Marcus Freeman New DC

[BobbyMac]

Your stance, Freeman is not the primary reason for the defense's poor play, has not differed. It is just wrong. Personnel has nothing to do with our struggles. How many more four-five star athletes do you think Freeman must field to coordinate a competent defense against the offenses we faced this year? Are you arguing that his coaching abilities are so inadequate that without an overwhelming talent advantage, his defenses will struggle. Against playoff teams, we will never have that type of advantage.

Do you think Freeman's D will be better next year and then even better in '23?

Was his Cincy D not exceptional with low 3*'s and lower players?

Do you see the difference in players he's already bringing in? Do you see how they mirror the Cincy difference makers?

When ND goes 11-1 this year, are you going to be complaining that it wasn't 12-0 with a trip to the CFP's where this team would get the usual suspects' pimphand?

When an MLB team blows it up and goes full rebuild, they lose 105-110 games for multiple years. ND's gonna do it in a year, (I say two years) and win 11... or 12 if they get the right bowl draw.

Freeman's not interested in adjusting his scheme to something like Lea's D to maximize the current roster, he's teaching his system which will be absorbed by those who return.

Enjoy the rebuild and remember how bad the #neverquinners look 21 days later. Don't post anything you'll regret in 2 years because bad takes live forever on Irish Envy.

 

[Rockin’Irish]

I’ll certainly say that I’m disappointed in how the D has played this season but they have played well enough to go 7-1 while missing three linebackers (one who was expected to be a real difference maker). The resiliency of the squad has been impressive, no quit in these fellas. I’m going to go out on a limb (a very thick limb) and say that Freeman’s defense will go up a notch each year he is here at ND……..it’s just like most new coaches, it generally takes a little time for the players to buy in and replicate the new philosophy. This is further magnified as the new coach’s preferred personnel are recruited. Even the great Nick Saban only had 6 wins his first season at ‘Bama (not counting a bowl win) but once he got buy in and recruited his preferred personnel…….

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

We'll all have a better picture of Freeman in years 2 and 3 if he is here. But I'll say this for Lea...most of the time it felt like ND had 12 guys on the field and were never out of position. Too many times with Freeman (so far) we feel like there's only 10 guys on the field.

 

[NDRock]

We'll all have a better picture of Freeman in years 2 and 3 if he is here. But I'll say this for Lea...most of the time it felt like ND had 12 guys on the field and were never out of position. Too many times with Freeman (so far) we feel like there's only 10 guys on the field.

I personally prefer the Lea type defense but I’d like to combine it with Freeman’s recruiting.

 

[BobbyMac]

We'll all have a better picture of Freeman in years 2 and 3 if he is here. But I'll say this for Lea...most of the time it felt like ND had 12 guys on the field and were never out of position. Too many times with Freeman (so far) we feel like there's only 10 guys on the field.

Lea had JOK and KHam.

Freeman now has neither.

 

[BobbyMac]

I personally prefer the Lea type defense but I’d like to combine it with Freeman’s recruiting.

As a child of the 46 D and the mid 80's Bears, more havoc is always more better. Loved what Lea did but I can't wait to see what Freeman does with 4.5+ stars vs the 3.2 stars of Cincy.

 

[ulukinatme]

Lea had JOK and KHam.

Freeman now has neither.

He's had Hamilton most of the year, and Foskey is pretty special.

He's gotta really get things in gear the next two weeks. Navy still has a strong running attack even if they've struggled this year. Virginia is 2nd in passing yards in the NCAA this year, not a strong suit for this defense. 2/3 through the season now, we need to start shutting down some of the big plays and correct the mental mistakes.

 

[Dale]

He's had Hamilton most of the year, and Foskey is pretty special.

He's gotta really get things in gear the next two weeks. Navy still has a strong running attack even if they've struggled this year. Virginia is 2nd in passing yards in the NCAA this year, not a strong suit for this defense. 2/3 through the season now, we need to start shutting down some of the big plays and correct the mental mistakes.

We aren’t giving up more big plays than last year. That is factoring in Alabama/Clemson of course but the season numbers are about equal.

 

[BobbyMac]

He's had Hamilton most of the year, and Foskey is pretty special.

He's gotta really get things in gear the next two weeks. Navy still has a strong running attack even if they've struggled this year. Virginia is 2nd in passing yards in the NCAA this year, not a strong suit for this defense. 2/3 through the season now, we need to start shutting down some of the big plays and correct the mental mistakes.

If they go 11-1, I don’t care how they get there.

Throw away rebuild year where we all know they can’t win a playoff game.

And VA’s Armstrong has broken ribs. Is he even playing?

 

[ulukinatme]

If they go 11-1, I don’t care how they get there.

Throw away rebuild year where we all know they can’t win a playoff game.

And VA’s Armstrong has broken ribs. Is he even playing?

That's not better news! Do you know our track record when backups come in?! We had to go to overtime against this guy earlier in the year.

 

[NDFAN420]

We are still in year 1.

Let's count together what comes after 1?

Hopefully whatever point it is that you're trying to make.

 

[ryno 24]

These are all ridiculous takes. Marist is out. No JOK. No Hamilton. The defense is making plays. Yes. I get frustrated. But they also played a really good offense. We also came off a rivalry game. I think he is going to get consistently better. Also Alabama and other teams are giving up points in college football including Clemson and Ohio State.

 

[nsisk157]

These are all ridiculous takes. Marist is out. No JOK. No Hamilton. The defense is making plays. Yes. I get frustrated. But they also played a really good offense. We also came off a rivalry game. I think he is going to get consistently better. Also Alabama and other teams are giving up points in college football including Clemson and Ohio State.

Bingo. Can it be better? Sure. Should we burn him at the stake? Nah.

 

[NDohio]

Before yesterday’s game our defense ranks
14 by FEI
12 by F+

I get that our defense was outplayed yesterday, it was frustrating to watch. But we’re going way overboard on the Freeman sucks talk. It’s just not true up to this point.

.

 

[Riddickulous]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/PeteSampson_/status/1455206647584985092[/TWEET]

Very interesting quote from the Kelly presser here. Would explain a lot about the poor performance by the linebackers.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/PeteSampson_/status/1455206647584985092[/TWEET]

Very interesting quote from the Kelly presser here. Would explain a lot about the poor performance by the linebackers.

Especially the tackling. Just not enough depth to give these guys quality breathers with the injuries we've sustained this year.

And then you lose your All-Universe safety net in KH to make the situation even worse.

But let's blame the staff and the nation's most coveted coaching free agent from last offseason....there are absolutely no other mitigating circumstances to the decline in performance defensively.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

550+ yards and 34 points is unacceptable. Bottom line. We weren't playing Alabama.

We only needed to score 35 to win against UNC and we did. We only need to score 32 against Bama and didn’t. Isn’t that right Dale?

 

[Rogue219]

I see this guy's UC recruits doing very good things individually and collectively, which gives me hope. He was at UC for four years and I think it takes more time at a P5 program to build than it would at a program like Notre Dame, especially when it comes to recruiting. He doesn't need to dig as deep down into the muck for rough diamonds now. Bigger brand, more money in the recruiting budget, bigger reach. Mickens is here with him and I'm particularly impressed with UC's defensive backs. These are three star recruits who can seemingly play with just about anyone and NFL scouts seem to like them. That may not mean much if UGA piss pounds UC in a couple of months, but I still like the idea that these guys found players who were being recruited by Big Ten and MAC schools alike and have made them into prospects.

As for the UNC performance, that QB is still pretty good even though his team isn't and if anyone thinks the points and yards are "unacceptable" you'd be firing defensive coordinators to the point that you'd have UGA left right now and that's about all. This is football. These are the offenses you have to defend against now and the rules are very slanted to benefit them. I want Freeman to get more of his blueprint into the program and more of his own players into his practices. Jeff Quinn has been here long enough to make an educated opinion. Freeman has been here 2/3 of a season and it's post vaccine era football we're talking about.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

Lea had JOK and KHam.

Freeman now has neither.

Lea also had to go up against Clemson and Bama, and a better UNC offense in 2020. We're comparing apples and oranges with players. From a structure and discipline standpoint, that's where Freeman needs to improve if he's here in 2022.

 

[irishff1014]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/PeteSampson_/status/1455206647584985092[/TWEET]

Very interesting quote from the Kelly presser here. Would explain a lot about the poor performance by the linebackers.

This what happens when you don’t take the opportunities to blow people out when you have them. It gets the younger guys game time and the vets rest. That’s how it’s always been under Kelly though.

Better yet If White is gonna get injured more it’ll be this week because of the involvement of the line backers. They should have already had a back up to play one of the athletic young guys that might not understand the defense 100% but has the ability to correct his mistakes with pure talent.

 

[irishff1014]

I see this guy's UC recruits doing very good things individually and collectively, which gives me hope. He was at UC for four years and I think it takes more time at a P5 program to build than it would at a program like Notre Dame, especially when it comes to recruiting. He doesn't need to dig as deep down into the muck for rough diamonds now. Bigger brand, more money in the recruiting budget, bigger reach. Mickens is here with him and I'm particularly impressed with UC's defensive backs. These are three star recruits who can seemingly play with just about anyone and NFL scouts seem to like them. That may not mean much if UGA piss pounds UC in a couple of months, but I still like the idea that these guys found players who were being recruited by Big Ten and MAC schools alike and have made them into prospects.

As for the UNC performance, that QB is still pretty good even though his team isn't and if anyone thinks the points and yards are "unacceptable" you'd be firing defensive coordinators to the point that you'd have UGA left right now and that's about all. This is football. These are the offenses you have to defend against now and the rules are very slanted to benefit them. I want Freeman to get more of his blueprint into the program and more of his own players into his practices. Jeff Quinn has been here long enough to make an educated opinion. Freeman has been here 2/3 of a season and it's post vaccine era football we're talking about.

The CB’s are no better than almost 2 years ago when Mickens got hired.

 

[Dale]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/michaelbryanmb/status/1455314458230894594?s=21[/TWEET]

 

[Luckylucci]

Opponents matter.

2021 opponents and their OFEI ratings:

Cincy 0.71, UNC 0.68, Wiscy -0.07, Purdue 0.14, FSU 0.46, Toledo -0.59, USC 0.45, VT 0.12

2020 opponents and their OFEI ratings: (I'm not going to list all)

Bama 2.47, UNC 1.48, Clemson 1.16 (x2)

Lea coached 4 games last year against top 10/11 offenses (Clemson might have been 11th). Freeman hasn't coached a single game against a single top 20 offense. Not only that but Cincy's offense is the best he's faced this year and they don't even exist in the same universe as Bama's or UNC's, from last year.

Here's a little more.

The UNC offense we just played had an OFEI of 0.68 going into the game. Freemans D at home, sans Hamilton, gave 554 yards of offense, 28 first downs, 10.3 yds/att, and 5.3 yds/carry.

Last year, UNC's offense had an OFEI of 1.48. Lea, sans Hamilton and on the road, held them to 298 yards of offense, 14 first downs, 7.8 yds/att. and 2.9 yds/carry. They had one of the very best offenses in college ball last year and we locked them up. These are not comparable teams or results.

Rewatch Notes | Notre Dame Defense vs UNC | Irish Sports Daily

UNC averaged 9.8 yards per play against 25 snaps in Dollar (34.2%).

I'll sell the package back to Cincinnati for cents on the Dollar. Bad pun intended.

 

[Dale]

I mean not listing Duke, South Florida and Pitt with backup QB is kind of a clear steering of what you already planned to side with.

I don’t even know this stat and I’m finding from a search it was 114, 108 and 99th in the country last year (again backup QB for Pitt too)

Edit: Cuse 125, FSU 95, Ga Tech 92…..

 

[Dale]

Per this stat we faced 6 of the bottom 35ish offenses last year??? We’ve faced 1 of the same bucket this year. Pretty skewed use of data in the OP.

 

[ND88]

Opponents matter.

2021 opponents and their OFEI ratings:

Cincy 0.71, UNC 0.68, Wiscy -0.07, Purdue 0.14, FSU 0.46, Toledo -0.59, USC 0.45, VT 0.12

2020 opponents and their OFEI ratings: (I'm not going to list all)

Bama 2.47, UNC 1.48, Clemson 1.16 (x2)

Lea coached 4 games last year against top 10/11 offenses (Clemson might have been 11th). Freeman hasn't coached a single game against a single top 20 offense. Not only that but Cincy's offense is the best he's faced this year and they don't even exist in the same universe as Bama's or UNC's, from last year.

I'll sell it back to Cincinnati for cents of the Dollar. Bad pun intended.

It’s easy to underestimate the loss of General Owusu to the NFL this year though. I think the defense relied heavily on his leadership and skill under Lea. Freeman will shore up his talent and build greater chemistry/rapport with his chess pieces. I also think he’s competing against a greater diversity of offenses with more talent at ND that he wasn’t facing at Cincinnati. Lea had a little buffer with Elko before he took the reins.

 

[ND88]

I’m not making excuses for him, because there are clearly some frustrating aspects of his coaching. But I am warranting the guy at least a season to sort out the areas he needs to improve on. I think when the dust settles, he will end up rising to the challenge. He’s young and competitive and chose ND.

 

[ulukinatme]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/michaelbryanmb/status/1455314458230894594?s=21[/TWEET]

Average points given up through 8 games in 2020: 16.6

Average points given up through 8 games in 2021: 24.5

That includes the overtime 40 point Clemson game.

 

[NDdomer2]

Players not on 2021 defense from 2020:

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah - 2nd round pick, currently PFF's highest graded rookie defender in league. ND 2nd leading tackler in 2020.
Shaun Crawford - 35 games played in ND career, undrafted but signed with Raiders in summer and was ultimately waived. ND 3rd leading tackler in 2020
Nick McCloud - undrafted signed with Buffalo Bills, cut and claimed by Bengals, ND 5th leading tackler in 2020.
Marist Liufau - expected to be ND's 2nd best defensive player in 2021 has not played a snap due to leg injury. ND 9th leading tackler in 2020.
Adetokunbo Ogundeji - 5th round pick, has played in all 7 games this year and started 2. ND sack leader in 2020
Daelin Hayes - 5th round pick, just was put on IR by ravens. 3rd in sacks for ND in 2020.

this group was 33% of total tackles, 42% of sacks, 57% of interceptions, 35% of passes defended, 67% of forced fumbles and 70% of fumble recoveries from 2020.

Add in new scheme, I think it's understandable for there to be some regression.

But what the hell, FIRE HIM, amirite?

 

[dankgesang]

.
Marist Liufau - expected to be ND's best defensive player in 2021

Take a Ritalin, man.