Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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4 SEPT. 14, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED M arcus Freeman saw something that grabbed his attention just moments before the Notre Dame head coach led his troops out of the tun- nel and onto Kyle Field at Texas A&M in the season opener Aug. 31. Making their first career starts — in prime time, against a veteran and rugged defensive front, and in front of more than 107,000 rabid Aggies fans — Irish offen- sive linemen Anthonie Knapp and Sam Pendleton may have appeared a little shell-shocked waiting to take the field. "It's their first time, as freshmen, and they're playing in this big environment," Freeman said. "And it's almost like you go into parent mode. You want to take that pressure off of them, put it on me." So, before taking the field, and in an animated moment unlike any we have ever seen, Freeman began waving his arms frantically, shouting to his team loudly and firing up the few Fighting Irish fans he could find in the stands nearby. Freeman later recalled after his Irish pulled a hard-fought 23-13 upset over the Aggies that his fiery pregame meth- ods and message were meant to get his guys going, and calm any early game jit- ters in the toughest environment Notre Dame will play in this season. "I wanted to have that mentality of, 'Let's go!! Let's go!'" Freeman ex- plained. "I didn't want them to have any fear. It was intentional. I thought that's what they needed at that moment." This is Freeman today, more comfort- able in his own skin to start his third season on the job, and ready to put his stamp on his program and lift Fighting Irish football to a place former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly never did. Put a circle around the Texas A&M win and specifically that pregame mo- ment in the tunnel, because it might someday mark the true launch point to the Marcus Freeman era. "We're right here. This is what we showed you in the meetings. This is what we talked about," Freeman recalled of motivating his players. Was the hard-fought 10-point win a perfect performance? Far from it. The young Irish offensive line gave up only 1 sack — the initial box score had that number at 0, but upon further re- view a 1-yard loss by Riley Leonard was changed to a sack — but it did allow too many quarterback pressures. There were also 11 Notre Dame pen- alties for 99 yards, many of the cringe- worthy pre-snap variety. And the Irish converted just two of its 12 third-down chances. But what was perfect that Satur- day night was the true-grit, no-quit atti- tude that Freeman's guys relied on during the difficult times against the Aggies. "Sometimes as a parent or coach you tell them, 'I'm with you, don't fear. Have as much confidence in yourself as we have in you,'" Freeman added. One game does not a season make. Even Jim Tressel, Freeman's head coach at Ohio State, provided a stark reminder of that to his former player with a back- to-Earth phone call on Monday morning, two days after the signature road victory. "I was expecting to hear great job and big win," Freeman shared. "Instead it was, 'I just want to remind you, the greatest danger is the illusion that all is well when indeed all isn't well.' That's the reminder I needed more than anything." Sobering phone calls aside, that Sat- urday night under the lights in Texas had a special feel. I n p rev i o u s yea rs, No t re Da m e would've found a way to lose this game — on the road, against a ranked team, in a tussle that was still tied with only two minutes left in the fourth quarter. There are plenty of prior examples. Time will tell if this is the new Freeman, a more animated and a more assured ver- sion of the young coach we've all watched struggle at times, but still learn and grow during his first two seasons on the job. "Experience is very valuable," Tressel said in a preseason interview with BGI. "And the things I have noticed about Marcus is he's constantly absorbing. He's constantly listening and learning. He's never satisfied. And as a coach, he's al- ways in a teaching mode. He's always op- timistic and positive, but he's also realis- tic about the areas he's got to improve. "Marcus brings the perfect blend of student and teacher, so that both he and his team can grow together." Falling short of calling Texas A&M the biggest win of his brief coaching ca- reer to this point, Freeman in the post- game celebrated the complementary play of his football team and the poise it showed in tough road surroundings. "That was a big win for our program versus a good opponent," Freeman said. "But we have so much to improve on." Spoken like a maturing coach who understands where he is and knows where he needs to go. ✦ This summer, Jim Tressel — Freeman's head coach during his playing days at Ohio State — had this to say about his former player: "Marcus brings the perfect blend of student and teacher, so that both he and his team can grow together." PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER Marcus Freeman Is Ready To Reach New Heights Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com. UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE