Notre Dame Football: Marcus Freeman doing wonders for Irish

Marcus Freeman, Brian Kelly, and the rest of the Irish staff have been letting the nation know they are trying to build something very special in South Bend for the foreseeable future at Notre Dame football.

Marcus Freeman has not been on the job long in South Bend, but that has not stopped him from making a huge impact for Notre Dame so far.

From everything you read and see in the videos provided through camp Freeman really seems to have brought a great mindset, and a lot of positives so far to South Bend on and off the field. This is not shocking at all for what Freeman helped build at Cincinnati over the last few years, and also why so many programs wanted to bring him in to their respective programs this past offseason.

Former Defensive Coordinator Clark Lea was great during his time at Notre Dame. Lea helped turn a one time weakness for Notre Dame on the defensive side of the ball for many years into a strength that the Irish could rely on when on the field.

When Lea was rumored and eventually hired to takeover as the Head Coach at Vanderbilt, the Notre Dame football fans started to freak out, worried that the Irish would not be able to get a guy like Lea to come in and replace him.

Boy, were those people wrong.

Has Freeman coached a game yet for the Irish? No, but even though he has not this has been a home run hire for Notre Dame football. If you are a fan of recruiting you can see how recruits have taken notice as well.

Freeman is great on the field and on the trail

If the last sentence in the previous paragraph was not obvious enough for you, Marcus Freeman is really good at recruiting. Obviously Clark Lea was, and still will be at Vanderbilt as well, but with Freeman though it just seems like he is taking it to a new level overall.

Freeman is going into these visits, and talking with recruits and families doing a great job of explaining where he sees them fitting in on the defensive schemes, and also getting a Notre Dame degree.

Coach Brian Kelly has reiterated a lot as of late that Notre Dame is really trying to close the talent gap of the likes of Alabama, Clemson, and the Ohio State Buckeyes of the world. Marcus Freeman and the Irish staff have done that alone here as of late.

The Irish have secured four huge verbal commitments in the last few weeks alone. Keon Keeley and Brenan Vernon were huge signings along the defensive line as they announced their commitments back to back on Monday June 28th, and Tuesday June 29th.

Cornerback Jayden Bellamy a few days later announced on Friday July 2nd, and Devin Moore one of the more underrated defensive backs in the county decided to make the 4th of July more exciting for the Irish by committing as well.

I imagine that Freeman helped play a huge part in getting Keeley and Vernon committed to Notre Dame, but another coach on the staff who deserves major recognition is defensive line coach Mike Elston for the Irish.

Elston has been at Notre Dame for 10 years now and has done a great job recruiting and building the defense along the defensive line, but adding Freeman to go along with Elston now is going to be a lot of fun. Freeman and Elston can really form a dynamic duo for many years to come in the future.

Getting Marcus Freeman on board for the Irish was a huge win for Brian Kelly that should pay huge dividends for the Irish Football program.

The nation is definitely seeing what Freeman and the Irish are building especially on the defensive side of the ball, and too be honest I can’t blame these recruits for wanting to be apart of something special in South Bend.

This may be a hot take, but I would not be surprised if one day when Brian Kelly eventually retires, or possibly moves on to the NFL that Marcus Freeman will be the Head Coach at Notre Dame.