Marcus Freeman Revisited

forkbeard3777

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Receivers couldn’t get open against better cb’s?

Trust me, I’m not saying that you’re wrong, but respectfully, I’m skeptical on that. CB is arguably the most difficult position in football, and this is college football i.e., it’s rare to have Ben Morrison’s out there.

I’d submit most NCAA teams’ wideouts can find space and get open against the overwhelming majority of teams after 5+ seconds.
 

dublinirish

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I just want to know what exactly caused the sudden change in philosophy?

In the early portion of the season, Notre Dame was aggressive and maintained a “go,go,go” philosophy and really pushed the ball down the field — notably very late in the 2nd quarter against Navy, TSU, and NC State. What would they do with 1 minute left before halftime and receiving the ball on its own 20? They were going pedal to metal and pushing the ball 80 yards down the field.

Why did that attitude or philosophy stop? What caused it to stop? The offense, in my opinion, noticeably changed around that time, and just went uber-conservative.

Better quality of opponent


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Irish#1

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Seems like this has been the game strategy against ND for over a decade now
It has been. There was a reason we were run heavy, fair caught damn near every punt and rarely returned kickoffs. Kelly’s philosophy was to minimize the potential for mistakes and let the opponent make them.
 

pumpdog20

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Fire Gino because he regressed a Power 5 record breaking QB to be Iowa bad.
Fire Parker (as OC) because he lack imagination and innovation... or at least an inability to adapt

Fire MF if he doesn't do both this offseason, and they lose 4+ games next year.
 

PutuporShutup

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Fire Gino because he regressed a Power 5 record breaking QB to be Iowa bad.
Fire Parker (as OC) because he lack imagination and innovation... or at least an inability to adapt

Fire MF if he doesn't do both this offseason, and they lose 4+ games next year.
It doesn’t matter what happens from now until then, we lose 4+ next year freeman better be gone
 

AllTimeIrish

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It all comes down to the choice he made and will make at OC. With an experienced, quality OC, SO MANY of Freeman's warts could have been covered up. He needed a Golden on offense, pure and simple. Instead, for whatever reason, he went down the hall and elevated a guy who couldn't cut it at West Virginia and (literally) not another P5 school wanted as OC. That's not a recipe for success. We can blame Freeman, Jack, admin, etc. Doesn't matter - what's done is done. But it needs to be corrected.

I'm not out on Freeman just yet because of the intangibles he brings to the position, but I will 100% be out on him if he either retains Parker as OC in any capacity and/or elevates someone already on staff. Basically, anything short of a true EXTERNAL homerun hire and it's over for him as far as I'm concerned.

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What I see in the best coaches is the ability to make leadership decisions and delegate to their coaches decisions that need to be made while guiding them at the same time. Freeman does not have the experience needed to be a head coach and it is becoming more obvious he lacks some of the instincts to make up for it. Freeman has a steep learning curve and the question is whether he has that time to learn on the job at ND before alumni and fans turn on him. I don't think he does. We could be looking at a situation where he is out after another couple of years and we start all over again, losing the momentum we had built under Kelly. I think that is most likely.

The only way Freeman saves it is to finish out the season as strong as he can, make enough good recruiting decisions (hitting on under rated players), get support from admin to upgrade his OC, and has a very strong year next year showing marked improvement. Without all of those things happening next year, I don't see how he lasts long term as ND head coach.

I also think the legacy of head coaches at ND has been tarnished to the point I have to wonder whether, and who it will be, that brings back that mystique to the program. If that is even possible again.
 

Irish#1

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What I see in the best coaches is the ability to make leadership decisions and delegate to their coaches decisions that need to be made while guiding them at the same time. Freeman does not have the experience needed to be a head coach and it is becoming more obvious he lacks some of the instincts to make up for it. Freeman has a steep learning curve and the question is whether he has that time to learn on the job at ND before alumni and fans turn on him. I don't think he does. We could be looking at a situation where he is out after another couple of years and we start all over again, losing the momentum we had built under Kelly. I think that is most likely.

The only way Freeman saves it is to finish out the season as strong as he can, make enough good recruiting decisions (hitting on under rated players), get support from admin to upgrade his OC, and has a very strong year next year showing marked improvement. Without all of those things happening next year, I don't see how he lasts long term as ND head coach.

I also think the legacy of head coaches at ND has been tarnished to the point I have to wonder whether, and who it will be, that brings back that mystique to the program. If that is even possible again.
MF is secure at least through next year.
 

Irishdrunk

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MF is secure at least through next year.
Oh unfortunately I think he gets at least two more years. I just talked w a BOT member this weekend down in Clemson and they love how he reps the University. I honestly do not believe the Board has an over riding National Title concern. They love how he has bought into ND. I think they would rather have a Top 20 MF vs a Top 5 Brian Kelly.

I was joking about Urban Meyer above. MF has AT LEAST 4 years.
 

NDWarrior

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From B&G interview with JS:
“We need to win a national championship, and we shouldn’t be shy about articulating that. We got off track a little bit. It’s taken some time to sort of rebuild that foundation and get it right. But we have the right head coach."
 

Irishdrunk

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From B&G interview with JS:
“We need to win a national championship, and we shouldn’t be shy about articulating that. We got off track a little bit. It’s taken some time to sort of rebuild that foundation and get it right. But we have the right head coach."
Great open your fucking checkbook and get your Head Coach the right staff. This season's failure is on this guy - at least in part. Action talks, Jack.
 

NDpendent

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Oh unfortunately I think he gets at least two more years. I just talked w a BOT member this weekend down in Clemson and they love how he reps the University. I honestly do not believe the Board has an over riding National Title concern. They love how he has bought into ND. I think they would rather have a Top 20 MF vs a Top 5 Brian Kelly.

I was joking about Urban Meyer above. MF has AT LEAST 4 years.
Unfortunately?

I think he deserves two more years. He needs an experienced OC of his choosing and a full roster of his recruits. After that if he is not in national championship contention then he should be more critically looked at.
 

Dizzyphil

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Unfortunately?

I think he deserves two more years. He needs an experienced OC of his choosing and a full roster of his recruits. After that if he is not in national championship contention then he should be more critically looked at.
2024 Schedule favors a play-off contention for the Irish/MF. Have to get past Louisville and FSU and both are in the mid/later part of the year.... Just hope Jimbo is still around next next year.
 

NDWarrior

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2024 Schedule favors a play-off contention for the Irish/MF. Have to get past Louisville and FSU and both are in the mid/later part of the year.... Just hope Jimbo is still around next next year.
Does it still sound like Army is going to be slotted in as the 12th game to replace Miami?
 

PigtownIrish

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From B&G interview with JS:
“We need to win a national championship, and we shouldn’t be shy about articulating that. We got off track a little bit. It’s taken some time to sort of rebuild that foundation and get it right. But we have the right head coach."
Blathering windbag. Why did we get off track Jack?
 

Dizzyphil

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Does it still sound like Army is going to be slotted in as the 12th game to replace Miami?
As of September this year - Miami had over-scheduled. IMO, Miami & Irish will not play. - Miami's fault. As far as Army - last I heard from SI, Army is looking to make sure they have a slot for the game vs the Irish between Wake and Navy
 

NDPhilly

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Yeah idk if 10-2 makes the playoffs with next years schedule. There's no guaranty any of our opponents are even in the top 20. USC losing Caleb. A&M is A&M. FSU is going to lose a ton. and Louisville losing likely Thrash, Plummer, and Jordan on O.

A&M away from home in week 1 likely is the toughest game on the schedule. Despite their struggles this year, they are still #16 in FPI and will return a ton, including Weigman who was great early in the year.
 

Irishdrunk

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Unfortunately?

I think he deserves two more years. He needs an experienced OC of his choosing and a full roster of his recruits. After that if he is not in national championship contention then he should be more critically looked at.
Fair enough but if he isn’t counting players on the field and going for it on 4 and 16 with 10 minutes….and we go 9-3 I think many fans will go nuts. But I think it’s clear they like MF and winning isn’t all that matters to them. He gets 2 years regardless if screws the pooch yet again.
 

Irishdrunk

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This Savvy Jack interview only makes me wonder what this season would have been like had he paid for Ludwig.

He also talks about nuitrition, sport sciences, stadium upgrades alll things BK had to push this clown to do for which he now credits as the center pieces of his tenure.

Jack is a tool. Always a couple dollars short of truly competing for a Natty.
 

Bluto

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I think one of this teams biggest issues (aside from how banged up and inexperienced the receivers are which is huge) is that it seems to lack a Manti, KLM or Zack Martin type leader particularly on the O line. Mike Frank expressed/ranted about this and I think he’s right.

The coaches can talk all day but in the end the players need to hold each other accountable.
 

PutuporShutup

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I think one of this teams biggest issues (aside from how banged up and inexperienced the receivers are which is huge) is that it seems to lack a Manti, KLM or Zack Martin type leader particularly on the O line. Mike Frank expressed/ranted about this and I think he’s right.

The coaches can talk all day but in the end the players need to hold each other accountable.
Agree, there's some really talented big boys there that when they do things right can overwhelm the opposition, especially with Alt/Coogan pulling, or fisher pulling. But they are not a "nasty" physical group, even ALT. Alt rarely makes a mistake, but he's not destroying people for how big and athletic he is.
 
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