Notebook: ND's Freeman shares his process of growth amid the growing pains
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — There were moments late in last Saturday’s 35-32 win over Navy when the idea that Notre Dame first-year head coach Marcus Freeman’s growing pains may be chronic, if not terminal, didn’t seem all that absurd.
After Marshall and Stanford, too.
Then you cross paths with the 36-year-old in the aftermath of the divots of his first season, and the grand moments as well, and you see the tremendous growth that’s occurring with the growing pains — even if the line of progress is sometimes jagged.
And persistently or more convincingly, the next step in the Notre Dame football program’s evolution that athletic director Jack Swarbrick, back in December, hoped this hire would someday trigger seems more realistic and on a faster timeline.
Freeman during his Monday weekly press conference, looking ahead to Saturday’s Senior Day matchup between the 18th-ranked Irish (7-3) and suddenly plucky Boston College (3-7) at Notre Dame Stadium, provided some glimpses of his process of navigating one of college football’s most storied programs.
“We’ve checked off almost every situation throughout the season,” he said. “I'm still learning, and I hope five years from now, two years from now, I could stand up here and I still stay, ‘I'm still learning.’
“There is no book for this. And you know it's funny, I go back and think about all the conversations I've had with previous head coaches, current head coaches. And they all say the same: ‘Be yourself. You'll learn. You'll figure it out.’
“They never say: ‘Here's what you should do.’”
The Irish fan base might not be so hesitant to provide their suggestions, but part of what’s accelerated Freeman through his missteps more quickly and thoroughly as been his unflinching openness to take criticism, to look at suggestions and to point the finger at himself when warranted.
“If somebody asked me, ‘Hey, I'm going to be a first-year head coach, what should I do?’” Freeman said, “I’d say, ‘Be yourself. Work tirelessly, but have a sense of urgency in everything you do.’
“And that's what I've learned more than anything, is that you can't just have a plan and think the plan is going to just fix things. You have to correct the issues that you see, with urgency. … Get them corrected right away, and then have a sense of urgency as a head coach for improvement, no matter what your record is.
“Every day, have a sense of urgency to improve. And if you have that sense of urgency, it will carry throughout your program.”
Senior moments
Maybe if Freeman and predecessor Brian Kelly had worked together longer, extending more tenets of the Kelly Era might have made sense. Instead, Freeman was determined to build on Kelly’s success but from the ground up, with his own principles, values, traditions and missions.
And that even extends to how to celebrate Senior Day.
Instead of a glob of seniors, many of who were scheduled to return for another season and a second Senior Day, Freeman will limit it to the 25 who actually will be playing for the final time in Notre Dame Stadium and not returning (including walk-ons).
That precise list is expected to be released later this week.
“I don’t know what it’s been like in the past,” Freeman said, “but I know when I was a player and a couple programs I’ve been a part of is that it was special to be a senior. What does it mean to be a senior? Yeah, you’re a senior in terms of eligibility in school, but this is your last season. You’re not coming back for another year. For those guys, we want to make it special.”
And Freeman said those 25, in no uncertain terms, leave behind a powerful legacy.
“I think I've told the captains, but what I’ll tell the seniors is they built the foundation of what I believe is the future of the Notre Dame football program under me,” Freeman said. “And that's different than previous head coaches. Notre Dame football has been successful for a really long time, but the leadership has changed, Aand you have to rebuild that foundation to fit the new leader.
“And that's what I'll credit this group for, is really building the foundation for what I believe is going to be an extremely bright future of Notre Dame football. So I'll be forever in debt. This will be a special group forever to me, because they have blind faith. Like they didn't choose me to be their head coach. They came to Notre Dame for other reasons.
“Well, I was named head coach, no matter if they chose me or not. And they committed to the vision I have for this football program. They work tirelessly. They really built the bond. Probably the best word is they implemented the culture that I put on the wall.
“Like, I can put whatever you want on the walls. I can say, ‘This is what I want our program to do.’ But until it's implemented, until it's carried out from the players and the leaders throughout the football players on the team, it's just words on the wall.
“And this group of seniors has really done that. They've taken those words off the wall and said, ‘This is what our program is going to be built upon.’ And they truly built the foundation of what this program is.”
The future at linebacker
With senior captain and leading tackler JD Bertrand out for the Navy game with a groin injury (he’s expected back this week for BC) and rover Jack Kiser’s day cut short by an ankle injury (also probably for BC), three young, former vaunted linebacker recruits got to see high-leverage snaps against the Mids, Saturday in Baltimore.
Sophomore Prince Kollie played a career-high 38 snaps and recorded a career-high seven tackles. Freshman Junior Tuihalamaka also had a career high in snaps (29) and was credited with one tackle.
Freshman Jaylen Sneed, the highest-ranked Irish recruit in his class, made his college debut and played nine snaps in a very specific role. When Navy went to heavy personnel, the Irish took a cornerback off the field and had Sneed matched up with a tight end.
“He did a really good job,” Freeman said of Sneed, who recorded his first college tackle.. “Sometimes you just let those young guys get out there and go play, and he showed up and did some really good things.”
So did Kollie and Tuihalamaka, but the complexity of their assignments meant there were plenty of missteps that went along with that.
“It's really difficult,” Freeman said. “Your first time facing the triple option — you can't simulate it in practice. It's really hard for those two guys. Were they exactly where you needed them to be? No, but I think they showed that they can help us, and they played good, and there's always room for improvement.
“It will be something that, as we go into next year — we face them in the first game of the year — we can go back and reflect. We have really good film to show (them). Here's you in the game and how fast it is and how can you see the different keys and the different triggers to help you fit where you need to fit. But I'm extremely pleased with all three of them.”
Re-Grupe-ing
After making eight of 10 field goals to start his Notre Dame career, Arkansas State grad transfer kicker Blake Grupe has made only two of his last five and has missed at least one in four straight games.
His miss Saturday against Navy was from 45 yards, at the 3:44 mark of the second quarter.
“We have the utmost confidence in Blake Grupe,” Freeman said. “I have to make sure he continues to know that. Do I expect him to make that first field goal? Absolutely. That's why we kicked it. We could have gone for it. I think it was fourth-and-2, and I said, ‘No, let's go kick this field goal and get the guaranteed points.’
“We missed it, and so we got to find ways to help build his confidence in practice and even in the game. I told him yesterday, ‘Man, I’ve got the utmost confidence in you. We're gonna get another opportunity for you to go out there and kick another field goal. And I have 100% faith that you're going to make it — but don't make me a liar.’ But Grupe’s going to continue to work at it, and I'm excited for his next opportunity.”
Players of the Game
Freeman announced senior linebacker Jack Kiser as the special teams Player of the Game after blocking Notre Dame’s nation-leading seventh punt this season, Saturday against Navy. Defensive honors went to junior safety Xavier Watts, with a career-high eight tackles in his first career start.
Grad senior Braden Lenzy, with a season-high five catches for 67 yards— including one for the ages, grabbing the ball off a defender’s back for a 38-yard TD — took offensive honors.
“It's a great example of what we want our guys to understand,” Freeman said of Lenzy, “is that sometimes you don't control the opportunities that come your way. You control how prepared you are and how hard you work. And Braden Lenzy on Saturday was a great example of that.”
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