Marcus Freeman Juggles Prayer & Preparation For Notre Dame
As those in New Orleans and those around the country try to come to grips with the senseless tragedy early New Year’s Day on Bourbon Street, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has to do that for himself and his program.
And, he has to find a way to get the most out of a 20-hour delay with the Allstate Sugar Bowl against Georgia being moved from Wednesday night to Thursday afternoon.
“First off, I'd like to say we're hurting for all those affected by this tragedy,” Freeman told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt on Wednesday evening.
“The city of New Orleans has welcomed us with open arms and we join them in prayers for all those victims and families that are affected by this tragedy.”
The Irish were going through morning preparations when they got word that the tragedy was so severe and the situation so uncertain that the game would be postponed a day, so he called another team meeting.
“We had to get back together and discuss what had happened,” Freeman explained. “What I told the team is in the toughest moments, the culture of any program, of a nation is revealed.
“I have a lot of faith that this country will rally around New Orleans and support all the victims and families that were affected today.”
Freeman noted that was the first part of the team meeting, but the end of it was about the matchup in the Superdome.
“As we ended that meeting, we had to redirect our focus towards preparing for this game and we had to utilize this time that we have…to continue to prepare for this opportunity,” Freeman recalled. “What I told them is I don't want to wait. We're not going to just wait until we get to play this game.
“We have to have a plan and we came up with a great plan to utilize this time.”
Freeman noted that trying to juggle coping with the tragedy while preparing for the game against the Bulldogs was just the reality of the situation.
“We will mourn and pray for our country and we have support systems around here for anybody that needs someone to talk to or have support, but we also have to be prepared for this great opportunity that we have (Thursday) in the Sugar Bowl,” he said.
“We all will have that at the forefront of our minds as we move forward. But we also have to understand there's a game to play and there's an opportunity that both programs have to play in the College Football Quarterfinals and we have to make sure we're ready for that opportunity that is going to come here in the next couple hours.”
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