Q/A | Notre Dame Football Head Coach Marcus Freeman Part II

Marcus Freeman is well into year two as the head coach at Notre Dame and he sat down with ISD on Thursday morning to discuss the latest happenings in his program and what he’s learned over the last year. 

Note: The interview was done before Notre Dame announced Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick was stepping down in 2024. 

Q/A | Notre Dame Football Head Coach Marcus Freeman Part I

ISD: From the outside, it seems NIL has somewhat evened out after the horror stories of the last recruiting cycle. Have you felt that recruits or their families aren’t asking for money upfront or hearing about million-dollar contracts behind the scenes as much? 

Marcus Freeman: I guess you don’t know what’s real or what’s not. Do we know there are million-dollar contracts out there? That’s what we hear. We see don't know what’s real or what’s not. That’s the thing to me around this NIL discussion, it’s a lot of hearsay. 

I believe that there is a lot to be done to get parameters around Name, Image and Likeness to protect young people. That’s all I care about. Protecting our young people. One, they’re not being told lies, but two, they’re not choosing places just based on NIL guarantees supposedly.

They have to understand the percentages of them making the NFL are not great. I think less than five percent. If they make it to the NFL, the average is less than four years. The degree matters. I want to make sure we protect young people so they don’t make decisions to go to school based on some unforeseen NIL opportunities that might not be there. 

ISD: You attended Notre Dame’s NIL Summit in Colorado earlier this spring with Javontae Jean-Baptiste, Tobias Merriweather, Rylie Mills, Benjamin Morrison and Jayden Thomas. What did you and your players get out of your time out there? 

Marcus Freeman: It was a Notre Dame summit with people who I’m sure have big money that can provide NIL opportunities, but one, I thought it was great to see where the best athletes in the world at their sports train. It was very intentional to have this summit in Colorado Springs, so our players could see how and where the best athletes in their sports train at. 

Two, was to spend time with the Notre Dame network. Our players were around some of the most powerful people who are involved in Notre Dame athletics. It was great for our players to be around them, but it was great for those individuals, the supporters of Notre Dame athletics, to see our players. They’re our greatest representation of what our athletics programs are about. 

I think everybody gained. Everybody benefitted from those three days we were in Colorado Springs. It was a great, great few days to spend with each other.

ISD: The Under Armour contract is up sooner than later. How much has Jack Swarbrick spoken with you and the other head coaches to figure out what you and your players need out of the next deal?

Marcus Freeman: We’ve had some discussions. I’m very confident in Jack to make the best deal for Notre Dame athletics. He’s asked us what we feel we need, but at the end of the day, Jack Swarbrick will make the decision. I believe 100 percent in my heart that it will be what’s best for our university, our athletics programs and our athletes. 

ISD: You’ve made a point to get out and about to support other coaches and teams at Notre Dame. Why is that important to you even if it takes you away from your family and have you seen the Notre Dame coaching fraternity grow because of it?

Marcus Freeman: Well, if I’m home for too long, my wife says to get out of the house. Go to work. I love this university. I love to see our sports have success. I believe everybody wins. Not just lacrosse won that National Championship, but it brought a positive light to our university and to our athletic programs with them having success. I love to see the success here at the University of Notre Dame. It’s small enough where we become a community. We all become supporters of each other.

One, Sam Assaf, was on the team. He’s a guy who plays football and lacrosse, so to support him was important to me, but also to support Kevin (Corrigan) and the lacrosse program. It’s something I wanted to do for no other reason than to support them.

I know a lot of things I do are publicized, but that was about supporting Kevin Corrigan and the lacrosse program, Sam Assaf and those guys. I was just going as a fan. That’s what I like to do with all of our sports if I can.

ISD: You’ve been here three years now, how comfortable are you selling everything Notre Dame has to offer as the university offers so much or finding the right pitch for that specific recruit to sell what Notre Dame can do for him? 

Marcus Freeman: Selling is about figuring out what the customer wants, right? You have to be able to sell based on the needs of the people you’re recruiting. Do I know every intricate detail of Notre Dame? I won’t be here long enough to know that. There is so much that goes into making this place successful. 

Obviously, I have a deep passion for what this university provides young people. A lot of those things aren’t in the present. It’s being able to show them their future and show them the success they can have beyond the things they can see. 

I feel really confident and I’m passionate in selling this place. I truly believe it can change the outlook of someone’s future. 

ISD: I believe Notre Dame is one of the three programs in the Midwest that has a Monarc Seeker (Ohio State and Western Michigan) now. What does the machine/technology bring to your program ($50K a year): 

Marcus Freeman: Challenge everything. If our coaches and players can prove to me that this is going to help our players succeed - nothing is for free. If we believe the value matches what it can do to help our players, then I’m all for it. Something Coach Stuckey has been very adamant about is getting the Monarc Seeker. It’s been a process of getting it, but I want to give our players the best chance to succeed. 

I also don’t want to waste money. If our university says yes to every want, we would all be broke. I know that’s a little extreme, but that’s the reality of it. You have to understand value and cost. You have to look at both. That Monarc Seeker was something we felt the cost didn’t matter. The value outweighed the cost.

ISD: The 12-team playoff is close. What benefits do you see for Notre Dame going into the playoff change? 

Marcus Freeman: It gives us a better chance to make the playoffs. That’s great. That’s what you want. We have to focus on our process. We have to focus on the things it takes to have success, but the more opportunities Notre Dame or anyone has in college football has to make the playoffs, I think it’s better. 

It will bring a lot of excitement to our profession and to college football. It’ll be interesting to see how it all unfolds, but I’m excited to be in a 12-team College Football Playoff. 

ISD: You’ve played. How big of an advantage would it be to have an SEC school come to South Bend in mid-December? 

Marcus Freeman: Listen. Cold is cold even if you’re from the North or from the South. Cold is cold. The ability to be comfortable in it, the ability to have experience playing in cold I think is important. It doesn’t mean our players won’t be cold or our coaches and fans won’t be cold, but they’ve done it before and they’ve been uncomfortable before where sometimes certain teams that haven’t experienced that, it’s really a shock. The ability to become comfortable is a challenge. 

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