‘Fear Is A Motivator’: Marcus Freeman Preaching Preparation Ahead Of CFP
For Marcus Freeman, he’ll worry about Friday when it gets here.
Now that doesn’t mean the Irish aren’t focused on the task at hand — beating Indiana on Dec. 20. They are, but before worrying about the game, they’re just focused on today.
It’s the same approach Notre Dame has taken every week since its upset loss to NIU in Week 2, it’s a philosophy that Freeman has adopted — what happens during the week dictates what happens on Saturdays.
“I still believe in preparation,” Freeman said. “I choose to believe that is the number one indicator that gives your program a chance to have success on Saturday, and I won't stray from that.”
But 99 days ago that faith in preparation wavered. Somewhere along the way the Irish skipped a step, maybe it was coming off the high of the Texas A&M win, maybe it was a lack of respect towards NIU. Whatever it was, Freeman has been too afraid to let it happen again.
“Fear is a motivator … a lot of people are motivated by fear,” Freeman said.
“There's times that I have to remind myself, what's the result of not preparing the right way? Sometimes it takes the performance that we had versus NIU to go back and say, ‘Okay, hold on. What lessons do we have to learn?’”
Come Friday the stakes may look higher to some, but for the Irish they’ve been playing playoff games since Week 3. It’s an advantage that Freeman is planning to hone in on throughout the week.
“We've been in playoff situational games since week three, and we understand that, and every game that we play in is a version of a playoff game in our minds,” Freeman said. “So continue to understand that, don't have any added pressure for this one that you haven't had the previous 10 (games.)”
The success of that preparation has paid off throughout the season, especially when it comes to injuries. With players like Howard Cross — who is available to play Friday — and Benjamin Morrision going down, Notre Dame seems to have a treasure chest of depth to pick from.
“I think we have depth more than anything,” Freeman said. “We have guys from the top of our roster to the bottom that can help us win football games. You have to be ready, and you can't be can't wait for your number to be called on game day to get ready.”
“We've had guys step up and do an unbelievable job. (Donovan Hinish) has played really well, and Gabe Rubio and some of those guys.”
But what’s different this week is no one has prepared for a first round game in the College Football Playoff before. There’s familiarity when prepping for Florida State in November. There’s a sense of the unknown when prepping for Indiana in late December.
“There's part of the logistics that we had deep and long discussions about before the season even started,” Freeman said. “We have a group that looks at all the possible opponents we may have as obviously we didn't know who we're going to play round one. But once you have an opponent, your intention is specifically on the upcoming task at hand.”
Freeman isn’t making these decisions alone, he’s leaning on those around him to best prepare his team for Friday night. He’s leaning on the likes of John Wagle, Loren Landow and Rob Hunt to formulate the best plan of attack when prepping for the Hoosiers.
“I have to use the wisdom that is around me,” Freeman said. “We have some of the brightest individuals here at this university that can give me feedback. And then I got to make a decision. I have to make a decision that I believe is best for this football team.”
As for Indiana itself? Freeman knows he has his hands full.
“They do some unique things with their (defensive) line, with their second level defense in terms of pressure packages, but also different stunts you don’t see every week,” Freeman said. “Part of this is you have to be aggressive. You have to establish a new line of scrimmage when you're running the football. And that's a mindset and mentality we have to have.”
And he hasn’t forgotten about the weather either. With temperatures expected to be in the 20s come kickoff, Freeman doesn’t want to see anyone shivering. After all, they’re preparing for that too.
“We practice in it, just so our guys understand, coaches understand what they need to wear to stay warm,” Freeman said. “There's no cold tough guys. If you don't want to wear sleeves, don't wear sleeves. But don't be on the sideline shivering either.”
Another part of that preparation is motivation. Freeman has to press all the right buttons to get the Irish ready to go. Some weeks that may be harder than others. But not this week.
“We'll find ways to motivate them,” Freeman said. “They're motivated by this opportunity more than anything. They're motivated to play in the first ever playoff game at Notre Dame Stadium.”