Marcus Freeman Revisited

GoldenToTheGrave

GoldenToTheGrave

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GATTACA! said:
Getting a stud QB is more attainable for ND than the Georgia method of having 11 5* guys on your defense.
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I 100% agree. That being said we're not going to get that or the Lincoln Riley heisman QB easy button. ND does have to learn the NIL/transfer portal better, but people suggesting that the foundation of the program is set up for failure seems to be an emotional hot take.
 
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Okay, I'm going to refine what I said last night.

I am afraid of this USC team and what it will do. Yes, you can say that this was a close loss so we would have a chance next year. But this is also a year where USC is coming off a 4-8 season while ND was in playoff contention. We came into this season thinking we should be in the playoff mix again while it seemed like USC was going to be happy competing for their division.

And yet, just importing his Oklahoma formula of an awesome QB and good WRs was enough to beat us. If the allure of LA and NIL is able to get him better linemen and defensive players than he had at Oklahoma, then we could be in some real trouble.

And that could be a big problem for Freeman. We have basically come to expect 10 win seasons now. Part of that was probably because both of our annual P5 rivals (USC and Stanford) were down for the last few years. Well, USC looks to be back and Stanford is going to have a new coach that might lead them back as well. We are also going to be playing more SEC teams in the next few years as well, any one of which can likely beat us on a good day.

All of that is to say that our schedule may be getting a lot harder in the next few years right when people will be judging if Freeman is a success or not. Unless his recruiting class stays together AND hits at a very high rate AND the administration opens the transfer gates, Freeman may have a very small margin of error to be able to repeatedly reach what a lot of fans would consider an acceptable level of wins.
 
Jiggafini19Deux

Jiggafini19Deux

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USC under Lincoln Riley traveling to the Big Ten in November is going to be fun. I don't care what anyone says. Saturday nights against Cal and Arizona are over. Try mid November at Iowa against a scrappy Ferentz team. If mid Octobers in South Bend are slightly brisk, get ready, Hollywood.

As for Marcus Freeman, he goes 8-4 after starting 0-2 with road losses to Ohio State and USC on the bookends. He did it with a backup QB. Finished the season with two key DBs out against the guy who likely wins the Heisman, gets drafted first overall in 2024 and raises Tom Brady's kids while breaking all of his NFL records.
 
stlnd01

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Jiggafini19Deux said:
USC under Lincoln Riley traveling to the Big Ten in November is going to be fun. I don't care what anyone says. Saturday nights against Cal and Arizona are over. Try mid November at Iowa against a scrappy Ferentz team. If mid Octobers in South Bend are slightly brisk, get ready, Hollywood.

As for Marcus Freeman, he goes 8-4 after starting 0-2 with road losses to Ohio State and USC on the bookends. He did it with a backup QB. Finished the season with two key DBs out against the guy who likely wins the Heisman, gets drafted first overall in 2024 and raises Tom Brady's kids while breaking all of his NFL records.
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I know we're all tired of this excuse but we went 10-plus games with a guy who was never supposed to see the field, hardly ever coming off it, at the most important position in the game. We won 8 of them. Winning, as they say, is hard.

Put, say, Coan on this team and we're 10-2 and stand a much better chance of winning the other two. Yes, it's Freeman's fault he put all his chips on Buchner and didn't bring in a transfer QB. But overall the staff did very well with the talent they had to work with, and the talent is only getting better in the next couple years.
 
mick2

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stlnd01 said:
I know we're all tired of this excuse but we went 10-plus games with a guy who was never supposed to see the field, hardly ever coming off it, at the most important position in the game. We won 8 of them. Winning, as they say, is hard.

Put, say, Coan on this team and we're 10-2 and stand a much better chance of winning the other two. Yes, it's Freeman's fault he put all his chips on Buchner and didn't bring in a transfer QB. But overall the staff did very well with the talent they had to work with, and the talent is only getting better in the next couple years.
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Agreed, if this is the Marcus freeman Irish team's floor, I am excited for what it's ceiling can be.
 
GoldenToTheGrave

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SouthSideChiDomer said:
Okay, I'm going to refine what I said last night.

I am afraid of this USC team and what it will do. Yes, you can say that this was a close loss so we would have a chance next year. But this is also a year where USC is coming off a 4-8 season while ND was in playoff contention. We came into this season thinking we should be in the playoff mix again while it seemed like USC was going to be happy competing for their division.

And yet, just importing his Oklahoma formula of an awesome QB and good WRs was enough to beat us. If the allure of LA and NIL is able to get him better linemen and defensive players than he had at Oklahoma, then we could be in some real trouble.

And that could be a big problem for Freeman. We have basically come to expect 10 win seasons now. Part of that was probably because both of our annual P5 rivals (USC and Stanford) were down for the last few years. Well, USC looks to be back and Stanford is going to have a new coach that might lead them back as well. We are also going to be playing more SEC teams in the next few years as well, any one of which can likely beat us on a good day.

All of that is to say that our schedule may be getting a lot harder in the next few years right when people will be judging if Freeman is a success or not. Unless his recruiting class stays together AND hits at a very high rate AND the administration opens the transfer gates, Freeman may have a very small margin of error to be able to repeatedly reach what a lot of fans would consider an acceptable level of wins.
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It very much remains to be seen if Stanford is a long term problem. And it ultimately comes down to expectations, yes it may be harder to have 2 undefeated playoff appearing teams in 4 years. USC may end up returning to a perennial national title contender. But then it's nothing new, we've scheduled Georgia, Clemson, and Ohio State in recent years.

In CFB the margin of error is always small. The question is with this staff and the recruiting classes they're putting together is this season's performance the floor or the ceiling of the program, and I'm more convinced it's the floor.
 
Some Irish Bloke

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Bluto said:
ND was competitive in this one with a shorter Tommy Rees/less athletic Ian Book. Let that sink in for a minute. This wasn’t some Bama 2012 run away freight train type win for the other team.
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Thank you, well said. The belly-aching after a competitive game against a transcendent talent at QB is driving me insane.

He got an absurd amount of transfers after they had above average roster turnover due to the coaching change. Scholarship numbers are still a thing; getting 15+ transfers is not a sustainable strategy. He still has to recruit and so far, Freeman is outperforming him in that arena.

Caleb Williams was the difference in that game, plain and simple, and we still only lost by 11 against the eventual Heisman Trophy winner. One can argue ND beat themselves with the decision to go for it early and the unforced turnover to start the second half.

GTFO with the "USC is going to overtake ND" takes.
 
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irishff1014

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It’s clear with the penalties week after week he has no control of this team.
 
NDPhilly

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You can't have a Gerad Parker at OC with a young, inexperienced, defensive-minded head coach.
 
FightingIrishLover7

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calvegas04 said:
Tick tok MF
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Stop

Freeman wanted Ludwig first. He should not have settled for Feral-d Parker. He has a chance to correct his mistake

Agenda for Freeman
1). New OC and while new scheme and identity NO TRESSEL BALL - it is not 2001

2) Figure out what in the crap is wrong with your away game preparation. Look at literally everything. Analyze every link in the chain. Remove anyone who is not doing their work.
 
Katzenboyer

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I love the guy. But I’m becoming very concerned about his overall approach to the game.

If Parker is fired, I’m legitimately worried he’d try to bring someone like Paul Chryst in as OC.
 
Luckylucci

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IA4irish said:
His tenure has been a disappointment. It’s as simple as that. I wanted him to be the head coach. He’s now 16-8 including the Oklahoma state game. Take that out if you want. Way too much talent for that record
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We didn’t have 8 losses in the previous 4 seasons combined.
 
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