Marcus Freeman Revisited

BeatSC

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He wasn't a DEI hire but ND has no business hiring a 35 year old assistant coach as their HC.

Brohm or Campbell should have been the hire. Unfortunately we let the players make the hire like Indiana with Mike Davis.
Well at least not officially. It just feels that way now. I’m guessing a lot of truly great coaches were shaking their heads when this went down.
 

Hautian Domer

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Freeman has the program going in the right direction. He’s just allowing RL to sabotage the season which is very frustrating.
Does he? I thought about that today. How are we in an upward trajectory? How is it really any different than BK? How is it any better than BK other than MF’s more likable personality? The program, in year 3, seems to be in a fairly similar state.
 

SeekNDestroy

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Well at least not officially. It just feels that way now. I’m guessing a lot of truly great coaches were shaking their heads when this went down.
Freeman was promoted because the players wanted him and Jack was afraid there would be a massive player exodus if he wasn’t. Simple as that. Kelly leaving caught Jack totally off guard and there was no plan in place.
 

CANONIZEFATHERSORIN

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Freeman has the program going in the right direction. He’s just allowing RL to sabotage the season which is very frustrating.

It's 2024, you need to put 30 on the board before you can even begin to blame the defense
Does he? I thought about that today. How are we in an upward trajectory? How is it really any different than BK? How is it any better than BK other than MF’s more likable personality? The program, in year 3, seems to be in a fairly similar state.

I mean the program is objectively in a worse state :( BK did us so dirty man
 

INLaw

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This is Swarbrick's fault. He was too loyal to Kelly; after Kelly left, he didn't know what to do. He panicked and hired Freeman. I'm not a believer in the "ND cannot be your first HC job" rule; after all, Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney, Ryan Day, etc., were first-time coaches at their current jobs. But experience definitely helps, as a general rule. Freeman had very little experience. The bizarre blunders we've seen reflect that.

On a slightly unrelated note, I have no idea if Bevacqua will be better. Both he and Swarbrick are lawyers, and lawyers tend to be very risk-averse and uncreative. Again, we'll see.
Easy now
 

ThePiombino

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We had 40+ straight wins against unranked opponents through 2021. How many have we lost under Freeman now? I wanted it to work out. I still do. But how long can we wait for him to figure it out? The plan was always to let him learn on the job while building on the foundation that Kelly built through recruiting and development. If this year's class (so far) is a sign of things to come, I'm not sure he deserves much more time to be honest. Again, I really wanted this to work.

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choo choo

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His press conference was pathetic he didn’t even seem that upset. Made all kinds of positive spin on the loss. As if it wasn’t the worst in program history or anything. Next to no accountability.
Exactly. Still high fiving. At least BK levitated a water bottle. I like him personally but I still think he's in over his head. I'd still be throwing shit and dog cussing people. But I'm not a coach at Notre Dame. Gotta be who you are. Just can't believe that's who he is. Really. I'm 64 years old and have had many coaches who didn't give me that slack. Had one ask me once... do you know what potential means? Means you haven't done a damn thing yet. I understood. I'm rambling. Like this fuckin team. Sorry guys.
 

Sherm Sticky

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I would love Rhule. And it looks like it might have it going at Nebraska now. Say Nebraska finishes the season at 9-3 and just outside the playoffs. Do you think Rhule would leave Nebraska where he has some momentum, where the administration allows any recruit he wants to be admitted, where he has two more years of a five star qb and he can take any player in the transfer portal for Notre Dame? Where the administration forces their football program to play with one arm tied behind their back?
 

Sherm Sticky

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Freeman has the program going in the right direction. He’s just allowing RL to sabotage the season which is very frustrating.
It’s not just RL. Where is the blame for Freeman? Where is the blame for the shit Oline play? Where is the blame for WRs dropping passes and not getting open? Where is the blame on Denbrock for giving Love only 1 carry after his hurdling TD? Where is the blame on Denbrock for only running Price 4 times all game and only running Love 11 times all game? Why the hell is it all on Leonard?! Damn
 

NumbersGuy0520

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It’s not just RL. Where is the blame for Freeman? Where is the blame for the shit Oline play? Where is the blame for WRs dropping passes and not getting open? Where is the blame on Denbrock for giving Love only 1 carry after his hurdling TD? Where is the blame on Denbrock for only running Price 4 times all game and only running Love 11 times all game? Why the hell is it all on Leonard?! Damn
Yeah this.

Every season I watch ND football and then turn to the evening games where it looks like teams are almost playing a different sport.

We consistently have no legitimate downfield passing. That’s not unique to this season. If we fall behind by 10-20 pts early, I have WAY less confidence in this team (again, not just this season) to come back than, say, OSU/Bama/Washington/Texas/any other team that can throw the ball.

We will not have any chance of winning a championship until we figure out the above, especially now that we’re locked into 4 playoff games each year.

Leonard is an easy scapegoat. He played like ass and cannot throw the ball. But the problem extends far past Riley.
 

calvegas04

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I would love Rhule. And it looks like it might have it going at Nebraska now. Say Nebraska finishes the season at 9-3 and just outside the playoffs. Do you think Rhule would leave Nebraska where he has some momentum, where the administration allows any recruit he wants to be admitted, where he has two more years of a five star qb and he can take any player in the transfer portal for Notre Dame? Where the administration forces their football program to play with one arm tied behind their back?
His buyout is over $60m
 

irishff1014

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We had 40+ straight wins against unranked opponents through 2021. How many have we lost under Freeman now? I wanted it to work out. I still do. But how long can we wait for him to figure it out? The plan was always to let him learn on the job while building on the foundation that Kelly built through recruiting and development. If this year's class (so far) is a sign of things to come, I'm not sure he deserves much more time to be honest. Again, I really wanted this to work.

Sent from my Pixel 8 Pro using Tapatalk

And at home makes it worse. I really thought we were going to be able to move forward with Freeman but I guess I was wrong. It sucks because I wanted to see Freeman be the next star.
 

ThePiombino

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It’s not just RL. Where is the blame for Freeman? Where is the blame for the shit Oline play? Where is the blame for WRs dropping passes and not getting open? Where is the blame on Denbrock for giving Love only 1 carry after his hurdling TD? Where is the blame on Denbrock for only running Price 4 times all game and only running Love 11 times all game? Why the hell is it all on Leonard?! Damn

Not to say Denbrock's play calling was perfect, but doesn't DMC call the RB rotation?

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T-Boone

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Maybe Sean McVey. Wasn’t he thinking I’d quitting a couple of years ago? He might like the college football challenge.
 

NorthDakota

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Maybe Sean McVey. Wasn’t he thinking I’d quitting a couple of years ago? He might like the college football challenge.
Lol a boy can dream.

Unrelated, I'm shocked Bill Cowher never went back to coaching. Dude retired so young
 

NDMatt91

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Fuck it. He’s a total scumbag….but he’ll win a title. Bring him on! I’m sick of this. It’s been over 30 years since anyone feared ND! I was 18!
People called Saban a scumbag and people think the same about Kirby. As long as Urban would win and the program didn't have to deal with sanctions or a Penn State/Baylor type scandal, I'm good.
 
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