Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 28, 2024 5 FAN FORUM YEAR 3 BAROMETER The late, great Lou Somogyi often stated that the third year of a coach's regime was the tell on how his career would unfold. While I am and remain a fan of Coach Freeman, the loss to NIU is very difficult to explain away as it appears the same issues continue to surface, specifically, QB development problems, lack of WR playmaking and losses to inferior teams. While there is still plenty of football to be played this year, the home loss to NIU does not augur well in the third year of a coach's tenure. I hope he can turn it around the rest of the way, but it appears they will have to run the table at 11-1 to be consid- ered for a playoff berth. Ed Polli Bridgeport, Ohio WHY ISN'T IT TIME? I found your quick dismissal of the idea of changing quarter- backs to be myopic. To call a long pass when the obvious answer is to take time off the clock and march downfield is just plain idiotic. To do so when your quarterback cannot throw the ball down- field is asinine. To not override the call as a head coach is unfor- givable. To bypass two open receivers at a manageable distance in that situation means you should not have been handed the keys to the kingdom. [Steve] Angeli should have been and should be the quarter- back. Admittance of a grand scheme gone irretrievably wrong takes a mettle that I fear is lacking at all levels. Leo Hansen ON-THE-JOB TRAINING The University of Notre Dame is NOT a place for on-the-job training for a head coach. This is the third year in a row that Coach Freeman has lost to a vastly inferior team (in addition to losing to Ohio State last year because they only had 10 men on the field). You don't go on the road to one of the hardest places to play in the country and beat a top-ranked team and then come home and lose to Northern Illinois, who isn't close in talent to Notre Dame. If Notre Dame doesn't go deep into the playoffs, this coach needs to go. He may be a great recruiter, but he is showing that he is not UND head coach material. John Peloso Buford, Ga. WORST PLAY CALL EVER? I've read a lot about Riley Leonard's ill-timed and woefully underthrown interception against NIU last week, but who in their right mind made that PLAY CALL? One point lead, six minutes to play, second-and-1 from your own 49, and they throw the ball downfield for the first time in two weeks? Football 101: run the ball there, get the first down, keep the clock and the drive going. If this was Denbrock's call he re- ally overthought it. Terrible play call, terrible execution, and a classic case of shooting yourself in the foot. This one's on the coaching staff, not just on Riley Leonard. Tom Foristel '76 Harrison, N.Y. BE HEARD! Send your letters to: sdowney@comanpub.com or mail to: Blue & Gold Illustrated, P. O. Box 2331, Durham, NC 27702 Notre Dame's dominating 66-7 win at Purdue Sept. 14 got head coach Marcus Freeman back in the good graces of some Irish fans. However, there were still some who were reserving judgment. Here is a snippet of a conversation on that topic from our message board at BlueandGold.com. JonSal: Does anyone truly believe Marcus Freeman has turned the corner in a very positive way after that NIU loss? I definitely do. I can't see this team being unprepared and lifeless moving forward. Can we get beat, yes, but I really feel confident we'll always come out energetic and confident the rest of the way. Bradley_Quin: Well tbh, I thought he had turned a corner last season. So while Saturday is encouraging, I think we'll just have to wait and see. I want to see him go the rest of the season without losing a single game ND is favored in. That's probably asking a lot, but I think that's what I need to fully trust him as the answer moving forward. Just to be clear, I love Freeman and don't think we should fire him or he should even be on the hot seat yet. Finish 11-1 with a playoff berth though, and it's extension time, otherwise I think we hold off another year. NDEGV9: We're one game removed from one of the worst losses in pro- gram history. I think it's way too soon to say he's turned a corner. It was nice to see them bounce back this weekend. But way too early to declare he's turned things around. We can come out flat this weekend against another MAC school and people will be coming for his head again. barbaro2232: Coaching major college football is simply a succession of corners, if a learning curve can actually have corners. He turned the one about getting a team ready for a very tough road game in the season opener. The next corner is getting them ready for weaker opponents who will throw their absolute best effort at them, and you're still riding on a wave of an enormous high from the previous game. The only ones with serious concerns about Marcus Freeman right now are those who don't have to be involved in hiring his successor. If you haven't noticed, the ND job can be a tough sell, and Freeman brings qualities to the job that make him a perfect fit at ND. They will give him every chance to succeed. FROM THE WEBSITE .com .com JOIN THE CONVERSATION AT BLUEANDGOLD.COM! New subscribers: Use Promo Code GoIrish2024 To SAVE 25% off your first year! A head coach's third season at the helm at Notre Dame can be quite tell- ing, so Marcus Freeman has some work to do after his team fell to 28.5- point underdog Northern Illinois in Week 2. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER