Atop the list of Marcus Freeman’s earliest priorities as Notre Dame head coach was to preserve one of the program’s better recruiting classes of the last 15 years.
He set out to work right after his Dec. 6 introductory press conference by hopping on a jet and visiting 14 states over the next five days. He estimates he traveled more than 8,000 miles. He stopped to see most of Notre Dame’s 2022 commits and remaining targets. Following a week on the road, he hosted many of them for official visits on campus.
“My thought process was, ‘How do we keep this class together?’” Freeman said. “When you have a change in leadership, you open up the door for uncertainty. That’s what you saw with a lot of these kids. ‘Is this where I want to be? Did I make the right decision?’
“My job was to get to as many places as I could to see as many of these guys as I could. Especially the offensive guys to at least start a relationship with.”
Notre Dame didn’t keep all of them committed, but it hung onto most. In the end, the Irish signed 21 players Wednesday as part of Rivals’ No. 7 class. It’s their highest-ranked haul since 2013, when they finished third in the recruiting rankings.
Freeman, recruiting coordinator Mike Elston and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees spoke with reporters on signing day to discuss the class. Here are some topics they addressed.
HEAD COACH MARCUS FREEMAN
On his recruiting involvement as head coach and changes he wants to make
“I have to be the lead recruiter for every recruit we have. I made that very clear to the staff. I’m going to be involved with every single recruit we’re involved with. I want to be the bridge between myself, the position coaches and coordinators: ‘You’re going to utilize the head coach in whatever way you need.’”
“Last year, strategically, we were a little bit offense-defense: ‘Defense, take your side. Offense, take your side.’ I want us to be one. I want to take care of our positions, but also understand that no matter what we do, we have to cross-recruit.”
On how he and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees sell Notre Dame’s direction on offense
“It’s showing what our offense did from the start of the year to the end of the year — the enhancement it showed. That’s going to be the same enhancement we do moving forward.
“That’s not scheme in terms of run and pass or this exotic scheme. It’s more, ‘We’re going to put on the field a really good product, and you can see it based on what Tommy showed from Week 1 to Week 12.’
“They’re confident. These kids trust Tommy. They already have a relationship. You talk about Steve Angeli at quarterback, I met Steve once. The ability to go in there and say, ‘I’m your new head coach,’ he’s not committed to Marcus Freeman. He’s committed to Notre Dame and because of the relationship he has with Tommy Rees.
“It was really evident these kids on the offensive side of the ball trust Tommy and truly trust the future of our offense.”
On a relationship that helped land linebacker Jaylen Sneed, the class' highest-ranked player
“[Hilton Head coach] BJ Payne is a guy I knew as a player at Ohio State. I used to work his camps in the summer when he was at Lexington (Ohio) High School. He and my wife both went to Massillon [Washington] High School. I’ve known BJ for a long time and he has done a great job as a high school coach.
“The ability to recruit one of his athletes, when BJ Payne calls me and says, ‘I have a guy,’ I trust BJ because we have a relationship. That was the introduction. But obviously, we had to develop a relationship with Jaylen and his family. We were able to do that and earn the trust of that family. That’s why he committed.”
On selling Notre Dame to Sneed
“He’s a kid who is intelligent and cares about academics. You have to care about your education if you want to make it here at Notre Dame. You don’t have to have a 32 ACT. You have to care about school.
“You have to care about doing things the right way, want to work hard and understand we’re not always going to take the easy route. That’s who Jaylen Sneed is.”
On plans to add to the class
“I’m going to lean on our staff and say, ‘What roster needs to we have to address right now?’ This could be transfer portal. We have a little bit of wiggle room to look at what roster needs do we need immediately. Is it another high school kid? Or is it someone we can go into the portal and address with a guy who has college experience?”
RECRUITING COORDINATOR MIKE ELSTON
On offensive and defensive directors of recruiting Dre Brown and Chad Bowden
“That takes a lot of the grunt work out of it for me. During the season, I’m able to get ready for the last game of the season against Stanford. I’m able to break down the film and get my game plan ready for the defensive line.
But also, Monday night, there’s a set of calls that are coming in. I didn’t set those calls up. Chad is doing that for the defense. Dre is doing that for the offense. Wednesday night, same thing, those are being set up and coming in at a certain time. That wouldn’t have gotten done prior to those guys arriving.”
“On top of that, the Friday before we leave or Friday of a home game, we have a set number of guys we’re going to watch and evaluate. That grunt work, that organization is what has really helped us.”
On dealing with the turmoil created by Brian Kelly’s departure when recruiting
“You just assure them that once you know something, they’ll be the first to know. There’s a lot of uncertainty from everybody. It’s not an easy process to go through. If you don’t have a strong relationship with them, it’s going to be a problem.
"I believe in most of our situations, there was a great relationship we were able to navigate through, assure them Notre Dame attracts great people and that we’re going to attract a great head coach. And we did. It worked out.”
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR TOMMY REES
On keeping the class largely intact despite a coaching change
“Notre Dame football was turned upside down for about three days. Until you had answers for them on the direction we were going, that’s when a lot of the indecision came. What’s the staff going to look like? Who’s going to be in our rooms individually? Those are the questions that continuously came up.
“As soon as we had that information and could share it with them, we did. We were very transparent. We knew the guys who were a little on the fence. We went and saw those guys a couple times just to make sure we hammered home the points we felt were important. At the end of the day, the people who resonate with this place as a university and a program are the ones who are signing with us today.”
On Notre Dame’s five-man offensive line class
“That’s a strength. That’s something going into this cycle that we have to keep our strengths as strengths. The tight end class, the offensive line class we put together, I’d put up against anybody in the country. As a collective staff and group, we did a great job of closing that [offensive line] class out. A month or so ago, you’re looking at three, and now you’re at five with a really elite group.
“We were persistent with it and continued to show them why we believe this is a place that will have continued success at that position. You look at the young group on our roster, the young group coming in, and you’re going to say that’s will continue to be the best group in the country.”
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