Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL 2023 19 we're not hiding the point of that — we brought a guy in that we wanted. We took him to the hockey game. He ended up not coming here. That's OK. I don't want to hide because somebody might think that this guy turned us down. No. He made a decision that is best for him. "I don't want to hide the fact of what makes Notre Dame great. If we are going to bring our top recruits to the hockey game, then why not bring an offensive coordinator candidate to the hockey game? Because why, if we don't get him, people are going to say you tried and you lost? That's life. He decided to make a decision that is best for him. I wouldn't change that if I had to. We're trying to put our best foot forward." Parker was seated next to Ludwig during the game. Freeman was on the other side to Ludwig's right. When it didn't work out with Ludwig, Freeman quickly turned his attention to Parker, his longtime coworker and friend. There's an analogy for that, too. Some- times it takes a person dating other peo- ple to realize the best option was right in front of him or her all along. That person, in this context, is Parker. Parker did everything to help Free- man find Notre Dame's next offensive coordinator, just like a true friend would do anything to help someone he or she cares about succeed in other relation- ships. And when it came time for Parker to answer the questions instead of ask- ing them, to be the one sought after in- stead of the one aiding in the seeking, he aced the test. To steal a phrase from Freeman, that's life. "It's maturity as you go through a process and go through the things we all go through in this coaching career," Parker said. "The first thing you have to do is make sure your ego is not get- ting in the way. So, as we went through the process together and things change, the number one thing is do what is best for Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman. That's my job; serve the message of the head coach and go through. You do that, you do that well, because that was the job that was called. "When that transformed, you also want to be able to say, 'Hey, I'm not go- ing to flinch at the opportunity to be the offensive coordinator here because of the work put in before this to put your- self in this position. As we're going to ask our players, when your number is called, be prepared. "All I knew I could control through the process was help feed the message of the head coach and get us to a great decision. When that changes gears, and it did, give him my confidence, my direction and what we would do if we wanted to move forward that way." ✦ Head coach Marcus Freeman's vision is for Notre Dame to maintain a pro-style offense with a strong run game. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER