Marcus Freeman details lessons learned from head coaching rhetoric, Notre Dame Fiesta Bowl

On3 imageby:Ashton Pollard06/26/22

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There is a lot Notre Dame’s first-time head coach Marcus Freeman has yet to do. He hasn’t coached a regular season game. He hasn’t led his team out onto the field at Notre Dame Stadium. He hasn’t run a fall camp.

But six months into his inaugural go at leading a college football team, Freeman has checked multiple “firsts” off of the list. And he’s learned a thing to two — both positive and negative.

Freeman recently joined Notre Dame alums Mike Golic Sr. and Mike Golic Jr. on the latter’s new podcast, GoJo with Mike Golic Jr., and went in-depth on a couple of lessons he has learned thus far as a head coach.

The latest teaching moment Freeman had regarded his alma mater and Notre Dame’s first 2022 opponent, Ohio State. Freeman recently did an interview with Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports, and there was a quote concerning academic standards at a few of his previous stops, including with the Buckeyes. They were taken as a knock on Ohio State.

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Freeman subsequently clarified the comments saying he was misquoted, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t take away a very important lesson about leading one of the nation’s most visible college football programs.

“You have to be smart about the things that come out of your mouth,” Freeman said. “You can’t give individuals a chance to misquote you. It’s a great learning experience for me because I’m an authentic guy. I don’t want to be a made up person. I don’t want to be somebody that’s not who I am at the core of my heart and be so calculated on everything I say.

“But there are certain things you have to learn. You can’t mention other schools names, and you have to be smart in terms of what you say but also how you say it. It’s still something that I have to continue to get better at because authenticity is one thing, but putting your program in a situation that isn’t in a good light? That’s another thing that I never want to do.”

In addition to touching on his attempts to navigate his new position off the field, Freeman also added a note about the first game he coached as the head of a program: the Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl, which Notre Dame lost 37-35 to Oklahoma State.

“I remember meeting with Coach (Tommy) Rees, and there was a play right before halftime when our offense was driving. On first down, we threw an incomplete pass,” Freeman recalled.

On Notre Dame’s final scoring drive of the first half, quarterback Jack Coan threw three incompletions on first downs, although one resulted in another first down thanks to a roughing the passer penalty. Freeman did not specify which incompletion he discussed with Rees, but he said the fact that Notre Dame scored on the drive gave them a faulty sense of security that passing on first down was a good idea.

“Scoring on that drive gave you a misconception,” Freeman said. “The book would’ve told you to run it on first down. Those are things we can all learn.”

The story of that day was not the Irish offense — Coan threw for a Fiesta Bowl record 509 yards plus five touchdowns — it was the defensive meltdown in the second half of the game. Freeman, who is obviously a defensive-minded head coach — has not forgotten that three-touchdown comeback the Cowboys posted, which began just before the teams headed to the locker rooms for halftime.

“Defensively, there are different things we could have done to not give up a touchdown before half,” Freeman added. “I really believe that I learned a lot from that first game and not even just for football. Moving forward (I) have to be very intentional about every decision (I) make.”

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