Everything Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said on SportsCenter
The Irish traveled to New York City this weekend, and Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman used the opportunity to go on SportsCenter on Thursday evening.
Here is everything Freeman said to SportsCenter anchor Kevin Negandhi, from his early thoughts on quarterback Sam Hartman to throwing the first pitch at the Mets game at Citi Field on Friday night, which he did, successfully.
On the biggest difference from Year 1 to Year 2
“Now you know exactly what to expect,” Freeman said. “Last year, I could have a book, I could have a thought process of, ‘Here’s how fall camp will go, here’s how the season will go.’ But now, you have experience of one year doing it, so the challenge is to enhance. You know what to expect, but you have to enhance the process as you move forward.”
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On what Freeman has seen from Sam Hartman
“I think his talent speaks for itself,” Freeman said. “We know his accomplishments from being at Wake Forest, from being in the ACC. But to me, it’s two things. One is his experience. He’s proven to perform as a quarterback at a high level, so he’s not easily shaken. But two is his leadership ability. Your quarterback has to be a leader, and his ability to make those people that are around him better has been tremendous. I’m excited for our season, with him as our quarterback.”
On Hartman’s potential rib necklace
“I’ve spent enough time with him to know that — and most great individuals are different individuals — Sam is a different guy,” Freeman said. “He uses those setbacks that he’s had in his life as reminders, as motivations, as reasons to continue to fight and move forward. When you talk about a guy having part of his rib removed, having his mother, who’s just as fierce as he is, create a necklace, it’s almost like a scar for him. It’s a tattoo that reminds him of those difficult times that he’s overcome.”
On how Hartman can help Notre Dame’s young receivers
“I think when you talk about his transition, starting in January, to where it is now, he started off trying to earn the trust of those around him,” Freeman said. “He had those receivers out there, throwing the ball with them and helping them try to improve, but now, I told him it’s his job to make those guys better. And whatever ways that he has to do that, through being out there practicing, throwing the balls, to holding them accountable, to gaining the trust of those guys, it’s his job. To truly make those guys around him that are young, that maybe don’t know exactly the process that it takes to have success that Sam does, he’s gotta teach them, and he’s gotta truly be a leader and a coach. I love what I’ve seen. You think back to Practice 1 in spring to Practice 15. The performance of not just Sam, not just our offense but the wideouts, too, where they started off in Practice 1 to 15, it’s been tremendous.
On his previous first pitch this season, at a Chicago White Sox game
“I gotta give a shout-out to our Fighting Irish media team,” Freeman said. “They do a great job of just capturing the moments that really matter, and not exactly where that ball went. I can guarantee you this: it did not hit the ground. He did catch the ball. Was it a little high? Yes.”
On which puts more pressure on Freeman, throwing a first-pitch strike or coaching a game at Notre Dame
“Definitely throwing a first-pitch strike,” Freeman said. “Here’s why. It’s up to me to actually go do it. When you’re coaching, you almost feel helpless. You try to prepare this team and get them ready for this upcoming game, but when the foot hits the ball, they gotta go play. They gotta go execute and they gotta go do their job. So, there’s much more pressure when you’re actually the one that has to do it instead of the one that’s trying to say, ‘Okay, let’s let those other guys do it.'”
