Marcus Freeman has enhanced the Notre Dame football program in many ways since taking over as head coach in 2022.
Team depth is an area the Irish have quickly built at many positions, which means Notre Dame rarely has to play a freshman out of necessity.
Cornerback, however, was one spot where depth remained thin entering the season. Benjamin Morrison’s early departure to the NFL left Notre Dame with a strong starting unit but limited experience behind it.
True freshman Mark Zackery IV has been thrown to the wolves the last two weeks following an injury to All-American cornerback Leonard Moore, who found himself in the same situation a year ago when Morrison went down.
The Indianapolis native arrived in June and it’s been a whirlwind as Zackery found himself on the field in Miami as Christian Gray got banged up.
“It’s been a journey just coming into summer knowing that we're just competing for a spot and then knowing for the first game that I would be going in if anybody went down,” explained Zackery. “Then with just seeing Christian going down, I was kind of like, “Dang, Christian needs to sub, like he's going out’ and then just the realization that I was the one going in.
“It was kind of the time to buckle my seatbelt and grow up a little bit. I’m just gradually getting better and just knowing that trusting in Christian and Leonard to keep coaching me up.”
Fast forward to game three and Zackery made his first start against in-state rival Purdue.
The Irish got the win, but the 5-foot-11, 175-pounder wasn’t happy with his performance as he gave up six catches on eight targets for 93 yards and a touchdown.
“We experienced the team glory for the first time all year, so it was great,” stated Zackery. “But going back, I didn't feel good about myself and what I gave up. I know people were telling me it's just a freshman first game, whatever, but I have a super high standard for myself and I know Coach (Mike) Mickens does, too.”
Zackery didn’t sulk or question the scheme. He went to work.
“We went back to the drawing board, trying to focus on my technique throughout the week in man,” Zackery said. “Just being more confident out there, whatever they are running, just trying to limit certain things and deleting what routes they can run when they get to a certain spot on the field. So just having a whole bunch of detail last week helped me out and I'm just trying to do the same thing moving forward.”
Freeman also noticed Zackery’s mindset following the Purdue game, which likely provided confidence to roll him out there against Arkansas, a team that entered last Saturday’s game as a Top 5 offense.
“What I've learned is that he is not a blamer,” stated Freeman. “He doesn't point fingers. He wants to be coached. He wants to improve. We knew he had talent, but sometimes in failure, you learn about a guy.
“I knew that just because I know his parents. I knew the way he was raised, but that's what he's done. He's owned the issues just like his coach has, just like we all have. He's really been intentional about the work in practice and understanding that we've got to treat practice, the speed of practice, even though it might not be replicated, it's got to be like a game.”
It might sound easy on paper to work on technique, but it’s a bit deeper than that. There are techniques to play for various routes, situations, schemes and that’s on top of having the game come at you a million miles an hour.
The work showed itself last weekend against Arkansas. Zackery allowed one catch on four targets, which totaled just eight yards.
“Knowing my leverage and down in distance and personnel just when they're going to take the shots, especially my feet at the top of my breaks,” Zackrey explained. “You can kind of see in some of the clips that I might've thought they were running a dig and kind of reading certain things I wasn't supposed to be.
“If you compare that Arkansas dig clip and the Purdue fade that Nitro caught, not for the touchdown but just the deep ball catch, my feet were kind of pausing, waiting on him to drop on his route, but he went and got on top of me.”
What has been the biggest adjustment for Zackery? It’s likely learning zone concepts, as he only played man coverage in high school. There have been growing pains mastering zone coverage, but the good news is Zackery is getting plenty of reps to learn it.
“I would say just the different route concepts,” Zackery said when asked why zone is more difficult to play. “Say it's Cover 3, if you get a post and you get an over from the other side of the field, just knowing that you can't drive the post because the over's going to clear or if it's a deep out coming from that slot receiver, just knowing that you have to be sinking in certain spots and everybody has to be perfect in their zone in order for it to work.”
Notre Dame receiver Jordan Faison has seen plenty of Zackery in practice and believes he’s headed in the right direction.
“Great player,” Faison said. “Athletic. He's got really long arms that he uses to his ability. His ability to play through the ball is great. You obviously saw that in that one Arkansas play where he played through the ball. Hell of a ball player, very athletic, good feet, good transition. He'll be a good player.”
Zackery knows there will be more highs and lows coming. It’s part of the position, especially as a freshman. He’s prepared for it and knows Mickens not only has his back but will continue to challenge him.
“He's serious,” said Zackery. “During the recruitment process, he was a great guy and still is. But just knowing when I'm out there, he's not going to treat me any differently than anybody else. I've got my feet wet. I've been out there. Now it's time to grow up and keep gradually getting better and better every day.”
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