Freeman's Culture Shift at Notre Dame Continues to Show in Special Teams

Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman often talks about elevating on a weekly basis. Essentially, regardless of outcome, whatever was put out isn't going to be good enough for this week. Regardless of opponent, self-improvement needs to come in order for lofty goals to have any chance of being met.

Perhaps nowhere is that more evident in the Notre Dame football program in recent years than on special teams. What was an average-at-best unit for the entire time Brian Kelly patrolled the Notre Dame sideline, simply getting by on special teams is no longer acceptable under Freeman.

That's not exactly new to the 2025 season under the fourth-year head coach, but it was again evident in Saturday's blowout victory at Arkansas.

Notre Dame's Fake Punt While up 29 Points

Notre Dame dominated the end of the first half against Arkansas, extending what was a 28-13 lead to 42-13 in less than 30 seconds. You may have thought the Irish would come out of halftime and take their foot off the gas a bit, but it was clear that wouldn't be the case early on.

Notre Dame was held to a three-and-out on the opening drive of the second half, or at least appeared to be. Instead of punting the ball away from its own 25-yard line though, Freeman opted to run a fake punt that went for 40 yards.

Notre Dame running a Fake Punt + Reverse Pass 🔥 pic.twitter.com/HBWbXD7KU1
— Jake Franklin Football (@JakeFranklinFB) September 27, 2025

Immediately, the reaction on social media was that Freeman was crazy for letting that be run, and how savage of a move it was, even as the Irish failed to score on the drive.

Instead, that playcall was about a different attitude that has overtaken this Notre Dame program and that is even more responsible for the rise in program success than the uptick in recruiting.

Marcus Freeman on the Fake Punt vs. Arkansas

“I didn't want to relax,” Freeman said while speaking to the media on Monday. “We had to come out of the locker room with an aggression no different than the first half. There's no lead that's comfortable. There's no lead that's comfortable.”

Lou Holtz used to tell his Notre Dame teams that they had no obligation with the TV networks that a game had to be close. Now, he'd usually save that for a bigger game than Saturday's was against Arkansas, but Holtz came to my mind as soon as the fake was run.

The year was 1992 and Notre Dame was on the hunt for a share of a national championship. While hosting unbeaten, ninth-rated Boston College in November, Holtz opted for a fake punt while leading the game 37-0. The fake was converted and the drive resulted in another Notre Dame touchdown.

"We came into the game knowing that we were going to run the fake punt," he said. "If the situation is right, we'll call it. There's nothing illegal about it. It was just a matter of running the play and letting people know we have it."

A year later Boston College used that play as part of its motivation for ruining Notre Dame's national championship dreams in an upset, but the attitude of choosing to run it is what I focus on.

Over 30 years later, I don't look at Holtz as doing it to run up the score on Boston College, just as I don't look at Freeman as trying to do so against Arkansas.

When you're setting the tone for playing all 60 minutes of a game, throwing away the opening possession of the second half doesn't fit that mold. The fake punt was irrelevant regarding the final outcome, but it forced the team's focus to remain high in spite of the lopsided score.

In turn, that makes it a hair easier for the team to keep that focus the next time out, and then the time after that. It's also a prime example of elevating yourself, regardless of opponent or score.

To those who ask why you waste a fake punt in the middle of a game that you have in the bag, Freeman instead challenges special teams coordinator Marty Biagi to come up with the next great one.

Like it or not, Notre Dame is likely to have a slew of lopsided scores in the coming weeks. Keeping that edge and continuing to elevate will be key for Freeman and the Irish, and as Saturday showed, special teams offer a great place to unlock it.