Why Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman sees little value in leaders by example
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman hasn’t named captains yet and won’t until sometime during fall camp.
“I want to see who becomes a captain,” Freeman said in March. “I don’t know how I’m going to do it yet. That’s something I’ve been wrestling in my mind. There are captains that are voted on and captains you know as a head coach are true leaders. I don’t know if I have the perfect answer yet. It’s something I’ll think continuously about. You want the guys leading your team to be the right leaders.”
He might still be defining what the right leader is. He knows one type he doesn’t want, though.
“There’s no place on our team for leaders by example,” Freeman said in late April during his appearance in Notre Dame’s Asian American Distinguished Speaker Series.
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Freeman likes to see players setting examples, of course. But he does not consider an exemplar a leader if that person isn’t pushing others to follow his path or calling out players who aren’t meeting team standards.
“Leaders by example are guys that work really, really hard, are usually good football players, do things well, but they don’t say things and hold others accountable,” Freeman said. “Call a spade a spade. It just means you’re a guy who works really hard, does it at a high level and doesn’t say anything. I don’t want to crown that person as a leader by example. A leader is someone who holds you to a standard.”
Fifteen spring practices ought to have given him some more clarity on players who not only set an example, but are vocal in pushing their teammates to be the best versions of themselves. Summer workouts often reveal a team’s best leaders too. Freeman wants to see who’s content with the status quo – even if a player is silently pushing himself beyond it – and who is constantly seeking to elevate everything around him. Everyone has the same chance.
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A question during his guest appearance about violence against Asian-Americans since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted Freeman to discuss his fundamental issue with the idea of leading by example beyond football. Freeman, whose mother was born in Korea and moved to the United States in 1976, did not sit quietly when asked if he is using his platform as a prominent Asian-American voice to bring light to a troubling trend.
“For me, that could be my mom,” Freeman said. “That’s the thing I think about. What’s any different from a woman in the Asian community being attacked than my mom? I think about that often. I talk to my mom about it. She doesn’t speak a lot about it. But I know it’s something she pays attention to and I pay attention to.”
Freeman knows his concern means nothing and offers no help to the cause if he keeps it to himself. He feels obligated to do more than acknowledge a problem.
“We’re all given a platform, and if you’re just silent, you have to be OK with what’s going on,” Freeman said. “I’m not just talking about the attacks against Asians. I’m talking about whatever situation it may be.”
Even football.
“If there’s an issue I feel strongly about and I don’t say anything, don’t complain about it,” Freeman said. “If you have a platform and you want change, then you’re in a position to make change, to say something and do something about it. That’s what a leader does.”
