Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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18 JANUARY 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 3 Notre Dame head coaches who have been selected in the NFL Draft: Marcus Free- man (2009, fifth round, Chicago Bears); Ara Par- seghian (1947, 14th round, Cleveland Browns); and Joe Kuharich 1938, 12th round, Pittsburgh Pirates). 4th Among line backer and No. 31 overall was where Rivals rated Freeman as a recruit out of Wayne High School near Dayton, Ohio. He was a Parade High School All-American as a senior, and eventually became a second- team All-Big Ten player at Ohio State in 2008, and an all-conference academic honoree that same scholastic year. Freeman graduated from Ohio State in 2007 with a degree in sports management and played there as a graduate student in 2008. 5 Is how many statistical categories that Free- man's Notre Dame defense ranked in the top-15 nationally through Dec. 17. In addition to the No. 9 scoring defense, his unit was sixth in defensive touchdowns scored (four), sixth in sacks (3.33 per game), 10th in interceptions (15) and tied for 14th in total takeaways (23). 12 Years is how long Freeman has been a college coach, the same number of seasons Brian Kelly served as the Irish head man. When Kelly was hired at Notre Dame in 2010, Freeman made his coaching debut as a gradu- ate assistant at Ohio State under then-Buckeyes head coach Jim Tressel. 18.2 Points allowed per game for Free- man's defense in 2021, which prior to the bowl season was tied for the ninth- lowest mark in the country. The performance and improvement from this unit this season is made even more impressive considering Notre Dame allowed 38 points to Florida State and 29 points to Toledo in its first two games. 15 Different Notre Dame players recorded a sack and 21 different Irish defenders tallied a tackle for loss over the first 12 games of the season. The 40.0 team sacks in 2021 leaves the Fighting Irish just one shy of tying the pro- gram record (41.0) set in 1996. 35 Years of age makes Freeman the young- est head football coach among all Power Five programs, the third-youngest among the NCAA's 130 FBS teams and the second- youngest head coach in Notre Dame history be- hind Terry Brennan, who was hired at 26 years old in 1954. 99 Out of 100 was the grade FOX Sports college football analyst R.J. Young gave Notre Dame's hiring of Freeman — the highest mark among the seven most recent high-profile Power Five coaching hires. It was based on crite- ria that included regional familiarity and previous coaching success. Young gave LSU's hiring of for- mer Irish head coach Brian Kelly a 92 grade, the lowest mark among the seven coaches. — Todd D. Burlage Freeman will go about it with a fa- miliar cast of characters. Most of Notre Dame's assistant coaches are staying in their roles, with only special teams co- ordinator Brian Polian following Kelly to LSU. Another departure or two after the bowl game should be expected, but part of Freeman's appeal was the continuity he could keep on staff and in the locker room. It's easier to maintain something if a lot of the same people who con- structed it were to stick around. The first hint that Freeman might be the choice came a day after Kelly left. Notre Dame football's official Twitter account posted a video where director of football performance Matt Balis tells the team he was staying. A day later, it tweeted another clip — offensive coor- dinator Tommy Rees informing players he was remaining in South Bend rather than accept Kelly's offer at LSU. Assistants don't often commit to staying without some idea of who the head coach will be. Sure enough, shortly after Rees made his announcement, the first report of Freeman's hire came out. In keeping Rees and Balis, Freeman has a strength coach who has played a critical role in Notre Dame's post-2016 resurgence and a 29-year-old offensive coordinator who is considered a rising star. Asked about his offensive philoso- phy, Freeman simply pointed to Notre Dame's output in Rees' two years call- ing plays. "It's what you've seen Tommy do," Freeman said. "When I talked to Jack Swarbrick about the opportunity to keep Tommy Rees, that was without question. What you see from our of- fense is a group that, from the beginning of the season until now, has just played better and better and better. "I'm not looking for a certain scheme. I'm looking for a group that's productive and does the job necessary to win." The most important continuity of all might be Freeman himself. His duties will change as a head coach, but his ap- proach to them won't. Notre Dame isn't investing in Freeman the schemer or play caller. It's betting on Freeman the coach. The person. The leader. "I'm going to lead the way I've always led," Freeman said on ESPN Radio a day after his introduction. "That's with my heart, with setting clear expectations and holding people accountable. That Freeman's defensive unit ranks in the top 15 nationally in five statistical categories. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER MARCUS FREEMAN: BY THE NUMBERS