Column: With one answer, Marcus Freeman shows why Notre Dame football is a playoff contender
SOUTH BEND, IN – NOVEMBER 08: Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman celebrates a touchdown with Notre Dame Fighting Irish RB Aneyas Williams (22) during a college football game between the Navy Midshipmen and Notre Dame Fighting Irish o
Early on in Marcus Freeman’s postgame press conference, he caught my ear.
His opening statement after Notre Dame football drubbed the United States Naval Academy 49-10 praised his team’s preparation, lauded how they weathered the struggles and won the game.
Everyone’s heard the phrase “live in the moment.” Freeman took it a step further.
“You just got to continue to stay in the moment, continue to struggle in the moment,” he said. “The journey will be a sum of those moments.”
I’ve never heard a coach laud how a team struggled. I’ve never heard a coach speak of the struggles being an essential part of a 39-point win, either. So, I had to ask, why was struggling in the moment important in this game?
“Why is it important?” Freeman said. “Because it’s got to be who you are.”
All week, the discourse was there: “Why is Notre Dame IN the College Football Playoff?” “They don’t deserve to be there with two losses.”
You can complain to the skies above.
You can disagree until you turn blue in the face.
It changes nothing. Notre Dame football deserves to be in the College Football Playoff. Freeman’s answer is a perfect example of why.
He’s mastered the craft of getting his team to play through struggles. He’s found ways to get his team to not only seek adversity, but to make it a crucial part of how they operate.
This is why Freeman’s Notre Dame teams will always be in contention for the CFP.
Big picture view:
For the record, I thought the game was over in the third quarter when KK Smith caught a 34-yard touchdown pass to make it 35-10.
The Irish had control of the game. They were taking care of business on defense. They were pulling away with big play after big play. That touchdown became the most important play of the game to Freeman.
“Like you thought it was over in the third quarter, I hope not anybody in our football program thought it was over, right?” Freeman said. “I thought that play in the third quarter – whatever play it was that you might have thought it was over – is the most important play for this team and who is on this field and who called that play to execute so we can win that game.”
The simplicity of it all is that Notre Dame cannot be comfortable.
Any slip-up, and they’ll fall out of CFP contention. It’s the price Notre Dame pays for being independent, potentially slipping back into the conversation with a win over a top-10 team in a conference title game. Still, Freeman has made the Irish impossible to ignore.
Last Tuesday’s CFP rankings have made it so the Irish can suffer a struggle in the early throes of the season. If they prove they’re talented as the season goes on, the committee will respect them as such.
But, that also means the Irish will have their backs against the wall. Freeman knows that.
It’s why he wants his players to seek adversity.
Seek, and ye shall find. Once the Irish find it, they can understand it. That’s how you conquer it.
Freeman, as a young, rising star in this industry, not only makes this a part of his coaching style. It’s something he’s been able to convey to a team of 20 to 22-year-old players. Some college coaches go their entire careers without mastering a way to connect with their players.
A big facet of Freeman’s coaching style is based on communicating that struggles are an important part of the journey.
“That’s how we have to be,” Freeman said. “We can’t relax, right?”
What’s next:
Freeman has been answering questions about finding ways to grow since losing to Texas A&M in Week 2.
How do the Irish use their weekly success in the future? Freeman has consistently said the players need to understand how to lock in on each play and stay consistent.
No player is going to be perfect, but the struggle with being consistent is part of the game. The struggle is how Notre Dame gets better.
“You can’t grow if you don’t struggle,” Freeman said. “We can’t get better if we go into a Tuesday practice and it’s not uncomfortable. You’re not getting better. I tell them all the time. We can structure this thing however you want it. If you’re not uncomfortable, we’re not getting better. That’s why you have to struggle.”
There’s a common goal. The players and coaches know winning now means you’re going to be in a position to play for a championship.
“The best teams win in November,” Notre Dame cornerback DeVonta Smith said. “We believe that we are one of the best teams in the country. We were going to continue to prove that.”
Freeman’s message is getting to his players. It’s shown in an offense that has put points on the board in various ways. It’s shown in a defense that’s rebounded from a heinous start to the season to pinning teams down.
If you want to know why Notre Dame is going to make the CPF, it’s because Freeman has them in a position to be there.
The way he gets his team to play as if their season is on the line with every play isn’t just a cliché. It’s routine now.
Notre Dame’s routine will soon be making the CFP on a yearly basis.
Get used to that.
“Whatever it is your routine is, your process is, it has to include struggle if you want to grow from it,” Freeman said.
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