Five thoughts on Notre Dame HC's Marcus Freeman's interview with Joel Klatt

USA Today

4 hours ago

Five thoughts on Notre Dame HC's Marcus Freeman's interview with Joel Klatt
The first episode of Big Noon Conversation's 2025 season started on Monday, as Joel Klatt interviewed Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman.
The Irish boss spoke on multiple topics during the 30-minute chat, as he shed light on multiple topics that many of us wondered about. While they didn't talk about the Name, Image and Likeness landscape, they did touch on Notre Dame's rivalry with USC, along with the impressive College Football Playoff run.
Freeman was very candid about some of the losses that he's endured while being the head coach for the Irish, the Irish's future as an independent and much more.
Find out below my five biggest takeaways from Freeman's conversation with Klatt.
Learning from the losses
It's one thing to blame others for a loss, it's another to try and learn from the mistake and become better. Freeman works with the latter, as he's learned plenty from every loss he's suffered in South Bend. He mentioned that 'I've had my most growth as a leader from some of those difficult losses,' and it's shown in the direction that the program is taking. While he mentioned that he was 'starting to lose a little faith' with the first three games being losses, Freeman made the adjustments to get better, and the Irish have.
On taking over the program from Brian Kelly
Freeman mentioned that the program was in a good spot when he took over for Kelly, but wanted to elevate what was already built. He said that 'you had to regress a little bit to progress forward,' which but a dark cloud around the program early. However, Freeman went on to say that 'confidence is built through experience, success and also understanding what happened in the failure.' It seems like they learned plenty.
On Notre Dame's future independence
With the CFP making a move to go to a straight-seeding model, it seems like the Irish are safe for now with their independence. However, Freeman mentioned that they 'left (the) door open to potentially joining one in the future,' with a distance caveat, only if is is a disadvantage for Notre Dame to make the playoff or if teams won't schedule them. It doesn't look like that will be an issue for the immediate future, look a the long-term series scheduled against Clemson, so it very much looks like the Irish will be able to continue with its status quo.
Selling recruits to Notre Dame
For Freeman, it's not just about football when it comes to showing recruits why they can succeed with the Irish as he said 'it goes far beyond the football program.' The Notre Dame education stands out, as does the network that you can build as a student-athlete in South Bend. While everyone wants to have 5-star prospects, the Irish offer a 5-star education, that not many programs can match.
It's hard to dislike Marcus Freeman
Freeman touched on his family, being the father of six, and overseeing a high-level football program. At home, he's an assistant coach, but that doesn't change his mentality. Freeman doesn't want just great football players in his program, but great men that he'll help in reaching their full potential. He said that he wants 'to impact the young people positively every day,' which is something his former coaches have engrained into him. As an opposing fan, it would be hard not to at least respect the way Freeman runs his program.