Marcus Freeman Revisited

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Did Ryan Day struggle so badly when he took over Ohio State?

Getting people out of bed to go to class?

Sure.

 

[indianamouse]

Getting people out of bed to go to class?

Sure.

Ryan day didn’t have our lack of qbs and receivers

 

[indianamouse]

Our defense has been good enough to win every game

 

[Irishdrunk]

This is the lead Dawg HC type mentality.

 

[Sea Turtle]

This is the lead Dawg HC type mentality.

Yes it is. But those guys won't come here because you can't win here.

 

[ulukinatme]

The Urban ship sailed a long time ago, and it's too dirty to bring into port South Bend. It's the sad, but honest truth.

 

[CANONIZEFATHERSORIN]

Coach Urban's ship may have sailed, but oh, what is that? Is it a schooner emblazoned with the heraldry of...could it be...COACH PRIME

 

[Ray “The Mule” Finkle]

Coach Urban's ship may have sailed, but oh, what is that? Is it a schooner emblazoned with the heraldry of...could it be...COACH PRIME

Fickell.

 

[CANONIZEFATHERSORIN]

Fickell.

maybe a better option but much less fun and will not bring swagger to south bend like we desperately need

 

[Luckylucci]

There is little swagger in the Gug right now. Winning brings swagger.

 

[Irishdrunk]

Freeman looked lost in the Post Game Presser. If he was on the witness stand he would meltdown.

Instead of being angry he looked close to doing a Man-cry.

Not a good look at all.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I'll take 3-3 with Marcus Freeman before 6-0 with Urban Meyer. Take that to the bank.

The segment of ND "fans" still wishing and hoping for that turd to walk through the door have played themselves and faded themselves for years.

 

[Irishdrunk]

I'll take 3-3 with Marcus Freeman before 6-0 with Urban Meyer. Take that to the bank.

The segment of ND "fans" still wishing and hoping for that turd to walk through the door have played themselves and faded themselves for years.

So you are good with losing. I don’t tolerate losing. But hey you can feel good that you have a nice guy as your HC- that must count a lot for you.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

Im going to be patient with Marcus. Saban was 7-5 first year at Bama. Dabo had a bad first few years. Im not in love with the offense but much of it is actually execution as well as Rees trying to subvert expectations.

I said it back in the offseason when everyone else pumping sunshine that he might be a very good recruiter but the jury is definitely out on his ability to be a head coach. He gets at least two years from me anyway.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Dabo 9-5
Saban Alabama 7-5
Saban LSU 8-4
Smart 8-5
Mack Brown Texas 9-3
Fisher FSU 10-4

Active guys who have won it all in their first years.

 

[irishff1014]

I'll take 3-3 with Marcus Freeman before 6-0 with Urban Meyer. Take that to the bank.

The segment of ND "fans" still wishing and hoping for that turd to walk through the door have played themselves and faded themselves for years.

Meyer was never a reasonable option and anyone that thinks that is crazy. He might win but the prices you have to pay to win are unacceptable.

 

[irishff1014]

There is little swagger in the Gug right now. Winning brings swagger.

More like no swagger.

 

[irishff1014]

Dabo 9-5
Saban Alabama 7-5
Saban LSU 8-4
Smart 8-5
Mack Brown Texas 9-3
Fisher FSU 10-4

Active guys who have won it all in their first years.

This is misleading unless you are gonna compare the talent. I don’t remember who the coach was at Bama before Saban but I do know he probably didn’t have the talent Freeman was given. So with out seeing that we have no clue if it’s comparable.

 

[NDRock]

Dabo 9-5
Saban Alabama 7-5
Saban LSU 8-4
Smart 8-5
Mack Brown Texas 9-3
Fisher FSU 10-4

Active guys who have won it all in their first years.

Best bet is Dabo. He seemed pretty clueless early on in his tenure.

 

[SoIll]

I'll take 3-3 with Marcus Freeman before 6-0 with Urban Meyer. Take that to the bank.

The segment of ND "fans" still wishing and hoping for that turd to walk through the door have played themselves and faded themselves for years.

You're a They/ Them guy arentcha?

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

This is misleading unless you are gonna compare the talent. I don’t remember who the coach was at Bama before Saban but I do know he probably didn’t have the talent Freeman was given. So with out seeing that we have no clue if it’s comparable.

The goal is a National Championship. Those guys are the active coaches who have won one. That's the comp and respective to whatever talent they had, they fell on tougher times out of the gate. Three of them were first time HC if my memory serves.

NU, Stanford, Vanderbilt:

Fitzgerald 4-8
Harbaugh Stanford 4-8
Shaw Stanford 11-2
No Show Franklin Vanderbilt 6-7

David Shaw essentially walked into a team that was 12-1 the year before and Andrew Luck. Otherwise, those results ain't great either.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Best bet is Dabo. He seemed pretty clueless early on in his tenure.

He was 4-3 as interim the year before his first full year as the full time official HC. I believe he'd also never called plays before.

Marcus had the bowl game and experience as a DC.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

You're a They/ Them guy arentcha?

Whatever the Internet needs me to be.

 

[notredomer23]

This is misleading unless you are gonna compare the talent. I don’t remember who the coach was at Bama before Saban but I do know he probably didn’t have the talent Freeman was given. So with out seeing that we have no clue if it’s comparable.

Looking at the last four classes, per rivals rankings

Freeman's classes
ND 2019 14th
ND 2020 22nd
ND 2021 9th
ND 2022 6th
Average: 12.75
Alabama
2004 15th
2005 18th
2006 11th
2007 10th
Average: 13.25
UGA
2013 12th
2014 7th
2015 6th
2016 9th
Average: 8.5

2020 being ranked 22nd is generous. I really didn't realize how bad it was until looking more into it. Of the 17 commitments in that class, 4 have transferred and 6 barely play. It really only has Mayer, Pyne, Tyree, Mills, Watts, C Lewis, Ramon Henderson, and Bauman making an impact in their careers thus far... this is the junior class. Besides being bad, it's small in numbers.

This isn't a defense of Freeman because he can't lose to freaking Marshall and an awful Stanford team. But the 2023 class is going to elevate the overall talent on this roster significantly in talent but more importantly numbers.

 

[Bluto]

The goal is a National Championship. Those guys are the active coaches who have won one. That's the comp and respective to whatever talent they had, they fell on tougher times out of the gate. Three of them were first time HC if my memory serves.

NU, Stanford, Vanderbilt:

Fitzgerald 4-8
Harbaugh Stanford 4-8
Shaw Stanford 11-2
No Show Franklin Vanderbilt 6-7

David Shaw essentially walked into a team that was 12-1 the year before and Andrew Luck. Otherwise, those results ain't great either.

Harbaugh is a total weirdo but he is a really good head coach. That upset over the Pete Carrol lead USC team in his first season at Stanford was insane.

 

[NDRock]

He was 4-3 as interim the year before his first full year as the full time official HC. I believe he'd also never called plays before.

Marcus had the bowl game and experience as a DC.

Yep. Neither was really prepared to lead a big program. Dabo took a few years but eventually got it figured out. Hopefully Marcus will. I’m more concerned about the ND admin doing what it takes to compete.

 

[IRISHMAN]

NDs inability to recruit QBs the previous 5 seasons is leading to this terrible season ND will have. if it werent for jack coan ND would have had this season a year earlier. MF got handed a lemon of a team and didnt know it (probably the reason BK left, he must have seen this coming) and not have a good QB on the roster is going to make this almost impossible for MF to turn this thing around.

 

[IrishLax]

The only thing I'm evaluating Freeman on this year is the lack of attention to detail that the team plays with and other big picture leadership things. Way more "mistakes" than past Kelly teams, which is why Kelly won so many in a row against unranked teams and so many close games but often got blown the heck out by "elite" teams.

I put the offense issues on him 0% and so I'm not really focused on ND's record. Next year, he will be accountable for the offense too because he has an offseason to make changes. We all know he had no control over his OC in the "transition" to this year.

 

[Free Manera]

NDs inability to recruit QBs the previous 5 seasons is leading to this terrible season ND will have. if it werent for jack coan ND would have had this season a year earlier. MF got handed a lemon of a team and didnt know it (probably the reason BK left, he must have seen this coming) and not have a good QB on the roster is going to make this almost impossible for MF to turn this thing around.

This is the thing about Rees that is indefensible. Playcalling has been fine at times. Gameplanning I would say has kind of sucked (ignoring opponent weaknesses and instead trying to make genius playcalls) and I think the offensive philosophy/identity (there isn't one) sucks too, but that is up for debate. The QB recruiting though is a disgrace, not taking a transfer this year is a disgrace, the development of QBs is a disgrace, it's all shit.

 

[Sea Turtle]

Dabo 9-5
Saban Alabama 7-5
Saban LSU 8-4
Smart 8-5
Mack Brown Texas 9-3
Fisher FSU 10-4

Active guys who have won it all in their first years.

Ryan Day and Lincoln Riley are far more accurate comparisons. How did they do their first year?