Marcus Freeman named Dick Corbett Head Football Coach

[DCK_1981]

I see people trying to say how great BK was. Don’t get me wrong he had us in the discussion the last 4 years he was here, but let’s be honest, much of that was due to the decline of USC, FSU and Stanford as anything. If Lawrence plays in 2020 we don’t make the playoffs that year either. The jury is still out on Freeman, but he’s going to have a much tougher road than BK had after 2017.

 

[dad4aa]

Damn there are a lot of whiny assholes on this forum now.

 

[FDNYIrish1]

MF is going to be just fine. I like him even more after last night. He had his team well prepared and they played solid football all night. I don’t even give a shit about the 10 man thing. The game was lost two plays before when we allowed the completion on 3rd and long to the goal line. Our guys matched athleticism all night and played fast and violent. I think this team grows and gets better after last night.

 

[NDPhilly]

In a vacuum, that was one of the programs best performances in a long time, considering the quality of the opponent.

 

[IrishTusker]

In a vacuum, that was one of the programs best performances in a long time, considering the quality of the opponent.

We don't know how good OSU is, really. The performance wasn't that different than the performances against UGA in 2017 and 2019.

 

[ShamrockOnHelmet]

In a vacuum, that was one of the programs best performances in a long time, considering the quality of the opponent.

This is Notre Dame. Im not celebrating “performances”.

That fucking stupid,

 

[NDdomer2]

better make sure he doesnt let this impact performances this week and rest of season. still can have a very great year if can stop the spilling over.

 

[IrishSpartan]

Had the whole team and staff go to the stadium and watch the last 4 minutes again on full blast. Supposedly it was ridiculously loud.

 

[Rockin’Irish]

Had the whole team and staff go to the stadium and watch the last 4 minutes again on full blast. Supposedly it was ridiculously loud.

If that is true, I think it’s a great move……making sure everyone on that team/staff feels like they have to do everything possible to allow that ending NOT to happen again.

 

[ThePiombino]

He had his team well prepared and they played solid football all night.

I know it's still early in his tenure, but this can't be overstated. There have been some head scratching moments thus far, but he appears to be learning and the team has come to play every single game -- something that can't be said for the BK era...

 

[Katzenboyer]

I know it's still early in his tenure, but this can't be overstated. There have been some head scratching moments thus far, but he appears to be learning and the team has come to play every single game -- something that can't be said for the BK era...

Don't know if I agree about the BK part, but I agree with the rest of this comment.

I was definitely someone that had concerns about Freeman being in over his head. I don't see that. I think he's willing to admit mistakes and learn, and that we're seeing a ton of growth from him. There's nothing about his tenure that has me concerned he isn't the guy, even though Saturday was tough to swallow.

 

[NumbersGuy0520]

MF is going to be just fine. I like him even more after last night. He had his team well prepared and they played solid football all night. I don’t even give a shit about the 10 man thing. The game was lost two plays before when we allowed the completion on 3rd and long to the goal line. Our guys matched athleticism all night and played fast and violent. I think this team grows and gets better after last night.

Agree with most of your post except for this. Even after the completion to the 1, we just needed two stops, and we even got one. The game wasn’t de facto lost at the time of the completion to the 1 - both fan bases were very much still sweating it out, and the 10-man nonsense does (unfortunately) become highly relevant at that point.

 

[Luckylucci]

Agree with most of your post except for this. Even after the completion to the 1, we just needed two stops, and we even got one. The game wasn’t de facto lost at the time of the completion to the 1 - both fan bases were very much still sweating it out, and the 10-man nonsense does (unfortunately) become highly relevant at that point.

See Stanford 2012.

 

[BabyIrish]

MF is going to be just fine. I like him even more after last night. He had his team well prepared and they played solid football all night. I don’t even give a shit about the 10 man thing. The game was lost two plays before when we allowed the completion on 3rd and long to the goal line. Our guys matched athleticism all night and played fast and violent. I think this team grows and gets better after last night.

I’m with you. The team has been playing great football for the entirety of the season minus miniscule stretches this season. That’s a far cry and huge improvement from last year. The fact is we deserved that win last night and that’s why everyones mad. I think this team can go 11-1 if they keep it together mentally.

 

[Luckylucci]

We don't know how good OSU is, really. The performance wasn't that different than the performances against UGA in 2017 and 2019.

This is where I'm at. Because folks love the guy, which I do as well, we're searching for moral victories when we were supposed to be passed that.

Freeman wasn't brought on to bring us back. Kelly did that. Freeman was brought on to take us over the top. As of now, that's yet to happen.

Whether we like it or not. He took over the #6 program in the country and we've yet to even sustain that level of success since he took over. Do I think we're better off? Yes, i most certainly do. Do we have the wins and losses to show for it? No, we do not.

 

[NumbersGuy0520]

This is where I'm at. Because folks love the guy, which I do as well, we're searching for moral victories when we were supposed to be passed that.

Freeman wasn't brought on to bring us back. Kelly did that. Freeman was brought on to take us over the top. As of now, that's yet to happen.

Whether we like it or not. He took over the #6 program in the country and we've yet to even sustain that level of success since he took over. Do I think we're better off? Yes, i most certainly do. Do we have the wins and losses to show for it? No, we do not.

I’m sitting at the same thought. This stuff goes so far beyond record.

We LOOK like a different team from ND teams of the past - I do attribute it to the Freeman effect. Gone are the days of strictly business Kelly; we now have a swagger, and we have some real dudes who can go out and make plays. We’re playing freshman WRs who are providing immediate impact, we have the deepest RB room in the country, and don’t even get me started on what our QB can do compared to ND QBs of the past decades.

And yet here we are at 4-1, now potentially staring down the barrel of yet another 10-2 or 9-3 season (or worse), where we somehow miss playoffs despite what feels like a significant roster upgrade. That’s where the obvious question does become - do we really believe that we’re trending up/will we finally actualize it, or in the end will the output (W-L) ultimately just remain the same?

 

[irishff1014]

In a vacuum, that was one of the programs best performances in a long time, considering the quality of the opponent.

We were not pushed around nor were we just to slow over all.

 

[stpeteirish]

I really like Freeman's reply to the end game mess in his presser today. He owned up it it, "sideline errors", coaches fault. Without telling us who, which is smart. And he's ultimately responsible which is the absolute truth and he needs to "own" that too because we'll have more "sideline errors" if he doesn't do a better job.

Tough stretch of games coming up but we have the depth and talent to persevere and beat people like Duke and Louisville no matter how fired up they are.

Freeman has to keep this team together take a harder look at the coaching which hasn't met the trajectory of the personnel upgrades.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I'm sitting here as a lifelong fan thinking this is just another brick in the wall of blunders that has plagued this program since Boston College 1993. I'm not looking for any moral victories because Marcus Freeman projects himself to be a cool dude with good core values and I like him. Believe me, as @irishnd31 @ACamp1900 and @sixstar are aware, I have deep family history and roots with Ohio State as much as I do Notre Dame. I wanted to win that game badly as a fan and it was as good of a chance as they've ever had matchup wise. They should have won and didn't, and by now I'm used to that. When they went down 10-0 I had a really bad feeling. When they got the ball back at the end, my preference was they not punt it back. They punted it back and that was that.

We're in the portion of the journey as fans that is Marcus Freeman's own journey as a coach, so I have to believe that the next big opportunity they get he makes the most of it. Kicking Clemson's ass last year will be in the history books the same as Saturday night will be. If USC is unbeaten and 6-1 ND beats them, it'll help heal the wound from Ohio State. The end of that tOSU game wasn't good enough to get the job done. They let Ryan Day off the hook big time and should have closed that out after the jet sweep stop on fourth down. Now they have to reset and get a win at Duke. The friggin Louisville game is at night too, so for a program that isn't relevant, we're everyone's big night game when the time comes.

I think this team going 11-1 is very doable because they have Sam Hartman behind an OL and five headed RB dragon that is going to cause a lot of people problems. Beating Duke is step one to getting there.

 

[Irishdrunk]

Joel Klatt's analysis is spot-on. The Coaching Staff clearly cost ND the game:

 

[ab2cmiller]

I generally avoid the game day threads as well as the "post game" threads as there is always entirely too much bitching and moaning about every topic you can imagine, even when we win. I've yet to open up any of the pOSU regurgitation but I have opened up a few other threads such as this one where there isn't quite the vitriol of the game day threads..

Being a head coach or one of the coordinator positions is exceedingly difficult and open to tons of second guessing regarding play calls, time management etc. I will almost always give the coaches the benefit of the doubt knowing that even the best coaches have play calls that they wish they had back.

I turned off the TV totally disheartened after the game. I woke up the next morning and found out that we only had 10 guys on the field for the last two plays. At that point I just felt nauseated.

While I always try to give our coaches the benefit of the doubt, I just can't. It is inexcusable. Freeman admitted it was inexcusable. Frankly I don't give him any brownie points for "taking ownership" of that, because he had no other option. I'm extremely skeptical at Freeman's statement that they recognized it before the 2nd play was snapped. I think it's likely spin with Freeman trying to put lipstick on a pig.

Just a colossal fuck up.

 

[indianamouse]

I generally avoid the game day threads as well as the "post game" threads as there is always entirely too much bitching and moaning about every topic you can imagine, even when we win. I've yet to open up any of the pOSU regurgitation but I have opened up a few other threads such as this one where there isn't quite the vitriol of the game day threads..

Being a head coach or one of the coordinator positions is exceedingly difficult and open to tons of second guessing regarding play calls, time management etc. I will almost always give the coaches the benefit of the doubt knowing that even the best coaches have play calls that they wish they had back.

I turned off the TV totally disheartened after the game. I woke up the next morning and found out that we only had 10 guys on the field for the last two plays. At that point I just felt nauseated.

While I always try to give our coaches the benefit of the doubt, I just can't. It is inexcusable. Freeman admitted it was inexcusable. Frankly I don't give him any brownie points for "taking ownership" of that, because he had no other option. I'm extremely skeptical at Freeman's statement that they recognized it before the 2nd play was snapped. I think it's likely spin with Freeman trying to put lipstick on a pig.

Just a colossal fuck up.

it was one game, lighten up. What have we won in the past 30 years to be so hard on a new coach?

 

[Irishdrunk]

it was one game, lighten up. What have we won in the past 30 years to be so hard on a new coach?

He is not an new coach. He is an inexperienced 2nd year HC who should not have been hired in the first place. He lost the game. That was a mess. He still doesn't have control over his assistants and its obvious. Why would Gerard do anything but RUN??? WTF. Why no 11 men on the field.

Totally fucking embarrassing.

 

[stlnd01]

He is not an new coach. He is an inexperienced 2nd year HC who should not have been hired in the first place. He lost the game. That was a mess. He still doesn't have control over his assistants and its obvious. Why would Gerard do anything but RUN??? WTF. Why no 11 men on the field.

Totally fucking embarrassing.

I'm sorry you're so embarrassed. Imagine how the coaches feel.

 

[ab2cmiller]

it was one game, lighten up. What have we won in the past 30 years to be so hard on a new coach?

I'm being hard on MF, Golden, Washington. I don't have an axe to grind against any of those coaches. You're more than welcome to go back and look at my posts to see if I've been critical of any of those individuals over the past two years. You won't find it. That should make the point of my post more compelling.

 

[indianamouse]

He is not an new coach. He is an inexperienced 2nd year HC who should not have been hired in the first place. He lost the game. That was a mess. He still doesn't have control over his assistants and its obvious. Why would Gerard do anything but RUN??? WTF. Why no 11 men on the field.

Totally fucking embarrassing.

Why don’t you put your resume in to coach for us, since you find it so easy.

 

[IrishinSyria]

This is where I'm at. Because folks love the guy, which I do as well, we're searching for moral victories when we were supposed to be passed that.

Freeman wasn't brought on to bring us back. Kelly did that. Freeman was brought on to take us over the top. As of now, that's yet to happen.

Whether we like it or not. He took over the #6 program in the country and we've yet to even sustain that level of success since he took over. Do I think we're better off? Yes, i most certainly do. Do we have the wins and losses to show for it? No, we do not.

Freeman was supposed to be brought on in 3 years or so to bring us over the top. He was actually brought on to rescue the program when Kelly bailed. Nobody wanted him here this early, but given the circumstances I think he’s done a great job and there’s every reason to think the ship is now righted and we’re on the right trajectory.

 

[PutuporShutup]

I generally avoid the game day threads as well as the "post game" threads as there is always entirely too much bitching and moaning about every topic you can imagine, even when we win. I've yet to open up any of the pOSU regurgitation but I have opened up a few other threads such as this one where there isn't quite the vitriol of the game day threads..

Being a head coach or one of the coordinator positions is exceedingly difficult and open to tons of second guessing regarding play calls, time management etc. I will almost always give the coaches the benefit of the doubt knowing that even the best coaches have play calls that they wish they had back.

I turned off the TV totally disheartened after the game. I woke up the next morning and found out that we only had 10 guys on the field for the last two plays. At that point I just felt nauseated.

While I always try to give our coaches the benefit of the doubt, I just can't. It is inexcusable. Freeman admitted it was inexcusable. Frankly I don't give him any brownie points for "taking ownership" of that, because he had no other option. I'm extremely skeptical at Freeman's statement that they recognized it before the 2nd play was snapped. I think it's likely spin with Freeman trying to put lipstick on a pig.

Just a colossal fuck up.

He said they recognized it when it was too late, meaning not before ohio state substituted. Which is a play and 37 seconds between plays too late. Someone will probably lose a job for this, rightfully so. I just doubt it's before the season ends.

 

[IrishLax]

Took Kelly three years to not be total dogshit and he arguably inherited a LOT more talent at many different positions than Freeman did. For example, we have 4 total healthy WRs right now and three of those are true freshmen. Winning 9 games last year with Drew freaking Pyne and some of the holes on that team is sorta crazy.

Look at Norvell at FSU too. Has them rolling now and people were ready to run him out of town after his rough initial start down there.

I think it's hard to take the perspective of the positive things that are happening coupled with how bungled the end of that last game was. with that being said... I legitimately think ND is about to have a major "let down" game in Durham and the pitchforks are reallllllly going to come out then.

 

[irishff1014]

He said they recognized it when it was too late, meaning not before ohio state substituted. Which is a play and 37 seconds between plays too late. Someone will probably lose a job for this, rightfully so. I just doubt it's before the season ends.

I can’t believe I am quoting you but…

How do we players that are so smart that no one thought to jump offsides?