For Notre Dame to take the next step towards becoming an elite program, we know that the Irish need to start winning more recruiting battles with elite programs. Friday night, the Irish did it and then. Notre Dame officially hired Marcus Freeman, one of the hottest names on the college football coach circuit, as its next defensive coordinator; winning a direct confrontation with the SEC powerhouse, 2019 National Champion LSU.
Wow. Just wow. That doesn’t happen at Notre Dame, or at least it hasn’t happened at Notre Dame since I started working with Kyle on this site in 1999. Notre Dame has made good hires in the past, but they have never been able to touch the next rising coordinator at a football factory like LSU like this. Usually, if a program like LSU wants someone, they take it because they are willing to spend more money on the coaches.
This is a stark contrast to what happened in Notre Dame just four years ago. After a successful season as a Notre Dame defensive coordinator, Mike Elko left for the same position at Texas A&M and a pile of cash. While the Irishman made a counter offer that Elko accepted only to use for further negotiation with the Aggies; in the end, Notre Dame still lost its defensive coordinator to another program in a side play.
That’s not what happened here, guys. Notre Dame only targeted the next rising technical defensive star and hired him to replace Clark Lea, although he was LSU’s No. 1 target to fill the vacant defensive coordinator position. After an interview with Notre Dame earlier this week, Freemen flew to Baton Rouge for an interview with the Tigers, only for Notre Dame to announce that it hired him shortly after completion.
Notre Dame is not just receiving an elite defensive coordinator with “xs and os” with this hire. They are also hiring an elite recruiter who can help them attract the kind of 5-star talent that has shunned Notre Dame for the past two decades. Freeman has already helped Cincinnati secure commitments from two defensive 4-star players for the class of 2022. Achieving 4 stars in a place like Cincinnati is basically the equivalent of landing 5-star talent in a place like Notre Dame.
Freeman’s recruitment prowess was explicitly mentioned by Brian Kelly in the Notre Dame statement announcing the hiring.
“While we were looking to find someone to command our defense, it was important to find the right person for our program, and Marcus and his family are just that,” said Kelly. “He has had great success in the field, both in defense and in working directly with defenders. In addition, he is considered one of the elite recruiters in the coaching ranks.
It should also be noted that Freeman is the first African-American coordinator hired by Kelly and the first hired by Notre Dame since Charlie Weis hired Corwin Brown.
This is not a home run hired by Brian Kelly and Notre Dame. It’s a goddamn grand slam. For those concerned that Kelly could take the safe route to replace Clark Lea – Notre Dame’s most successful defensive coordinator since the era of Lou Holtz – these fears can be dispelled. Kelly just focused on the best defensive on the market and attacked him aggressively.
When Notre Dame lost Clark Lea, Kelly was tasked with replacing one of the most successful technical assistant hires he did during his time at Notre Dame. It will be nine months before Freeman calls a defensive game for the Irish, but if he doesn’t pick up where Lea left off, it would be the end of the off-season. There is no such thing as “you can’t miss hiring”, but this is the closest you can get to one when hiring a coordinator.
On and off the field, this is an extract hired by Notre Dame. This is the kind of hiring that shows the rest of the college football world that the Irish really take what they need to do to take the final step towards becoming an elite program – the type of program that doesn’t just make it to the playoffs college football does more than fight well.
It has been a tough news week for Notre Dame, with several NFL games, but Friday night’s announcement should make all Notre Dame fans very, very excited about the future.