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How Marcus Freeman Sells His Own Recruiting Processes On The Trail

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman has, quite literally, stood in the same places the blue-chip prospects he’s recruiting currently occupy.

A top-50 recruit in the class of 2004, Freeman heavily considered picking Notre Dame before eventually siding with Ohio State. The Huber Heights, Ohio native became a starting linebacker for the Buckeyes, played on the 2007 BCS Championship runner-up team and was a fifth-round NFL Draft pick.

In his current role, he can level with the recruits he’s pursuing. He can understand the appeal of a perennial title contender and NFL talent producer like Ohio State, which Notre Dame frequently recruits against.

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish football defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman
Freeman, who played at Ohio State, was once a top-50 recruit himself. (Robert Franklin/AP)

“I know what it’s like,” Freeman told BlueandGold.com last month. “I get what you’re going through.”

He brings up his second recruiting process, though, just as often. If not more often.

In January, Freeman visited Notre Dame to interview for its defensive coordinator job. He had just arrived from an interview at LSU for the same position. If there’s such a thing as a blue-chip coaching prospect, he fits the description. And he was being courted by two of the sport’s most recognizable programs.

LSU reportedly offered Freeman — then Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator — $2 million per year. It provided the chance to coach in the SEC and recruit the nation’s best players.

But Freeman turned it down and chose the Irish’s offer instead.

“Notre Dame was different,” Freeman said. “It was unique, and I didn’t know why. I just knew I wanted to be part of something different. I didn’t want to do what people thought I was going to do. I think a lot of people had the expectation I was going to go somewhere else. Now that I’m here, I know why Notre Dame is unique. I know what makes Notre Dame special. I know the people, the education, the network you’re joining.”

And that’s what he sells when recruiting now. He sees his decision to choose Notre Dame for his next coaching stop as a similar process to picking a place to play college football. He hopes the components of Notre Dame that drew him in will do the same with the players he’s recruiting. His task is to make them see that point of view and visualize the opportunities at Notre Dame before taking advantage of them.

“I get the difficult decision you’re going to have to make,” Freeman said. “It’s really hard. Let me tell you from someone who went through it as a kid and as an adult. Here are the things you’re probably going through right now. Here are the things that should matter when you make this decision.”

Freeman recognizes why Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and a few others usually sign the highest-ranked recruiting classes each year. They compete for national titles on a yearly basis and put high volumes of players in the NFL. Those were priorities for Freeman when he was a high school recruit and increased the pull toward Ohio State for him. They’re priorities for every top recruit now, and understandably so.

“When I was 16, 17 years old, I thought about winning a national championship and going to the NFL,” Freeman said. “That was life. That’s all you can think about.”

But recruits might have other important factors they consider along with those. And if so, that’s where Freeman sees the opportunity to sell himself and his second recruitment.

“There’s this thing called the rest of your life,” Freeman said. “And that’s what we have to get these young people to understand. If you want to just talk about national championships and NFL draft picks, I’ll sell Notre Dame with the best of them. But to me, I want to spend time talking about what Notre Dame is going to do for you the minute you’re done. That’s to me what separates Notre Dame.

“If that’s important to the kid, you’re going to really, really think about Notre Dame. For some kids, it doesn’t matter. For me, it didn’t matter when I was younger. But at 35, now I’m able to say, ‘OK guys, the game isn’t going to go as long as you think, no matter how many years you play in the NFL.”

Freeman’s own NFL career supports the pitch. An enlarged heart condition forced him to retire after just one season, a lifelong goal sideswiped by something entirely unforeseen. He was suddenly staring life after football in the face.

“I sell that, and I sell that I have buddies I played with who played 10 years in the NFL and still have to have a job,” Freeman said. “I don’t care if you played one year and had an enlarged heart valve like me or played 10 years like buddies of mine. You still have to have a job. Very seldom do you make enough money in the NFL that you never have to work again. That’s to me where Notre Dame opens up endless doors for you.”

And even though he picked Notre Dame when his post-playing career was already well-established, he feels he has benefitted from it the same way recruits can.

“I know it sounds like I’m selling Notre Dame because I work for Notre Dame, but I want you to hear it from a guy who was just going through a similar process five months ago,” Freeman said. “I hope they understand it’s more than just a sales pitch.”

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