CFP National Championship:Ohio State vs Notre Dame
Saturday, January 18, 2025 Atlanta, Georgia, USA Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Coach Marcus Freeman
Press Conference
Q. Marcus, obviously a lot of Ohio ties for you, but I
want to ask you specifically about your relationship
with James Laurinaitis. I talked with him earlier, and
he said you’re just the kind of best friend he can count
on. What’s it going to be like coaching against him
and against your alma mater?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, it won’t be something you’ll
think about once the game starts. But again, you talk
about a guy that you care about more than the game of
football, and we have a personal relationship. Our wives
know each other really well. Our kids know each other
really well.
He’s a friend, and at the end of the day you care about
friends. But when the game starts, the game starts. It’s
going to be about winning, and look forward to the
opportunity.
Q. What do you learn from defending these guys and
from watching the Michigan game in particular, and
how do you defend Jeremiah Smith?
MARCUS FREEMAN: You know, it’s not just one thing you
can do to defend Jeremiah Smith. He’s one of the best
receivers I’ve ever seen in the college football game at a
young age. He’s a dynamic football player. He’s physically
a big presence, but he can run and he can catch.
You’re going to have to do some different things to try to
keep him off balance but also keep the rhythm of the
quarterback off balance.
But the other part of that is we’ve got good players too. We
got to do what we do. And we’re going to trust our guys to
get the job done no matter what we call defensively.
I still believe strongly we have to stop the run. We’ve got to
do some things defensively to make sure we can stop the
run, and we’ve got to be really good in the red zone. That’s
going to be something we have to be, is really good in red
zone. And then we’ve just got to do some things to make
the quarterback try to think and not keep him in rhythm.
It’ll be a difficult challenge, but we’re looking forward to it.
Q. Are those things that you mentioned things that
you saw from Michigan or overall things?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, I think there’s some things
that happened in the Michigan game that Michigan did
really well and Ohio State maybe didn’t do so well, but
what you can’t do is look at another team’s defense and
say this is what we’re going to do. You have to do what
your team currently does really well.
That’s the nature of the game. Any coach that tells you
they just followed somebody else’s plan is probably not
going to be that successful. We’ve got to make sure that
we can take some ideas from what other teams have done
to have success, but really implement them based on how
they fit within our system.
Q. I was talking to James earlier, Laurinaitis, and you
guys are big wrestling fans. How many Wrestle
Manias did you guys go to? And when you found out
who his dad was, was that an immediate magnet for
you?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, I grew up a wrestling fan,
and he came in the year after I got to Ohio State. And
when I found out the son of the Animal was coming in, I
was a fan. I’m a wrestling fan.
Then we did go to a lot of Wrestle Manias together. I can’t
remember how many. But now my kids are fans.
If we can get to a wrestling event and I can take my kids
there, we try to.
Q. What is the last time you went to one with your
family?
MARCUS FREEMAN: We went to one in Chicago. I can’t
remember when it was, a couple months ago. It might
have been before the season. But we went to a Friday
Night SmackDown event in Chicago.
to your players?
Q. What do you like about wrestling? What got you
into it?
MARCUS FREEMAN: I grew up watching it. I liked it. I
don’t know, the characters. I think at different phases you
enjoy different things. When I was young, everything was
real. You ended up thinking, idolizing the Hulk Hogans and
Ultimate Warriors and all those guys. And then as I got to
go to some Wrestle Manias with James, you got to know
some people. And now it’s about seeing your kids happy.
And if my kids want to go see wrestling, as a father I would
try to do that.
Q. Coach, what was the Notre Dame presence like
where you grew up playing football? Obviously there’s
a lot of big Catholic schools in that area. Have you
noticed it’s increased in Ohio when you’re looking for
players down there now?
MARCUS FREEMAN: I mean, Notre Dame has always
been a national brand. I can’t tell you how many — I don’t
know how many Notre Dame fans I knew growing up in
Dayton, Ohio. There’s probably a lot at some of the private
Catholic schools. I don’t know if it’s grown. I’m not back in
Ohio. I live in South Bend, Indiana. The Notre Dame fans,
the Notre Dame network is national. It’s worldwide. But I
don’t know if it’s grown in Ohio or not.
Q. You made it here to the big lights, you made it to
Atlanta. How do you stay humble? How do you keep
the guys humble here in Atlanta under the big lights?
And what’s on your playlist for the week?
MARCUS FREEMAN: As far as how do you keep yourself
humble, I think the reality is when you realize you don’t get
to this point by yourself, it’s easy to be humble. When you
realize that it takes everybody in this program to get their
job done for us to be in this situation, it’s easy to stay
humble.
That’s the reality of this football program. We understand
this is not about one person. It isn’t about one player. It’s
about all of us getting our job done.
What’s on my playlist? It depends on what day. It
depends on what type of mood I am. I’m not a huge music
person. I mean, I’m a podcast guy, things that help me
really get my mind to a place it needs to be for that day.
But it’s a little bit of everything. I’m a melting pot, that’s the
reality, of what I need that day.
Q. What kind of challenges does Caleb Downs present
MARCUS FREEMAN: He’s dynamic. We recruited Caleb
before he went to Alabama, and I’ve followed him just
because he’s a great young person, has a great family.
He’s never out of position. That’s the thing about Caleb;
he’s never out of position. He plays the game under
control. He’s a really good tackler.
But he sees the game in a way that puts himself in
positions to always make the play that he has to. Man, he
plays big. Physically he might not be the biggest, but he
plays the game big, and you’ve got to know where he’s at
at all times.
Q. I’m curious, when you think about the kid from
Wayne High School sitting here at the National
Championship as a head coach, what goes through
your mind?
MARCUS FREEMAN: You know what, I’ve been blessed
to have a lot of great mentors and a lot of great people
around me to help me grow. I think about my time growing
up in Huber Heights, Ohio, and the many coaches and
mentors and teachers that all had a part of me developing
my foundation as a person, and my parents, obviously my
brother, and then as I went to college and so forth.
But Dayton, Ohio, is always going to be a special place to
me. Obviously my parents still live there. But the
foundation of who I am as a person was developed in
Huber Heights. There’s a lot of people that get thank yous
for putting me in the situation I’m in now.
Q. We were talking to Kirk Herbstreit and a lot of our
players. They’re torn; they love Ohio State, but you’re
the hometown kid. For fans in Dayton, Ohio, that don’t
know who to cheer for this weekend, can you help
them out a little bit?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Listen, I’ve got a job to do to make
sure this group is ready. You cheer for us or you don’t. It
is what it is; no hard feelings. But my focus is on making
sure this team is ready to perform on Monday.
For all those that are cheering for us, we appreciate it.
Q. Have you decided what you guys are doing on the
offensive line, and are you willing to share any of
those plans?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, we’ve been working Charles
Jagusah at the left tackle but also playing some guard. We
have an idea of what we’re going to do starting on Monday,
but it’s something I think we could wait until Monday to just
say this is exactly what we’re going to do. But he’s been
playing a lot of left tackle and playing some guard, too.
Q. What can you say about the faith that this team has
and the fact that they share it so publicly? Secondly,
what Riley has done to lead this team since he came
in.
MARCUS FREEMAN: I think being at the University of
Notre Dame, it’s a place where growing your faith is
encouraged. It’s not only in Catholicism, it’s the reality of
you having a faith and a belief in something bigger than
yourself.
That’s something that we talk about amongst our football
program. We have mass. We have our team chaplain. It
is promoted, and our players have Bible study and different
things like that.
I have a strong faith, and there’s oftentimes we talk about
you have to trust beyond having evidence, trust beyond
knowing, which is another motto for having faith.
We’re not shy about it. They’re not shy about it, and it’s
important for us, and each individual makes his own
decision on how he wants to discuss it or grow in it or any
type of thing like that.
But Riley has been huge for us as a leader, as a football
player, as a competitor. He is a great young man. But he’s
a great competitor and a guy that’s been continuously
improving from the time he’s gotten here.
It’s difficult when you have high expectations the minute
you step on campus, but he’s kept a level head. He’s put
the work in. He’s doing great things.
Q. Coach, when you were at Ohio State, was that when
it initially popped in your head about maybe a future in
coaching –
MARCUS FREEMAN: No. No.
Q. When did that happen for you?
MARCUS FREEMAN: It happened when I was in the NFL.
When I was in college, I wanted to be an athletic director.
I studied sports management. I actually GA’d my last year
under Gene Smith and Pat Chun in the sports
administration field.
Then when I was in the NFL and I figured out that I wasn’t
going to be able to play anymore, that’s when I talked with
Coach Tressel about the possibility of getting into
coaching. I didn’t know what coaching was when I got into
it. I thought it was a chance to stay in football, be on the
sidelines. But it’s so much more than that.
I figured out early in my career that coaching is about
leading people. It’s about serving others. That’s how you
fall in love with it.
Q. Would you happen to have any Haitian American
athletes on your team?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, we have Charles Du, who’s
Chinese; Jordan Botelho, who’s half Hawaiian, half Korean.
Haitian? I don’t know. I don’t want to speak wrongly. I
know we have — I don’t know if they’re Haitian.
Q. What has RJ Oben’s contribution been to the team?
MARCUS FREEMAN: He’s been great. RJ doesn’t speak
a lot, but he works his tail off, and at the biggest moments,
he’s shown up. He’s a big reason why we’re in this
position. He’s been doing a great, great job for our
defense, making big plays. You look at the play he made
versus Georgia, we’re going to need him to play big versus
Ohio State to have success.
Q. Does it help you guys, the fact that you were here
in this same stadium not too long ago playing against
Georgia Tech? And what does it mean to you to be
here, being a first African American, first Asian
American, but the story line not about that, instead
most people talking about the job that Marcus
Freeman the coach has done at Notre Dame?
MARCUS FREEMAN: The first question about us being
here previously, by the time we get to Monday, both teams
will have two days that they can practice in Mercedes-Benz
Stadium. I don’t think it’s going to be an advantage. We’re
going to be on the opposite side of the field than we were
when we were here.
Is it an advantage for us? No, I don’t think so. I think both
teams will be comfortable with where they are. It’s the
team that can handle everything outside of the game and
keep that in perspective and get their job done.
Second part of your question was again?
Q. What does it mean — we’re coming here Martin
Luther King holiday, and the story line about you being
a first has really kind of been secondary. It’s been
more about Marcus Freeman and what he’s done as a
coach. What does it mean to be in that season where
even though the story line is still about you being a
great coach of one of the greatest franchises in college
football?
MARCUS FREEMAN: That was a two-parter of your
second question. I know the second part, but — oh, MLK
day.
What I don’t want to do is lump the National Championship
game with what Dr. King has done for our country, right.
January 20th, MLK Day, is about celebrating the life of Dr.
King and the impact he’s made on our country. None of
that light should be taken away by this National
Championship game.
The example he set for so many others of not only to talk
about the beliefs you have but to actually put those beliefs
into action and to make change and to fight for what you
believe in is a legacy that I hope to follow and every person
in our program follows. And no matter what the color of
your skin is, the example he set for Americans I think is
tremendous.
As far as the attention being on this football game and not
me being the first, I think it’s great because when you start
putting the focus on me being the first African American or
me being the first Asian American coaching this game, that
takes away from the team. I wouldn’t be in this position if it
wasn’t for the team and everybody getting their job done.
I know that’s what the media or perception has to be.
There has to be a person or cause and effect for why we’re
in this position, but the reality is it’s everybody. It’s
everybody in this program getting their job done.
I like to make sure the focus stays on the team and not just
one person.
Q. You mentioned often that Pat Wood was a huge
mentor in your life, going back to your Dayton roots. If
he was in the locker room with you before Monday
night’s game, what do you think he would say to you?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Pat Wood? How do you know Pat
Wood? You must be from Dayton.
Coach Wood was my first defensive
coordinator/linebackers coach when I was at Huber
Heights, Wayne, and it’s crazy he was a huge Notre Dame
fan.
But I couldn’t act the way he acts — he acted now, or I
wouldn’t have a job. But the impact he made on my life
and who I am as a coach is tremendous. There’s times I
laugh that that guy — I’ve got stories for days about Pat
Wood.
But I still think about him to this day. I try to make him
proud — sometimes there’s thoughts in my head I’m trying
to make him proud. He’s had a huge impact on my life.
Q. I asked him the same question, and he said, “I
would tell Marcus to keep a steady hand before the
game.”
MARCUS FREEMAN: He didn’t do a great job with that,
back when I was young.
Q. I said, “Coach, are you going to wear your Notre
Dame hat that Marcus gave you?” He said, “Yes, I will
be wearing it.” He’ll be sitting on his couch, and he’ll
wearing it. A follow-up. I know your family is going to
be there on Monday night, but anybody else special in
your life who is going to be in attendance at the game?
MARCUS FREEMAN: No. The only thing difference about
this game is that my mom and my dad are going to be
there, which they haven’t been to many games. And I
thought it was great that they made the decision to want to
come down here. I didn’t know if my dad was really going
to come, but he said he wanted to come. I won’t see them;
they’ll be in a box or somewhere.
But the normal, my wife and the kids, my brother and his
wife, and that’s probably about it.
Q. Your relationship with Coach Ivy, could you just
describe that relationship and why maybe it’s been
beneficial for both of you as relatively young coaches?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, I think at Notre Dame, it’s a
small community, and what you do is you become support
system, fans of those other coaches, not just Coach Ivy but
all of them, Coach Shrewsberry. There’s many coaches
that I’ve become close with.
But I think it’s encouraged because of how small the school
is. 8,500 kids, you get to see everybody.
But sometimes only coaches know what coaches go
through. If I can text her after a big win, I do, but more
than anything I make sure to reach out to her after a
difficult loss because sometimes you just need to hear, It’s
going to be all right, get better.
I remember we were flying home from USC, and they had
just lost in some type of tournament to start the year, and I
remember saying, They’re looking at you more now than
they ever have. So pick your head up, let’s go back to
work.
But it’s great to have that type of relationship with people
that understand what you’re going through as the head
coach of a program.
Q. What’s Beaux Collins been able to do in practice
this week, and what can you say about his status?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, he’s progressing exactly the
way we thought, in the right way. He practiced yesterday
pretty much for the majority of the practice. The first time
he’s really done that in the last couple of days. So as long
as there’s no setbacks, he’s progressing in a way that we
think he’ll be ready to go, full go on Monday.
Q. Through this extended playoff now, this is a month
where you guys haven’t been able to be on the road
recruiting. What has that challenge been like for you
and your staff?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, we’ve often said the best
recruiting we can do is keep winning. That’s the reality of
it. This is going to be the best recruiting we can do
because the lights are on our program, and that’s great for
parents and high school recruits to see.
But we also have a great recruiting department. Chad
Bowden, who is our general manager, and his department
has been on the road in high schools, getting transcripts,
talking to coaches and figuring out the character of high
school prospects. So we’re not sitting back and not being
on the road recruiting. We’re just having other people in
our program do it.
We have two females which I think is great to put the
spotlight on: Zaire Turner, she’s on the road recruiting, and
Rebecca Sites. So two women that are in our recruiting
department are actually on the road, recruiting in high
schools.
And I think that’s amazing because, one, they do a great
job; but, two, you’re not going to see many women
recruiting in high schools and scouting and doing those
things. So I think it’s great for the growth of recruiting
departments but the growth of women in football.
Q. Do you remember anything special about the
recruiting process for Jaden Greathouse, getting him
out of Austin, Texas? And was Penn State a breakout
moment in his career?
MARCUS FREEMAN: You know, Penn State might have
been a breakout moment for outsiders to see, but that’s
Jaden Greathouse every day he’s been in our program.
I’ve often talked about playing the wide receiver position is
one of the most unselfish things you can do because you
can do everything right, you can be perfect and not get the
production to coincide with what you do in running your
But we make sure to point out how well you do on that
play, no matter if you get the ball or not, no matter if you
get the individual plays or not.
He’s done that for a while in our program. He just had the
production to go with it versus Penn State.
His recruiting? You had to fight to get him out of Austin,
Texas. He was a kid that after a couple times of visiting
our campus, he said, This is the place I want to be. He’s
stood strong. He had a lot of people pulling at him, even
after he got to Notre Dame.
But he’s a great, great kid, and we’re great to have him in
our program.
Q. In prep for this game, Ohio State is likely to
facilitate a lot of their offense through Will Howard.
He’s had a lot of success in these College Football
Playoff games. In watching film, what’s gotten your
attention and jumps off the page about his game?
MARCUS FREEMAN: I think he’s elite at making good
decisions. He’s got a good arm, and he can extend plays
with his legs. He takes care of the football. Those are
traits that any great quarterback possess, and this moment
isn’t too big for him. We know he’ll be ready to go on
Monday, and he presents a huge challenge.
Q. Coach Golden just said that you gave a really good
speech at halftime of the Orange Bowl game. What
was your message to your team? Secondly, for this
game, Ohio State has outscored its opponents 42-0 in
the first quarter. How important will the first quarter be
in this game?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, the first quarter is important
in every game. It’s how you start, how you win the middle
eight, how you finish. Every play is important.
Having a good first quarter is the result of winning that
play.
We often talk about people say you guys do good in the
middle eight. Well, you’ve just got to win that play. You’ve
got to finish. How do you finish? You’ve got to win that
play. We don’t spend a lot of time saying you’ve got to
start fast. Yeah, everybody knows that. You’ve got to win
that first play, and then guess what? After the first play is
over, you’ve got to win the second play.
We don’t try to think about an outcome. You don’t think
about the future. You think about this place. If you do that
enough and you do it well, you’re going to start fast. You’re
going to win the middle eight, and you’re going to finish.
As far as some speech, there’s no speech that I’m going to
give that — these guys understand what’s at stake, and
they understood what was at stake at the Orange Bowl.
Maybe it was at halftime was me to remind them: Do not
play scared. I just felt like in that first half we weren’t
playing with the aggressiveness that we usually play with.
Now, Penn State did a really good job on both sides of the
ball, but I wanted them to go out there with the mindset,
listen, we’re going to attack, we’re going to be aggressive.
This is what we do. We’ve been in this position before.
It’s funny because you’re often tested with little tests before
you get a big test, and versus USC we were tied at half.
That was the first time we had been tied or down since we
lost to Northern Illinois, and that was the first test, to see,
okay, how do we respond being tied at half.
Then you’re down seven versus Penn State. That was the
next test.
We’ve shown that, hey, we couldn’t handle it versus
Northern Illinois being down. USC we responded well to
being tied. Then we were down again against Penn State.
There’s a belief in our guys now that they know the
different tests that are going to occur throughout the
season that you have to pass in order to be in the situation
that we’re in now.
Q. Do you really think you’re going to escape without
a question about the NFL? What is your interest in the
Chicago Bears or a head coaching job in the NFL?
MARCUS FREEMAN: You know how busy we’ve been
preparing for this opportunity. Here’s the reality, is that
with team success comes individual recognition. To hear
that the Bears have interest, it’s humbling. It’s the NFL.
But it’s also a reminder of with team success comes
individual success.
I have put zero thought into coaching in the NFL. All my
attention has just been on getting this team prepared for
every opportunity we have in front of us. Probably not the
answer you’re looking for, but that’s the answer you’re
going to get.
Q. You’ve often referred to Riley Leonard as a fighter.
In the second half of the season, when you guys have
been on this winning streak, was there a moment
between you two where not only did the trust increase
but you realized he was willing to do anything?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, there’s not one moment.
That’s just who Riley Leonard is. He’s a guy that in the
most crucial moments wants the ball in his hands, and he
wants to make a play, and most of the time he does.
That’s how he was raised. He’s a competitor. Getting a
chance to talk to him and getting to know his story a little
bit, you realize he was raised that way. He’s a competitor,
and he’s going to find a way to will us into winning.
Q. Let’s go back in time. In 2006 you were an Ohio
State player, you beat Notre Dame and reached the
final, but then you lost as a favorite. What lessons do
you take from that year going into this year’s game on
Monday where you guys are underdogs? What
motivation do you guys need as an underdog to beat
Ohio State?
MARCUS FREEMAN: There’s zero motivation that is
necessary to prepare for a National Championship game. I
was a kid. I was a young person. I can’t go back and
remember what was going through my mind, but we were
playing for the National Championship, and I was a part of
a team, and I just wanted to do my job.
We got beat.
When I think about college and I think about the
relationships, I think about the great players I had the
fortune to play with. But at the end of the day, the maturity
level of who I am today versus who I was back in college in
2005 or ’06, it’s completely different. You see things from a
different perspective.
That was then. This is now. There is nothing that I can
use probably from that game that’s going to really resonate
with this team. This team has to make sure we focus on
preparation these last 48 hours, and when the game starts,
we’ve got to do what we’ve done all year but probably do it
better than we ever have.
Q. I wanted to ask, a lot of this team made their debuts
in Ireland last year. What do you think the growth of
this team from that game up until the game coming up
on Monday is?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, there’s some players on this
team that weren’t even in Ireland. But when I think about
the Ireland experience, it was amazing. I think we’ve all
grown through experience from that point to where we are
now.
But I just think back to that experience in Dublin, Ireland,
and that will be one of the great experiences I have as a
head coach in terms of that was my first time being in
Europe, being outside this country. It was pretty special. It
was special.
Q. (Indiscernible.)
MARCUS FREEMAN: Listen, that’s for people above my
pay grade. But yeah, I would love the chance to go back to
Dublin, Ireland, and play. That was amazing.
Q. When was the last time that you talked to Jim
Tressel? He told me he’s coming, he’s looking forward
to it. What advice has he given you about this game?
MARCUS FREEMAN: I’ve talked to him recently. I didn’t
know he was coming to the game. We don’t talk about
things like that. We just talk about probably some — I’m
able to ask him questions, and he gives me his opinion.
That’s probably what’s most important. Somebody that I
hold very high, somebody that has experience in games
like this, somebody that can give you a perspective from a
previous head coach in terms of how you performed last
game.
We talk often. But I know it’s a unique situation for him
being that he is a part of Ohio State but also a part of my
life. I wouldn’t put him in a position that he has to choose.
But he’s been great for me all season long. I’m excited for
him to be here.
Q. In the breakdown of this game, so much is made of
playing styles and how you guys want to play a certain
game and Ohio State wants to play a certain game and
who can win the battle of sucking the opponent into
playing their game. How much do you see that, and
what is the key in your mind of getting Ohio State to
play a lower scoring smashmouth-type game the way
we all envision the way you guys are built to play?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, I think more than anything,
each team has a plan to do what they do well. Again, we
know we’ve got to be able to run the ball and we’ve got to
be able to stop the run, or it’s going to be a long day on
Monday.
That’s the reality of when you talk about playing in this
game, you have to do what you do well and do the things
that have given your program a chance to be in this
situation. That’s we’re going to do.
You have to be able to make adjustments. If your plan
going into the game isn’t having success, then you’re
insane not to make adjustments to try to give your program
a better chance to succeed.
This game will be about, hey, who has the best plan going
in, but how you make adjustments in terms of having
success on offense and being able to stop them
defensively.
Q. You’ve played Ohio State your last two games.
What’s different about the Buckeyes team this year,
but more importantly what’s different about your team
this year coming into the National Championship
game?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, it’s two different teams.
You’re talking about two years ago, their team and our
team was a lot different than this year — I mean, a lot
different than last year’s team, and it’s going to be a lot
different than this year’s team.
I’ve told the team all week, this isn’t about the past, this
isn’t about where I went to school, this isn’t about the two
previous games, this is about the opportunity right in front
of us.
That’s what you’ve got to understand, where this program
is now and who we have, it’s about putting these guys in a
position to have success and do what they do well. Same
thing with Ohio State. Their team this year and what
they’re doing right now is different than the team we played
last year and two years ago.
The focus is on having a plan to have success offensively
and defensively versus the opponent we’re playing on
Monday and really not focusing on the past.
Q. You’ve got guys from Wayne High School on each
side the game, you and Coach Mickens. What does it
mean to represent Wayne High School and Dayton,
and what does Coach Mickens bring to your program
also?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Coach Mickens is a tremendous
asset to our program, the ability to identify talent, to recruit
the talent, to develop the talent. I mean, he’s been a heck
of a coach. He’s done a lot of great things for this program
and even our time in Cincinnati together. He’s a heck of a
football coach.
As far as where we grew up, I think everybody has a piece
of who they are because of the way they were raised, and
our four years at Wayne High School has a big impact on
who we are as men today. That’s a special place. It’s a
special place to me. There’s special people there. There’s
teachers there. There’s administration, there’s coaches
there that all have an impact on who I am as an individual.
So I’ll always be a Wayne Warrior.
Q. What was that turn on your path that you think was
the one that was key to getting you to this point? I
remember first guy I saw when Luke Fickell’s
introduction at Cincinnati was you.
MARCUS FREEMAN: I don’t think you can point out to
one person or one situation that got me to this point. I
think everybody, everywhere, every person that I’ve been a
part of, Darrell Hazell in our time at Kent State, those two
years there that we were able to win, that second year
going 11-1, and go to Purdue and our four years at Purdue,
I learned valuable lessons, valuable lessons in terms of –
our record wasn’t great. I think we won nine games in four
years.
But I learned valuable lessons from Darrell Hazell as a
leader and through some losses and through some players
and the coaches I was there.
Then my four years at Cincinnati with Luke Fickell, who
was also my position coach, the ability to take that program– I think we won four games our first year, and then we
won double-digit games the next four years, his leadership– those little bits and pieces that everywhere I’ve been
have a part of who I am and why we’ve had success.
We’ve had success because we have great players here
that have committed to something bigger than themselves.
That’s important. We’ve got a whole bunch of individuals,
coaches and players, that say, you know what, us
achieving team glory is bigger than individual recognition.
And that’s why we’re in this position, and that’s what we’re
going to continue to thrive to do from this opportunity, but
also as we move forward.
Q. When Brian Kelly called, did you hesitate at all, or
did you think that’s the move for me?
MARCUS FREEMAN: When Brian Kelly called me at
Cincinnati? No, I visited Notre Dame, and then I went
down to LSU the following day. And it was a difficult
decision, but I guess I made the right one.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about the importance of the
pregame mass for you and the team? And what does
it mean to you and the team to be a Notre Dame man,
and what kind of values are you trying to instill in the
players?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, I remember being a recruit
and coming to a Notre Dame football game and watching –
I was in high school and watching the team come out of the
basilica for pregame mass, and I thought that was the
coolest thing. I remember seeing movies about it.
Again, I didn’t follow much of Notre Dame football until I got
back, until I was hired in 2021 as a defensive coordinator.
And I remember that year, we didn’t have pregame mass. I
think part of it had to do with COVID the year before, but
we didn’t have pregame mass.
So when I was made head coach, it was something that I
had talked to the administration about, about when that
decision was made to not have pregame mass and what
we had to do to change it, and it was something that was
important to me to change that for multiple different
reasons.
What was the second part?
Q. What values are you trying to instill in your players,
and what does it mean to you, in a few words, to be a
Notre Dame man?
MARCUS FREEMAN: I think more than anything, it’s
selflessness, like the ability to put others before yourself. I
think that’s one of the greatest traits humans can have is
the ability to put somebody else in front of yourself.
As I tell these guys all the time, yeah, it’s going to make us
a successful football team, but it’s going to make you a
successful husband and father and person. If you can put
others before yourself and work extremely hard, those are
two traits that I believe will help you have success no
matter what you’re doing in life.
Q. Can you walk me through a little bit of your
offensive line is a little in flux. It sounds like you’re
going to make the decision on what to do Monday.
Walk me through that process of what you’re looking
for and reflect a little on Charles.
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, he’s been playing left tackle
in practice, a little bit of guard. We’ll make the final
decision by Monday, but I think it’s going in a direction we
all kind of see. But he’s been getting more reps at left
tackle than he is at guard. Take that as you want.
Q. Reflect on him a little bit and his journey back.
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, again, he was a guy that we
made a joke — I was sitting in my office with his parents
after he had surgery, like, Hey, you’re going to make it
back for the playoffs, haha, and all of a sudden he did, and
we continued on this run to a point where he could actually
help this team.
Now, he was a backup going into the Orange Bowl. He
was a backup. Then Knapp goes down, and then Rocco
Spindler goes down. He was huge to be able to fill in at
Q. What do you think makes your team so close-knit?
that right guard position. He did a great job, as well as did
Tosh.
As we go into this week, now you had to make the decision
what’s best versus this defensive line that we’re facing, but
it’s been great to see a guy that started the bowl game last
year as our left tackle, came in with all the expectations to
be our starting left tackle, tears his pec in fall camp and
then make it back for some of the most meaningful games
of the season, it’s amazing.
Q. When you were recruiting Drayk Bowen, he had the
reputation of being a vocal presence in that class.
What was his impact in your first recruiting class, even
before he got to campus?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, Drayk did a really good job at
recruiting some other players, high school recruits. And I
often tell our biggest recruits, like Drayk was, Great players
want to play with great players; so if you want to play with
some great players, get on the phone and start recruiting
them.
He’s done a great job. He’s a vocal leader even now.
Same way he was in recruiting. He’s a big piece of that
recruiting class that he was a part of.
Q. You have faced a lot of adversity all season. From
walking into Kyle Field sold out week 1, Texas A&M,
prime time, coming off the loss to NIU, the Sugar Bowl,
having to play a game the next day, the Orange Bowl,
how is your team and culture so special to get up off
the mat and respond to adversity and you’re here now
and fighting hard and you’re so good at responding to
adversity?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Man, life — this season, but life
includes pain and adversity. Life includes unpredictable
things that you don’t expect to happen. Your ability to
handle the unpredictable things in life is what’s going to
determine your success.
There’s some unpredictable things that have happened in
our season. There’s unpredictable things that happen in a
game. The ability to handle them but also get better from
them. Nobody thought we were going to lose to Northern
Illinois. We lost. How do we handle that loss and continue
to move forward, but how do we learn from that loss?
I think those are all important things, is as you look at our
football team, our football season, but also life, it’s that
unpredictable things are going to happen. You’ve got to
pick up the pieces and move forward, but also you’ve got to
be able to learn from those difficult moments.
MARCUS FREEMAN: They make the choice. They make
the choice every day to put the team in front of themselves.
It’s not something that you can take for granted because
every day you’ve got to make that choice.
Q. Every game day Instagram and Twitter always talk
about your fresh fade. Is that a part of your game day
routine?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Shout out to Julio. Julio Rodriguez,
my guy. He cuts the hair of a lot of our players, and he
takes care of me. That’s who gets the credit for that.
Q. As the calm before the storm, what do you think
your message will be to the team on Monday night?
MARCUS FREEMAN: I don’t know exactly what my
message will be. It will be something that I usually always
say, and it’s about you’re ready for this opportunity. Don’t
hold anything back, and go attack and be aggressive.
That’s what you’ve got to do.
My focus right now is maximizing these 48 hours that we
have from now until Monday night. Like if I sit here and
daydream about Monday and about what that opportunity
is going to be, then we’re not going to get the outcome we
want, and we’re going to lose this moment that we have
right in front of us.
You have now. You have today’s practice. You’ve got
meetings. You’ve got tonight. You’ve got tomorrow. So
focus on this opportunity, staying in the moment that you
have right in front of you. And then when Monday night
comes, you’ve got to be ready to roll. But we cannot waste
valuable time of preparation just daydreaming about
Monday.
Q. When we talked in November and you said that — I
asked you about the mystique of Notre Dame, you said
that you did not believe in ghosts. The way the season
has gone, do you think there’s some kind of mystique
that’s helping you guys along the way?
MARCUS FREEMAN: I said I don’t believe in ghosts? I
don’t believe in ghosts, but I do believe in God. You know
what, I’m a faithful person, so there’s a part of me that feels
like God has His hand in everything that goes on in life.
But what you can’t do is sit here and say, I’m just going to
let God handle everything and not do the work. That’s the
reality of what we focus on, is putting in the work that gives
this program the best chance to have success. And that’s
what everybody has been committed to doing, and that’s
what we’ll continue to do.
Q. I know you’ve said that Martin Luther King Day and
the historic implications should be focused on the man
and the players, but Jeremiyah Love has just said he’s
so proud of you for what your position means for
Black players, Asian players, all players. Talk about
the players looking up to you.
MARCUS FREEMAN: I do not take for granted that I am a
representation for many guys on this team that look like
me. I hope they can look at me and say, okay, work hard,
try to do things the right way, and you’re not going to be
judged by the color of your skin. It’s going to be by the way
you work and how you treat people.
So I want our young people to be able to look at me and
say, hey, if I want to be the head coach at Notre Dame,
dangit, if I work hard enough and do the right things, I’ve
got a chance to do it because look at my head coach.
The whole point of me continuing to take the attention off of
me, though, and putting it on the team but also putting it on
Dr. King — like Martin Luther King Day is about the great
legacy that Dr. King has left in our country, and I don’t want
to take any of that light and put it on myself but also the
National Championship game because what Dr. King has
done for our country has been tremendous.
The ability not just to talk about change but to have actions
that incorporate change. He made change through his
actions and his words, and the courage he has as a leader
is something that I still am impacted by, as I study his life.
And to do it in 38 years, that’s just — the impact that man
made in 38 years is just humbling to even think about.
That’s what I want to make sure. Anybody that talks about
me on this day, on Dr. King’s Day, let’s point the attention
at Dr. King, the person who really made change in our
country.
As far as me being the first Black or Asian head coach to
be in this game, again, I am grateful. I am so grateful to
help represent a lot of guys, especially our players and
coaches that look like me. But I’m going to make sure the
attention is turned on the team because I’m not in this
position without the team and without the other coaches
getting the job done.
Q. Playing in this game and having this experience a
couple of different times, was there anything you could
share with your team, hey, here’s what it’s going to be
on the outside?
MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, I explained to them when we
got into the start of this week that I played in two of these
games and I lost both of them, and one was to you. You
know, those are the memories that I have of being a part of
this game is losing both of them.
Now, I’m in a different position than I was in being a player.
But that’s the memory I have of both National
Championship games. Those aren’t great memories.
Listen, this opportunity is about this opportunity, and that’s
what I tell them all the time. This isn’t about where I played
in college. This isn’t about the previous two games we had
against Ohio State. This is about this opportunity right in
front of us, and we’ve got to stay focused on putting
ourselves in a position to have success on Monday.
Q. I know you have to appreciate the way y’all got
here. You’re playing physical teams, but you have
bullied a lot of bullies here on this path. I’ve heard a
lot about savages today. They live by the too gritty to
be pretty we always talk about.
MARCUS FREEMAN: Listen, our brand of football is what
this team needs to have success. The thing I’ve learned
more than anything as a head coach is the plays you’ve got
to fall in love with on offense and defense are the plays
and calls that your players can do well.
It’s not this great scheme and that you’ve got to be able to
find ways to get guys wide open or bring this exotic blitz.
You’ve got to be able to call things and run things that your
guys do well.
And that’s what we do. And part of what we do is have to
have a mentality of being a savage, of being aggressive
and being physical and being willing to fight no matter what
happened on the last play or what situations in the game.
It’s an attack mindset on all three phases.
