Marcus Freeman is halfway through his first season as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator and nearly done with his first recruiting cycle in the job.
He made a strong first impression with his efforts in the latter, which has helped Notre Dame’s 2022 class climb to No. 1 in the Rivals rankings. His work to turn the Irish’s defense into a sturdy unit after two initially shaky games has impressed as well.
The defense is ranked 15th nationally in F+, a combination of the Fremeau Efficiency Index and SP+. It was 18th, 13th, 15th and 17th the prior four seasons. All told, Notre Dame’s hefty investment in one of the rising stars in the coaching business has brought positive early returns.
Here’s a deeper look at Freeman’s impact in recruiting and the identity of his first Notre Dame defense.
On the field
The first two games against Florida State and Toledo felt uncharacteristic. Busted coverages. Missed tackles. Big plays. Two scares against teams with offenses that have since proven to be middling.
They also felt correctable. Four more games since the Irish’s 32-29 escape vs. Toledo have largely shown as much. Notre Dame allowed four plays of 60 or more yards in the first two games. It has given up zero since. The Irish are allowing an average of 3.75 plays of 20-plus yards in their last four games after Florida State and Toledo combined for 10 of them.
Through six weeks, the only major statistical holes are its No. 65 ranking among 130 FBS teams in plays of 10-plus yards allowed (76) and points per game (24.3).
The points number is a bit concerning given the unpredictable state of the offense. The chunk gains are manageable as long as the pass rush remains a consistent force. Saturday’s 32-29 win at Virginia Tech was its best pressure output in several weeks, despite notching just one sack.
Notre Dame pressured Hokies quarterbacks on 48.5 percent of their drop backs, per Pro Football Focus. It has posted a pressure rate of 33 percent or higher in all but one game this year — the 24-13 loss to Cincinnati.
Notre Dame’s sacks per game production feels low when considering its pressure rates, but the Irish are still tied for 33rd nationally in that category (2.67). They’re 49th in tackles for loss per game (6.33), but rank 14th in run stuff rate (24.6 percent) and 20th in power success rate (54.6 percent).
Notre Dame’s defense was good at generating pressure, stopping the run and creating havoc plays under predecessor Clark Lea, though. Keeping it at that level is an accomplishment itself. Freeman’s presence has helped bring production bumps in one important category: getting hands on the ball.
Through six games, Notre Dame has 10 interceptions, tied for third nationally. It’s also three more than the Irish’s 2020 total, one more than 2019 and two shy of 2018’s 13-game output. Notre Dame had not ranked higher than 47th in interceptions per game in any season from 2017-20. It is fifth right now.
Notre Dame is 25th in opponent third-down conversions, at 31.87 percent. The Irish were in the top 20 the last two seasons, including a No. 11 third-down defense finish last year. Elsewhere, they’re 16th in red-zone touchdown percentage (41.67), which would be their best finish since 2012 (third nationally).
The Freeman Factor in recruiting
The Mike Elko and Lea years were successful in defensive recruiting, but Freeman has raised the ceiling.
Lea was professorial in his approach as a recruiter. What he lacked in the day-to-day recruiting grind he made up for with his strong closing ability. Freeman is strong in both aspects, and any weaknesses as a recruiter haven’t been made apparent yet. His 2022 class is strong. The start to 2023 is elite.
Of Notre Dame’s 11 defensive commitments in 2022, nine rank as four-star prospects. Five of them are inside the Rivals250, which includes Hilton Head (S.C.) High’s Jaylen Sneed, a borderline five-star recruit as the nation’s No. 31 prospect and No. 3 outside linebacker.
Notre Dame likely would never have offered Sneed if Freeman wasn’t hired. Freeman set an aggressive tone by making Sneed one of his first offers. It certainly helped that Freeman and Sneed’s head coach, B.J. Payne, have a good friendship that dates nearly two decades, but the Irish still had to hold off finalists Oregon and Tennessee.
“We have to make sure we build relationships so we can see, for us and for them, are they going to have success at Notre Dame?” Freeman told BlueandGold.com over the summer. “It’s not for everybody, but there are a lot of kids who can have success at Notre Dame that we have to make sure understand what Notre Dame offers them.”
When Notre Dame first offered Sneed, landing his commitment felt like a long shot, but Freeman changed that.
“When Marcus offered Jaylen, I was at their house,” Payne told BlueandGold.com in January a couple days after Freeman offered Sneed. “I told [Jaylen] and his mom that they were going to fall in love with Marcus Freeman. I don’t know if they’ll fall in love with the football program and everything about the university, but I told them that they will fall in love with Marcus Freeman.”
Freeman inherited a commitment from four-star athlete/linebacker Nolan Ziegler and played a role in securing a pledge from another four-star linebacker in Joshua Burnham. A ton of credit goes to analyst Nick Lezynski for Burnham’s pledge. Freeman and special teams coordinator Brian Polian led the charge in adding Rivals250 linebacker Niuafe Tuihalamaka.
Notre Dame defensive line coach Mike Elston has done a phenomenal job over the past decade of stockpiling depth in his unit and this class furthers that mission. Freeman and Elston combined in January to steal away blue-chip defensive end recruit Tyson Ford from Oklahoma, the school he had essentially silent commitment to a couple weeks earlier.
Defensive back recruiting is trending upward as well. Notre Dame has four pledges in the secondary — three of whom rank as 5.8 four-star prospects and one 5.7 three-star. Notre Dame signed six defensive backs in 2021 — only two were at least 5.8 four-stars. And in the 2020 class, Notre Dame signed three, with the highest-ranked prospect a 5.7 three-star.
Landing four-star safety Adon Shuler was a great way to kick off the 2023 defensive back class. A month and a half before he made his pledge, the Irish added commitments from elite defensive ends Keon Keeley (No. 106 overall player in America) and Brenan Vernon (No. 8).
Notre Dame fans are tired of hearing that the “next class will be the big one” for the Irish, but remember, Freeman didn’t take over as defensive coordinator until midway through the 2022 cycle. The 2023 cycle will be Freeman’s first full class. Notre Dame is considered a top-two school for several high-level 2023 defensive backs, is in strong position with multiple top-100 linebackers and is already off to a fantastic start with Keeley and Vernon.
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