. That wasn’t an easy thing to do.
“Then I got to spend time with Coach (Lloyd) Carr. I made the mistake of bringing up some previous games that maybe I was a part of—the conversation turned from there. I have so much respect for that family. Coach Carr, CJ (Carr), his mom and his dad are tremendous people. We’re excited to have them here on campus.”
On the excitement surrounding Notre Dame entering the 2024 season:
“There’s a lot of excitement — a lot of momentum. Every year, you start over. You chase this level of your full potential every year with a new group, right? I don’t care if it’s just a couple of guys and a couple of new coaches, but it’s a new group that is trying to create our own identity in terms of what will be and what will give us a chance to succeed.
“Spring practice is a lot of fun as you develop this group. I look forward to getting back to campus and finishing these last couple of practices.”
