Every Saturday in late March and April, when Notre Dame players took their turns at the virtual podium to speak with reporters, the same words kept popping up as descriptors for first-year defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman’s scheme.
Simple. Free. Easy to understand. Player-friendly.
None of it is a shot at predecessor Clark Lea’s methods, which were obviously successful and landed him an SEC head-coaching job. They’re purely a compliment to Freeman’s style and teaching points as he puts his stamp on Notre Dame’s defense.
A sampling of a few players’ descriptions:
Junior cornerback Cam Hart: “He has taken a lot of the thinking out of it.”
Senior linebacker Shayne Simon: “The main thing is find the ball, go hunt and make plays.
Senior linebacker Paul Moala: “Coach Freeman makes sure he emphasizes he wants us to play free, fast, physical.”
Senior defensive end Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa: “It’s just put your foot in the ground, foot on the gas and just go. We’re just throwing a lot at our offense.”
The Blue-Gold Game sure showed it. In a 17-3 Blue win, there were nine sacks, 18 tackles for loss, seven passes broken up and two interceptions. The running backs combined for 100 yards on 27 carries (3.7 yards per rush). The two main contenders for the starting quarterback job, Wisconsin graduate transfer Jack Coan and sophomore Drew Pyne, did not lead a touchdown drive.
So far, Freeman’s takeover feels ahead of schedule. Candidates for open jobs are not only clear, but in many cases, are making strong impressions. It’s easy to be optimistic now when hearing how players discuss Freeman and with the spring game as the one sample. Hearing Freeman explain it himself only fuels the sentiment.
“Giving those guys the opportunity to cut loose and be disruptive is kind of what they’re talking about,” Freeman said. “It still has to fit within the scheme. I think once they continue to get to know the scheme and know exactly what we’re looking for, there’s some freedom within there to be a football player.
