Kyle Hamilton cut straight to the chase.
“It’s been a pretty rough two days,” the All-American junior safety said on the Inside The Garage podcast Thursday night.
Of course it had been.
One day Hamilton was rehabbing his knee thinking about potentially playing in a College Football Playoff game for a coach who guided Notre Dame to that stage twice in the last three years. The next day that coach turned his back on the Fighting Irish to become the head coach at LSU.
Rough might be an understatement.
“Those past 48 hours felt like a month,” junior cornerback Cam Hart said. “There had been so much drama going on.”
The drama came to a crashing halt Wednesday night when offensive coordinator Tommy Rees agreed to stay on the Irish’s staff. Then it was reported by multiple outlets, including BlueandGold.com, that defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman would soon be elevated to head coach. That happened Friday morning.
Freeman and Rees reportedly both had opportunities to follow Brian Kelly to Louisiana to be a part of his coaching staff at LSU. When Rees chose to stay at Notre Dame, though, it opened the door for Freeman to become the Irish’s next head coach.
And it opened the door for plenty of others to remain in South Bend, too.
Tight ends coach John McNulty. Running backs coach Lance Taylor. Safeties coach Chris O’Leary. Cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens. Defensive line coach Mike Elston. They’re all being retained. Had Rees and/or Freeman bolted for the bayou, though, it would have been a different story.
“It was so close to falling apart,” senior safety KJ Wallace said. “That’s the crazy part. That’s what I was thinking a lot about. It was one decision away from everyone not being here. That sinking in was kind of crazy to me.”
It didn’t fall apart, though. And the Inside The Garage hosts said the energy inside Notre Dame’s facility Thursday was subsequently as lively as it’s been in a long time — including when Kelly still roamed those halls. Hart even said things had gotten dull during Kelly’s last year, but that feeling has been wiped away days after a fear of doom and gloom descended on South Bend when Kelly first left.
“The new life that’s in the program right now, I think it’s awesome,” walk-on junior wide receiver Conor Ratigan said.
It’s important to note strength and conditioning coach Matt Balis was the first assistant to confirm he’d stay on with Notre Dame. Ratigan said the Irish’s workouts this week have been business as usual (minus any dull vibes) as a result. That’s important because, remember, Notre Dame could be named a College Football Playoff participant come Sunday.
Balis was the one to introduce Freeman to the players as Notre Dame’s new coach in a video released Friday morning. Before he did, he commended the Irish for the way they went about what could have otherwise been a tumultuous week.
“We’re extremely proud of you guys for your focus and ability to lock in all week long,” Balis said. “It was awesome to see, awesome to be a part of. It shows who you are. Your DNA. Your mental toughness. Your physical toughness. The way you compete. The way you care about each other. That’s what this team run is going to be about.”
The reality of Freeman soon taking the throne is still the biggest storyline of all. Bigger than Rees’ “I’m here to stay speech.” Bigger than Balis’ “Pump-up speech.” Players pushed for Freeman. Recruits pushed for him. Wallace said even Notre Dame women’s soccer players pushed for him. It’s not ordinary for a coach who’s only been on staff for 11 months to have such strong support.
But Freeman is clearly not an ordinary coach.
“I think he’s going to have a really big impact on the program,” Hamilton said. “I think people are going to love him. He’s a real players’ coach.”
The same thing was said about Kelly, but not all players’ coaches are created equally. Hamilton learned that when Kelly was blowing up in practice during fall camp. He was angry about the team's performance. Freeman huddled the defense together, and Hamilton will never forget what he told the unit.
“I’m glad he’s mad. That means we're doing good,” Hamilton remembers Freeman saying. “I was like, ‘Dang. We’ve never experienced that here.’ I think at that point, it was really early on in his career here, but I think at that point he got me. I was like, ‘Bet. I want to play for this dude.’ He’s a gamer.”
Plenty of others want to play for Freeman too. It's the beginning of a new era at Notre Dame.
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