Hey Horka: What's next for Marcus Freeman's first Notre Dame coaching staff
Brian Kelly is learning the hard way how difficult it is to start from scratch.
When Kelly left Notre Dame for LSU a week and a half ago, he had to figure a good chunk of his Irish coaching staff was coming with him. That chunk was going to include defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, but we all know how that shook out.
The continuity of the coaching staff Notre Dame was able to maintain was critical. Freeman is only 35. He's never had a staff all to his own. It would have been interesting had Freeman wound up in the same position Kelly finds himself now, but that's a futile hypothetical to entertain. It isn't reality.
As it stands, Freeman has only lost special teams coach Brian Polian and support staffers Jake Flint and Matt Frakes to Kelly and LSU. Flint was a key assistant on the strength and conditioning staff, and Frakes was the director of sports nutrition.
It wouldn't be all too surprising if offensive line coach Jeff Quinn left Notre Dame as well. He has not been as demonstrative and vocal about his future as other coaches the Irish have retained during the first week of the Freeman era.
That leads us to our first question for this week's Hey Horka message board mailbag column.
How important do you think hiring an experienced OL coach is for Freeman? — thomasna
The youth movement on Notre Dame's coaching staff is quite remarkable. Freeman is younger than any active Power Five head coach. He's the third-youngest coach in the FBS.
His offensive coordinator is 29. His safeties coach, Chris O'Leary, and cornerbacks coach, Mike Mickens, both graduated from college within the last 10 years. Running backs coach Lance Taylor graduated from Alabama in 2003.
There is some more experienced flare to the staff with defensive coordinator Mike Elston, tight ends coach John McNulty and wide receivers coach Del Alexander, but if there was one more position Freeman could use someone with an extensive background in it would be offensive line coach.
Just look at the scrutiny that comes with holding that title. Quinn's name was mentioned multiple times throughout the season in press conferences because the level of play of Notre Dame's offensive line just wasn't cutting it, and that's putting it lightly.
Freeman can't whiff on an offensive line coaching hire if Quinn does indeed leave. He's got to bring someone in that can take fire from the media and fans when things aren't going well but can also right the wrongs and get the ship pointed in the right direction again. Love him or hate him, Quinn did both in the span of the 2021 regular season.
The offensive line is such a vital piece of Notre Dame's identity. There are some great young players on the unit with the likes of Blake Fisher, Joe Alt, Andrew Kristofic, etc. Freeman needs to land someone capable of getting the most out of them, and that ultimately means someone with experience. As intriguing as the youth movement is, this isn't a spot where Freeman should continue that trend.
What structure would you imagine it would take for ND to start taking undergraduate transfers on a regular basis? — HotBrod
Blue & Gold TV contributor Mike Goolsby made a good point on this topic earlier this week. Goolsby played linebacker at Notre Dame from 2000-04. He knows what it takes to enroll at Notre Dame, and it wasn't easy. He said he had to go out of his way to take an extra math course in high school and had to beef up his ACT score to earn a scholarship.
And that lends itself to a point fellow Blue & Gold TV contributor Tim Hyde made on the Blue & Gold message board. How many of these transfers who are not yet college graduates have the high school credentials to enroll at Notre Dame? Probably not many. And that's why you don't see the Irish landing them like other schools do.
Freeman has said he wants to shed the stigma of Notre Dame "shopping down a different aisle" when it comes to recruiting. And that's fine. He can do that, or at least try to.
He can go into a recruit's living room and tell them all the things he needs to do off the field to become a Fighting Irish football player. But if that young man does not do them and ultimately goes somewhere else only to enter the NCAA transfer portal, then his next destination likely won't be Notre Dame. Like Goolsby before he made a concerted effort, that player probably won't have the academic accolades to get into Notre Dame.
The question then becomes how worth it is it to spend time trying to figure out if a player in the portal is academically eligible to play at Notre Dame? My initial thought is Freeman isn't going to be scared to try. What's the worst that happens? The Notre Dame compliance office informs Freeman that a player he's interested in from the portal isn't going to be able to enroll? That's fine. Freeman strikes me as the type of coach who isn't going to stop scratching and clawing until he's told no.
Can you project who might be a breakout player in the bowl practices and who might surprise in the bowl game? — jrndmd
The stakes of these bowl practices for the running back room were heightened with the announcement that Kyren Williams is skipping the bowl game to prepare for the 2022 NFL Draft.
Is true freshman Logan Diggs ahead of sophomore Chris Tyree in the pecking order of that unit? Can a healthy Tyree stake his claim to the No. 1 role in the weeks leading up to Jan. 1? How closely does freshman Audric Estime trail that duo? I'm keeping an eye on Notre Dame's running backs during bowl prep. It's an interesting group without Williams.
On the other side of the ball, I'm intrigued by the safety situation. Notre Dame has played five games without All-American Kyle Hamilton, who is also sitting out the bowl game, so it won't be a surprise to play a sixth without him against Oklahoma State. I'm just curious to see how much Xavier Watts and Ramon Henderson factor into the equation on the back end.
Kelly raved about both of them and not long after they found their way onto the field. That wasn't a coincidence. How highly are they viewed by Freeman? There probably aren't any issues on that front, but it will be telling to see how many looks they get in the bowl game.
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