‘We’re defined by our failures’ — how Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has found value in shortcomings

Marcus Freeman could have responded to a question in his post-Fiesta Bowl Zoom press conference about what he learned in his head-coaching debut by listing off reasons why his opening act shouldn’t incite nerves and concern. Yes, it would have been rightfully received as excuse making, but the context of Freeman’s first game as Notre Dame head coach isn’t a total write-off.

He was promoted just a month prior to that game. He had an interim defensive coordinator. The Irish played without Kyren Williams and Kyle Hamilton, arguably their best players on offense and defense, respectively. He wasn’t responsible for the problematic state of the offensive line that zapped the Irish of any run threat all game.

Freeman had no interest in rationalizing the outcome, though. He knew four weeks of good vibes and new-toy shine wore off when Notre Dame crumbled and allowed Oklahoma State to erase a 28-7 first-half deficit.

“For me, as the leader of this program, it’s a pit in your stomach,” Freeman said after the game. “The honeymoon stage is over. The whole new head coach, it’s a great story — no. It’s about having a great product, and it’s about having a great team.”

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Freeman spoke like a coach who understood his next 12 months would be shaped by how he acted on the calamity. He knew inaction was not an option. It wasn’t an option the last time he found himself wondering what went wrong. Or any time.

In September, Freeman tweaked his teaching points and emphases after Notre Dame opened the season with two leaky defensive outings. In that moment, his success building the dominant defense at Cincinnati that paved his path to Notre Dame didn’t matter. Something was broken, and he wasn’t too proud to look at himself as culpable.

Four years before that, Freeman’s first season as Cincinnati’s coordinator ended with an ignominious 4-8 record. There was no deflecting here. The Bearcats’ defense finished 95th in yards per game, 83rd in yards per play, 93rd in points per game, 105th in yards per pass attempt, 113th in opponent passing efficiency and 123rd in sacks.

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Name a category, and they were probably a poor performer in it. They allowed 48 or more points twice. Six of their eight conference opponents hung at least 30 points on them. There was no hiding from responsibility or forging on with his ways. One loss after another stomped out the ego boost of being a 31-year-old coordinator.  

“You’re one of the youngest defensive coordinators in the country, you think you have every answer,” Freeman said in an early May interview with Lou Nanni, Notre Dame Vice President of University Relations. “After that first season as a defensive coordinator, we finished [95th] in the country in defense. I remember after that season, I said, ‘Oh shoot, I better re-evaluate the things I think it takes to be successful or I won’t be the defensive coordinator here for long.’”

The result was three top-31 finishes in yards per play, including No. 4 in 2020. Buoyed by their stout defense, the Bearcats went 31-6 from 2018-20 and reached the 2020 Peach Bowl. Freeman’s work made him a commodity in the 2020 coaching cycle, earning head-coaching looks and Power Five defensive coordinator opportunities. He picked Notre Dame’s offer over LSU.

An entire season of missteps and shortcomings as a defensive coordinator is more severe than a head-coaching debut in a tough spot that turned sour. Freeman, though, isn’t interested in comparing failures or responding to them with a “yeah, but” deflection. Big or small, they’re an opportunity for self-evaluation. And for someone as obsessed with learning as Freeman seems to be, he will welcome any chance for introspection and improvement. In a way, those are his fuel more than his successes.

“We’re defined by our failures,” Freeman said. “[The 2017 season] got me to look at how I coach defense, how I lead young people.”

It also has a direct tie to how he has shaped Notre Dame football in his image.

“That’s how I came up with what we term our ‘Golden Standard’ here,” Freeman said.

The Golden Standard — first unveiled at his introductory press conference – has three main components: Challenge everything, unit strength and competitive spirit. The first one may as well be the program’s unofficial motto. It was seen on players’ T-shirts in winter workouts and spring practice. The next time Freeman goes consecutive press conferences without mentioning it might well be the first.

In Freeman’s words, its simplest distillation is, “a mentality to find a better way.”

Failure doesn’t have to be a prerequisite for challenging everything. But failure better evoke it. Starting at the top.

“I’m more motivated now to go, go, go,” Freeman said.

The five months since the Fiesta Bowl have brought several examples of Freeman looking to better himself, from bringing on a former head coach as defensive coordinator (Al Golden) to talking with every living former Irish boss. Everything Freeman has done since his first game likely would have been the plan even if the Irish had defeated Oklahoma State. The outcome didn’t change his lack of experience running a massive college football program.

The loss, though, made it even clearer he had to find a better way and push himself daily. It was a chance to be defined by how he responded to failure. History says that’s where he thrives.