Marcus Freeman named Dick Corbett Head Football Coach

[Jimmy3Putt]

I love sitting in my boat and golfing. Fall can wait twenty years.

 

[Irish#1]

I love sitting in my boat and golfing. Fall can wait twenty years.

Is this some new variation, playing golf in a boat? Can you stand or are you required to sit all the time?

 

[spoonidentity]

I think it's easy to, as a fan, hate that he's chuckling with the king board of chuckle-fucks....but if I think about how this looks like to anyone that isn't a Notre Dame fan? Freeman looks like the coolest fucking coach in America.

100%. CMF feels exactly the same way we as fans do and probably worse with how it all played out and how we got screwed. But he's great at internalizing it and moving past the emotions. We want to tell everyone to "F off," but everything happened 6 weeks ago - ND's screw job and declined bowl bid is long in the past in the national consciousness even if it's fresh in our minds (and probably will hurt forever).

For CMF, it's already onto next year. The best way to win people over is play to his strengths - charming, measured, and looking really damn cool. Now the national CFB fan no longer thinks of ND the "special child who wants to stay independent and have it their way" and sees ND as "really freaking cool Marcus Freeman." That helps with the way too early top 25. The media will list ND as a top team - definitely top 10, possibly top 5, maybe #1. The narrative will be, "ND brings back the top QB in the country, the best defense in the country, and that ridiculously charming and inspirational Coach Freeman will have them leaving no doubt." That's all due to his appearance and just uttering those words.

Whether we as fans like it or not, that's the game of politics to be played and it's going to help ND leading into 2026.

 

[Irish#1]

This network has bashed ND every opportunity they get and Freeman goes and sits with the scum.

Not a fan

By going on there, he basically shows the sports world how scummy they are and how classy he is.

 

[Old Man Mike]

I think that I wrote this before somewhere on this site, but (in my opinion):
A. A LOT of the college football world dislikes Notre Dame intensely (both Greg McElroy and Joe Klatt both said that bias pretty clearly when they came to ND this season to interview Freeman et al. They both basically said: I came here NOT WANTING TO LIKE THIS PLACE ... but .
B. For a little bit, in Brian Kelly's early years, the commentary began to soften just the tiniest bit. But then the Media decided that Kelly was himself not likable, and the anti-Notre Dame hatred regained full prominence.
C. Along comes Marcus Freeman. The humble soft-spoken man. The atmosphere here changes. The Media subsides since Kelly's gone (although IE et al continue to fester and max out the pain.) When it becomes obvious that Freeman can coach (particularly as a head administrator) and maintains his quiet gentlemanly presence-with-power, one by one the media come over to liking him.
D. This makes it harder for them to dislike the team he coaches. Freeman, and I suspect the Notre Dame Athletic Admin, knows all of this VERY clearly, and it will have been discussed in strategy meetings. Coach Freeman will not do anything contrary to his values and deep feelings but he WILL play (as stated by people here) the "long game." This will NOT include petulant childishness.

I stand in applause for how he and ND are handling this. We were screwed. Who now cares? ... it's gone. Let's play our cards as we have them, and burn their House of Hate and Prejudice down. ... a smiling handshake and a freight train right fist. ... later ... under the Lights.

 

[arrowryan]

I can see why Marcus Freeman and the University are, publicly, taking the high road and acting as if everything is all good. But I’ll never forget ESPN shitting on the Notre Dame football program all of November. They pushed their narrative until they were blue in the face, and they got what they wanted.

 

[FWIrish4]

I can see why Marcus Freeman and the University are, publicly, taking the high road and acting as if everything is all good. But I’ll never forget ESPN shitting on the Notre Dame football program all of November. They pushed their narrative until they were blue in the face, and they got what they wanted.

The second half of the Stanford game will forever be burned into my memory. That was a despicable hit job against ND for an entire half forced onto us fans.

 

[IRISHbluehen]

The second half of the Stanford game will forever be burned into my memory. That was a despicable hit job against ND for an entire half forced onto us fans.

And literally no one else in the country watched the second half except us lmao

 

[2013Irish]

The second half of the Stanford game will forever be burned into my memory. That was a despicable hit job against ND for an entire half forced onto us fans.

Osweiler has caught surprisingly little flak over the past two months.

 

[arrowryan]

I still stand by the idea that Pete B should not let Hunter Yurachek in the stadium when they play in South Bend.

 

[NDPhilly]

Threw these 20Y FPI rating / rank charts together yesterday. FPI isnt perfect, but its directionally correct and pretty close to Sargain + others generally. Also seems to be the easiest to pull

Takeway is that MF has put together the 2 best ND teams in 3 decades in 24+25. FPI also thought our 2023 team was "better" than any BK team. Hasnt been perfect but cant deny the step up in overall play under him.

Also, the 2007 team....sheesh

 

[MacIrish75]

Threw these 20Y FPI rating / rank charts together yesterday. FPI isnt perfect, but its directionally correct and pretty close to Sargain + others generally. Also seems to be the easiest to pull

Takeway is that MF has put together the 2 best ND teams in 3 decades in 24+25. FPI also thought our 2023 team was "better" than any BK team. Hasnt been perfect but cant deny the step up in overall play under him.

Also, the 2007 team....sheesh


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There is a reason that my buddies and I still refer to '07 as "The Lost Season."

 

[KPENN]

There is a reason that my buddies and I still refer to '07 as "The Lost Season."

That season was my senior year in high school and i unfortunately remember way too much about that season

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

And literally no one else in the country watched the second half except us lmao

That's what made it so personal.
I'll never purchase anything Disney again.

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

That season was my senior year in high school and i unfortunately remember way too much about that season

I was on walkabout between spring of 97 and fall of 98. Living in my jeep, working odd jobs to get by, and seeing the country.

 

[SeekNDestroy]

I was on walkabout between spring of 97 and fall of 98. Living in my jeep, working odd jobs to get by, and seeing the country.

That’s fucking awesome. Any good stories?

 

[NDPhilly]

The second half of the Stanford game will forever be burned into my memory. That was a despicable hit job against ND for an entire half forced onto us fans.

The ACC Championship post game was much worse. Literally the last thing anyone saw before the committee announcement the morning after. They pre-planned a five minute spot after the trophy ceremony to stump for Miami in front of the whole country. I'll never forget how orchestrated that was.

 

[ulukinatme]

I can see why Marcus Freeman and the University are, publicly, taking the high road and acting as if everything is all good. But I’ll never forget ESPN shitting on the Notre Dame football program all of November. They pushed their narrative until they were blue in the face, and they got what they wanted.

100%. We were deserving and very capable of winning this playoff, and they used their position to screw us and influence the committee.

On a Freeman related note, saw nothing but glowing praise yesterday for how he handled the Gameday spot. He's just so damn likable, and that was the takeaway from all sides. He's a tremendous ambassador for the university, like night and day different compared to every ND coach since Lou...the only exception being Willingham maybe. Willingham was a good representative, but he didn't recruit, and he didn't know how to win.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Also, the 2007 team....sheesh

Abysmal. The only redeeming quality that season had was Trevor Laws. Just absolute grit out of that kid. 112 tackles that season as a DT.

Other than that, Robert Hughes started to make a name for himself at the end. That's all I remember.

 

[Irishdwarte]

This network has bashed ND every opportunity they get and Freeman goes and sits with the scum.

Not a fan

He’s running one of the top programs in the country. He can’t act like a meatball message poster. Get a grip guy.

 

[Rudy89]

I think that I wrote this before somewhere on this site, but (in my opinion):
A. A LOT of the college football world dislikes Notre Dame intensely (both Greg McElroy and Joe Klatt both said that bias pretty clearly when they came to ND this season to interview Freeman et al. They both basically said: I came here NOT WANTING TO LIKE THIS PLACE ... but .
B. For a little bit, in Brian Kelly's early years, the commentary began to soften just the tiniest bit. But then the Media decided that Kelly was himself not likable, and the anti-Notre Dame hatred regained full prominence.
C. Along comes Marcus Freeman. The humble soft-spoken man. The atmosphere here changes. The Media subsides since Kelly's gone (although IE et al continue to fester and max out the pain.) When it becomes obvious that Freeman can coach (particularly as a head administrator) and maintains his quiet gentlemanly presence-with-power, one by one the media come over to liking him.
D. This makes it harder for them to dislike the team he coaches. Freeman, and I suspect the Notre Dame Athletic Admin, knows all of this VERY clearly, and it will have been discussed in strategy meetings. Coach Freeman will not do anything contrary to his values and deep feelings but he WILL play (as stated by people here) the "long game." This will NOT include petulant childishness.

I stand in applause for how he and ND are handling this. We were screwed. Who now cares? ... it's gone. Let's play our cards as we have them, and burn their House of Hate and Prejudice down. ... a smiling handshake and a freight train right fist. ... later ... under the Lights.

I do think the media at large used declining to bowl bid to put off a sort of “well actually, Freeman isn’t that great of a guy” aura with him that a lot of fans have bought into, but hopefully the kids he’s recruiting to come play for him don’t see him the way those sorts of talking heads & people within the media have tried to make him look. I know last year Rich Eisen was coming around on ND football. Don’t know if he still feels that way but if MF can do that there’s potential anywhere.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

Abysmal. The only redeeming quality that season had was Trevor Laws. Just absolute grit out of that kid. 112 tackles that season as a DT.

Other than that, Robert Hughes started to make a name for himself at the end. That's all I remember.

Seconded. I remember more than I care to admit.

1977 throwback unis looked good until the ball was kicked off & SC smoked the Irish

John Sullivan hiking the ball over Clausen’s head or in the dirt. Seemed a bit much

Golden Tate getting some freshman burn running go routes. IIRC he caught a long TD vs Purdue

Zibby getting to run option as QB for the offense vs Army

The David Grimes “no catch” in the endzone

Mo Crum having one of the few highlights of the season w/ his two picks & one fumble recovery at UCLA.

2007 was Dantonio’s 1st year as HC of MSU. I remember the sideline reporter asking him something to the effect of “what’s it feel like to coach your first game in ND Stadium”. He was non-plussed but I also didn’t know ND would be that bad. Ugh.

 

[stlnd01]

The ACC Championship post game was much worse. Literally the last thing anyone saw before the committee announcement the morning after. They pre-planned a five minute spot after the trophy ceremony to stump for Miami in front of the whole country. I'll never forget how orchestrated that was.

To me it started when Texas beat A&M on Thanksgiving weekend and the announcers were all "why NOT Texas??" That didn't go anywhere in the end but it revved the SEC "just means more" narrative.

Then came the SEC title game and Herbstreit, in particular, giving Bama a free pass for being blown off the field, describing this game for the SEC championship, which in not-so-distant memory could feel like it "meant more" than the national championship, as a "bonus game" over and over again. All the while saying how if Miami caught up to Notre Dame they'd jump us "because head to head should matter."
I was so optimistic I booked a hotel room that night for a first-round playoff game in South Bend, figuring we'd stay ahead of Bama and probably jump Oklahoma because all those teams looked so shitty. But in retrospect the writing was on the wall.

Anyway, revenge tour starts now. Book your hotel rooms in Vegas for MLK weekend next year because we are loaded and leaving no doubt.

 

[irishff1014]

He’s running one of the top programs in the country. He can’t act like a meatball message poster. Get a grip guy.

ESPN: Will you join the championship broadcast?

Freeman: no thanks, I will watch from home with my family.

Thanks not acting like a meatball.

 

[NDVirginia19]

That season was my senior year in high school and i unfortunately remember way too much about that season

That was my third season watching football. My dad was an ND Grad and Steelers fan, so the first couple years of my Football watching life were so sick. Then pain. But there are far worse fates for fandoms out there, so I can only complain so much.

 

[MacIrish75]

That season was my senior year in high school and i unfortunately remember way too much about that season

That was our sophomore year in college, so we just got really wasted and don’t recall much of it.

 

[ulukinatme]

That was my third season watching football. My dad was an ND Grad and Steelers fan, so the first couple years of my Football watching life were so sick. Then pain. But there are far worse fates for fandoms out there, so I can only complain so much.

Irish/Cleveland fan.

 

[ulukinatme]

 

[calvegas04]

What UA only make gear with "Leave no doubt" for MF only

 

[ulukinatme]

What UA only make gear with "Leave no doubt" for MF only

I expect the Sportscrack site to have shirts within a week. They had the 4 Quarters of Fuck You Football out quick and every other seasonal meme we've had.