SI

Fans Loved Marcus Freeman's Fiery Speech to Players After Notre Dame's Loss to Miami

This will get you pumped up.

Brigid Kennedy

ND lost in their opener on Sunday, 27-24.
ND lost in their opener on Sunday, 27-24. / Notre Dam
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Although Notre Dame came close to winning its thrilling opening game vs. Miami on Sunday night, that honor ultimately went to the Canes, who sealed the deal on a 47-yard go-ahead field goal with 1:04 left on the clock. But Irish head coach Marcus Freeman wisely did not hit the panic button immediately after; instead, he noted that, for his squad, the "effort was there," a message he continued into the locker room.

In a video shared by ND's social media team, Freeman is heard delivering a fiery and inspiring postgame speech to a rapt audience of players. In our opinion, it's good enough to motivate really anyone listening, player or not, and it seems like the internet is also in agreement.

Fans loved the clip, and were quick to reshare it with a nod to Freeman in the ensuing post.

Here is the original video and transcription:

“I don’t care if you didn’t play a snap or you played every down. I don’t care if you're a coordinator, if you’re a position coach, or if you're a [graduate assistant], it doesn’t matter. Everybody points the finger at themselves and say, ‘What could we have done to make sure that we achieved the outcome that we want?’ And that’s what we’ll do, right? Stay together.

“We got the best leadership. And this is when leadership has to show, right? Keep us together. We gotta go to work. I’m not saying continue to do the same. We gotta find different ways and better ways of doing it. We can’t beat Notre Dame. And we know there was plays in that game where we beat Notre Dame.

“Credit to them. It’s a good team, top 10 battle. We lost by three. Okay, we lost by three. The first game of the season, right? We got a good ball team. I sat there and watched—I said, ‘Okay, we had to go through a little bit of the bumps in the road, but we got a good ball team, but we gotta get back to work.’ Right? This taste of pain, it hurts. The embarrassment. Okay. We gotta use this as we go back to work. We’re gonna go back to work, right? Stay together, man.”

And here is the fan reaction:

The Fighting Irish will get another chance at a W when they host Texas A&M on Sept. 13.

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Brigid Kennedy
BRIGID KENNEDY

Brigid Kennedy is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, she covered political news, sporting news and culture at TheWeek.com before moving to Livingetc, an interior design magazine. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, dual majoring in television, radio and film (from the Newhouse School of Public Communications) and marketing managment (from the Whitman School of Management). Offline, she enjoys going to the movies, reading and watching the Steelers.

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