Is Marcus Freeman A Good Coach?
Did Notre Dame give the keys to the right guy after Brian Kelly dipped for LSU? What are the expectations at Notre Dame with Marcus Freeman in charge? If there is one team that’s difficult to get a read on heading into the 2023 college football season, it’s the Fighting Irish.
It was an up-and-down first year for Freeman at Notre Dame. Losing to Marshall wasn’t great. Losing to Stanford wasn’t great either. However, Freeman does deserve some credit for righting the ship towards the end of the season. Notre Dame won six of seven to close out the year including a Gator Bowl victory over South Carolina.
It was an acceptable first year but can Freeman elevate the program past what Kelly was able to accomplish? It feels unlikely. Brian Kelly took Notre Dame to the college football playoff twice and led Notre Dame to the National Title game in 2013 during the BCS era. That’s going to be the bar for Freeman even if it’s totally unfair.
The truth of the matter is, times are different now. Notre Dame isn’t the only team on TV anymore. You don’t have to go to Notre Dame for your friends and family to see you on TV. It’s hard to recruit top tier southern athletes to commute all the way to Notre Dame. Especially with the GPA requirements the school has a prestigious academic university. It’s hard to win there. Even harder when Stanford is competitive at the same time. As of right now, the Cardinal are not which should help Freeman win those recruiting battles.
The good news is Freeman is winning the recruiting battles. A must for a program like this. According to 247, the Fighting Irish have the 8th best class for 2023. They also reeled in Sam Hartman via the transfer portal. Freeman is a defensive coach at heart. For him to bring in a quarterback like Hartman speaks volumes.
Time will tell if Marcus Freeman pans out at Notre Dame. To me, this situation feels like the toughest to figure out. Can we expect Notre Dame to actually compete at the highest level with Freeman in the future? I don’t think anybody knows.
