Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 16, 2024

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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4 NOV. 16, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED W e said back in December 2021, on the day that Marcus Freeman replaced outgoing Irish skipper Brian Kelly, that the two coaches would forever be linked in Notre Dame annals and, inevitably, be compared to one an- other from that day moving forward. As Freeman works through his third season on the Irish sideline, the popular skipper holds up very well compared to Kelly, and many other Irish coaching luminaries, especially when facing the nation's better teams. Granted, Freeman took over an Irish program that went 11-2 the previous year and had won at least 10 games in five consecutive seasons. So, the cup- boards were anything but bare. Mean- while, Kelly inherited a fading program from Charlie Weis that went only 6-6 and lost its final four games in 2009. But on the field, Freeman has faced tougher competition to this point in his career than Kelly did and is still outper- forming his predecessor. During Kelly's first three seasons here in 2010-12, the all-time winningest Notre Dame coach played 11 ranked teams and went 6-5 (.545). Now in his third season at LSU, Kelly is only 4-7 against ranked opponents in Baton Rouge after losing to No. 10 Texas A&M Oct. 26, a team that Free- man and Notre Dame beat in the 2024 season opener when the Aggies were ranked No. 20. Kelly's No. 14 Tigers also played No. 11 Alabama Nov. 9. When we take a broader look at ranked opponents, Freeman already rates with, and even above, many of the all-time best Irish coaches through their first three seasons in South Bend. And Free- man isn't done yet, with more games to come this season against teams that are expected to be ranked: Army and any future postseason opponent(s). With the 51-14 win over No. 24 Navy Oct. 26, Freeman improved to 10-4 against ranked opponents in his two- plus seasons on the Irish sideline, in- cluding five straight wins, dating back to the loss to No. 25 Louisville in Octo- ber 2023. Looking ahead, Army entered its game last weekend against North Texas at 8-0, ranked No. 18 in the Associated Press poll and on a 12-game winning streak dating back to last season. With a bye week before its matchup against Notre Dame Nov. 23, expect Army to be solidly in the top 25 at the time of the Shamrock Series game against the Irish. Freeman's .714 winning percentage against top-25 teams ranks third among the 12 Irish coaches who have worked the Irish sidelines since the AP poll was launched in 1936. If Freeman can beat a ranked Army team, his 11-4 record would raise his winning percentage against top-25 teams to .733, and move him past Dan Devine and into second place among the 12 Irish coaches. With a 10-1-1 record (.875) against ranked opponents in his first three sea- sons (1941-43), Frank º remains the Irish standard bearer for beating the best, though Freeman is holding his own. "We have to prepare mentally in a dif- ficult way, and physically in a difficult way for the next opponent, if we want to truly elevate and improve," Freeman said. "And so that's the mindset we have, and hopefully, that's the reason why, as a whole, we've been handling the success that we've been having." ✦ After his team's 51-14 victory over then-No. 24 Navy Oct. 26, Marcus Freeman had the third- best winning percentage (.714, 10-4 record) against ranked teams during his first three sea- sons of any Irish coach since the advent of the Associated Press poll in 1936. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER One Of The Best At Beating The Best 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 IRISH COACHES VS. TOP 25 Following is a look at how the previous 12 Irish coaches performed against ranked opponents since the Associated Press poll was adopted and overall during their first three seasons on the job, dating back to Frank Leahy from 1941-43. These 12 coaches are ranked by winning percentage against Top 25 teams, and the four coaches who won national championships in their third season are marked with an asterisk. 1) Frank Leahy (1941-43)* Vs. ranked opponents: 10-1-1 (.875) All games: 24-3-3 (.850) 2) Dan Devine (1975-77)* Vs. ranked opponents: 8-3 (.727) All games: 28-7 (.800) 3) Marcus Freeman (2022-24 through Nov. 2) Vs. ranked opponents: 10-4 (.714) All games through two-plus seasons: 26-8 (.765) 4) Ara Parseghian (1964-66)* Vs. ranked opponents: 4-2-1 (.642) All games: 25-3-2 (.867) 5) Brian Kelly (2010-12) Vs. ranked opponents: 6-5 (.545) All games: 28-11 (.718) 6) Lou Holtz (1986-88)* Vs. ranked opponents: 8-7 (.533) All games: 25-10 (.714) 7) Terry Brennan (1954-58) Vs. ranked opponents: 6-7 (.462) All games: 32-18 (.800) 8) Gerry Faust (1981-83) Vs. ranked opponents: 5-7 (.417) All games: 18-15-1 (.544) 9) Tyrone Willingham (2002-04) Vs. ranked opponents: 6-9 (.400) All games: 21-15 (.583) 10) Joe Kuharich (1959-61) Vs. ranked opponents: 3-6 (.333) All games: 12-18 (.400) 11) Charlie Weis (2005-07) Vs. ranked opponents: 4-10 (.286) All games: 22-15 (.595) 12) Bob Davie (1997-99) Vs. ranked opponents: 4-11 (.267) All games: 21-16 (.568)

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