Freeman hasn't lost sight of the bigger picture and neither have the Irish - InsideNDSports: Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football & Basketball Recruiting

Published Dec 10, 2022

Freeman hasn't lost sight of the bigger picture and neither have the Irish

Eric Hansen • InsideNDSports

Publisher

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — That the expectation of Marcus Freeman, three practices into Notre Dame’s Gator Bowl prep, is that there will be no additional Irish opt-outs represents the flip side his first-year, head-coaching growing pains.

In other words, a place where the 36-year-old, a year and a week into his new gig, is decidedly ahead of the curve.

Athletic director Jack Swarbrick’s gamble in elevating Freeman from his defensive coordinator position on Dec. 3, 2021, as the successor to the all-time winningest ND head football coach, Brian Kelly, calculated into it this kind of potential upside.

That Freeman’s veracity and tenacity, tethered to his ability to attract and retain talent, would eventually push Notre Dame’s potential higher when it comes to chasing national championship dreams.

Not that the 21st-ranked Irish (8-4) are in the midst of such a pursuit at the moment.

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Which makes Saturday’s confirmation by Freeman that any further NFL Draft hopefuls and/or outgoing transfers are willing to defer leaving the ND roster until after the Irish clash with No. 19 South Carolina (8-4) in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, Dec. 30 in Jacksonville, Fla., all the more big-picture significant.

“After the USC game Nov. 26), we had those conversations,” Freeman said Saturday after Notre Dame’s third postseason practice and first since the Irish knew their bowl opponent.

“We gave them (the ND players) time to really reflect and make decisions. We told them by this past week we wanted to make sure that our guys had made decisions on opting out or going into the transfer portal.

“I can’t predict the future, but I don’t anticipate anybody else not playing in the bowl game or going into the portal right now.”

Sure-fire NFL Draft first rounder, tight end Michael Mayer, and possible first-rounder, defensive end Isaiah Foskey, made their departing announcements earlier this week, as did Dec. 5 portal entries starting quarterback Drew Pyne and deep reserves Jayden Bellamy and Ositadinma Ekwonu.

But Jarrett Patterson, for one, did not. A draftable, fifth-year offensive lineman playing his entire final season on a right foot so painful after games that he often had to trudge to class on Mondays in a protective walking boot, will play.

At this point, it’s not so much about the Dec. 30 outcome making the difference between the Irish finishing as a top 15 team vs. one on the fringes of the top 25. It’s about perpetuating the culture Freeman so carefully crafted in the offseason and feeding what that could turn into in future seasons.

Remember when the Notre Dame players had to report for grueling 6 a.m. workouts this past February? And remember the coaching staff was there to keep them company with Freeman actually participating himself?

Patterson, for one, does.

Remember when 300 former Notre Dame football players, at Freeman's request, showed up for and mingled with the current roster and recruits Blue-Gold Game weekend in April, when 20 football alums coming back for the annual spring game had been the norm?

Those moments couldn’t prevent head-scratching losses to Marshall and Stanford this past season, but they matter now and in 2023 with a more gameday-polished version of Freeman moving forward.

Freeman is also learning to master roster management in an era where NIL rule-contorting and transfer portal-storming severely steepen those challenges. That doesn’t mean the upcoming Gator Bowl didn’t matter this past week. It’s just that it will matter more once the NCAA contact window, that opened Dec. 2, closes at midnight on Dec. 17.

“The enhancement of your roster is so important, so vital for continued success of our program,” Freeman said. “So, it's been a busy week.”

The Irish coaches literally went coast to coast checking in on 2024 prospects as well as looking to add an 11th-hour 2023 defense end, clandestinely visiting some of their own transfer portal targets, but mostly playing defense on potential poaching of the 2023 ND recruiting class ranked third nationally roughly a week and a half before the Dec. 21 National Signing Day,

The Irish lost Kansas running back prospect Dylan Edwards and gained Virginia multi-position prospect Brandyn Hillman during the week. They extended offers publicly to four potential transfers: Defensive tackle Braden Fiske of Western Michigan, wide receiver Dante Cephus of Kent State, wide receiver Keagan Johnson of Iowa and kicker Spencer Shrader of South Florida.

Shrader is on campus this weekend for a visit.

Quarterback remains the No. 1 portal priority, with an additional edge rusher a high priority as well. The tightrope walk for Freeman and his staff is whether to pursue a QB already in the portal or wait for a better match from a group rumored to be waiting until January, after their bowl games, to join the more than 60 already available.

And not all of the potential targets in either group is necessarily an academic fit.

When asked Saturday if Notre Dame’s admissions office had eased its transfer policies at all since last December/January, Freeman responded, “I think they look at every individual specifically. There is no: 'Here’s exactly the line, and either it’s yes or no.' They look at every individual transcript.

“They look at every syllabus from the previous school. That’s the thing about Notre Dame. When kids come on official visits, each person meets with somebody in our admissions office. They look at every individual on an individual basis in terms of making the determination if they’re going to admit them or not.”

That Notre Dame may be potentially on a more uneven playing field that ever before when it comes to talent acquisition and retention — given unchecked NIL abuses in recruiting elsewhere and given portal hurdles for underclassmen at ND — makes Saturday’s announcement regarding the current roster all the more resounding.

As does Freeman’s resolve to transcend those perceived disadvantages.

“There’s been very clear transparency between myself, our admissions (office), our coaches,” he said of the school's portal policies. “Yeah, it’s difficult. But we understand that. This university is difficult for anybody to get in. That’s what makes it so unique. We can’t dilute that.

“We can’t take that for granted as a football program — the things we sell in terms of not just playing national championship-caliber football, but being a part of a university that offers you so much. We have to embrace that and understand (that) not every recruit or not every football player is going to be the right fit for this university.

“This is what we chose. This is what I chose. This is what these coaches chose. We can’t pick and choose when we want to embrace that. We want to embrace it when we sell Notre Dame. You can play top-notch-caliber football; the best, be developed. But you’re also getting an education that is top notch.

“We can’t want to sell that to high school kids and then all of a sudden the transfer portal comes, ‘Who cares about that education? We just want the best football players.’ We can’t do that. We can’t pick and choose. We have to embrace what makes this place special and the opportunity to play at Notre Dame special.

“We understand that it takes certain individuals academically to be able to transfer in here. But if they’re good students and their credits transfer over and it’s the right fit for us and for them, we’ll be able to get them in.”