All it took for Marcus Freeman to put two and two together was a trip to a Cincinnati Reds game.
The Notre Dame defensive coordinator went to one earlier this summer with Irish safeties coach Chris O’Leary. Freeman already knew much about the assistant he inherited and promoted when he arrived in South Bend by way of Cincinnati this past winter.
But that day at the Reds game, Freeman put a bow on his perception of O’Leary.
“This dude was like a fan who’d been cheering for the Reds for 80 years,” Freeman said. “I’m like, ‘O’Leary, are you OK, man?’ But that’s the way he coaches. He’s passionate. It’s the way he recruits. He recruits with a passion. He’s a relentless worker. That’s why I ended up hiring him.”
Perhaps Freeman should have known O’Leary would display that much emotion at the ballgame. Former Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who O’Leary coached as a graduate assistant last year, told Freeman there is never a dull moment with O’Leary.
When Freeman was looking to hire a safeties coach, everything the safeties told him they were looking for matched O’Leary’s personality. It was a no-brainer, and the hire has already been paying off.
“He has done a great job,” Freeman said. “He has worked his tail off.”
Marcus Freeman on Mike Mickens: ‘The Best In The Country’
It didn’t take a Reds game for Freeman to figure out Notre Dame cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens. Freeman said they knew each other in high school and college. Then they coached together at Cincinnati. Mickens was Freeman’s cornerbacks coach from 2018-19 before he left for the same job in South Bend.
How much does Freeman believe in Mickens? He’s already thinking ahead to when he feels he’s going to have to fight to keep him on staff at Notre Dame when other programs come calling.
“That’s my biggest concern,” Freeman said. “I tried to talk him out of going to Notre Dame when I was at Cincinnati. That didn’t work. I have to get my pitch in mind when all these schools want him as a coordinator. I have to keep him at Notre Dame.”
Freeman said he has no doubt Mickens will be a coordinator sooner than later.
“I know firsthand the developer Mike Mickens is,” Freeman said. “I’ve seen it. I’ve seen firsthand for two years at Cincinnati his ability to recruit, develop and get his players to perform at a high level. When I was coming to Notre Dame, he was a big reason why I chose to come here. There was no consideration of bringing in a new corners coach. He’s the best in the country at what he does and I trust what he does.”
Marcus Freeman on Mike Elston: ‘He’s a relentless worker’
Mike Elston has been with Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly every step of the way since Kelly started his tenure in 2010. Elston has held a variety of positions, but one thing has remained the same: his presence.
Freeman didn’t know Elston before accepting the DC job at Notre Dame, but it didn’t take long for him to get a good grasp of what the Irish’s defensive line coach is all about.
“Within the first week when his players came back, every single D-lineman came into our staff room to meet me and say hello and they hugged him,” Freeman said. “These guys aren’t shaking his hand. They went up to him and gave him a hug. That’s all I needed to see.”
Freeman said Elston is “good at everything he does.” Recruiting. Coaching. Connecting with players and coaches. He does it all. It’s not common for assistant coaches to stay in one place for over a decade in today’s game, but Elston has done it. That speaks volumes to the trust Kelly has in him, and it’s a trust Freeman has quickly developed in him too.
The trust the players have in him, though, is just as important.
“That’s what you look for in coaches,” Freeman said. “Who can connect and gain the trust and players? That’s what’s going to get them at a high level.”
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