Marcus Freeman And Staff Adapted Quickly On Defense After A Rough Start
It was problem-solving time for Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman after the first two games of the season.
Freeman, who was the defensive coordinator, was puzzled by his team’s slow start against Florida State and Toledo. He had overseen this unit practice in the fall and spring camps, and he knew they were good.
The Fighting Irish allowed 889 yards of total offense and 67 points against Florida State and Toledo. Freeman knew the unit was better than what it showed.
“This season was unique in terms of the first two games,” he said. “You had this plan that you did in spring and you did in the fall, and you’re like, ‘Okay, we’re going to be good.' I remember being in my office (after those games), and it was like something’s wrong.”
With help from his staff, Freeman made adjustments which included getting better on third down. The defense shined in games against Purdue and Wisconsin, holding those two Big Ten opponents to 13 points apiece. Notre Dame also held Cincinnati to over two touchdowns below their season scoring average in that 24-13 loss. Of course, a turnover by the offense and another by the special teams led to 10 points.
The second half of the season changed for the defense when Kyle Hamilton hurt his knee against USC. Without Hamilton and after North Carolina came to Notre Dame Stadium and torched the team for 564 yards of offense, Freeman made the decision to pare down the game plans.
Notre Dame gave up just 23 points in its last four games.
“We simplified it so these guys can play fast,” Freeman explained. “That’s what you have seen over the course of the end of the season. We simplified it. I know it doesn’t look like it at times, which is great. As coaches, we needed to simplify it and not let them think about who’s fitting in where and who has this job. Just play fast. That’s what you’ve seen them do.”
At Cincinnati, in his first season, the Bearcats finished 94th overall in team defense.
That was a slow start.
In 2020, Cincinnati was eighth overall. He learned how to get better faster at Notre Dame.
“What I learned from that moment, is that there will be growing pains," Freeman said. "Any transition will have pain. You can speed up the process by being very clear with your coaching staff, being clear with the expectations, and diving deep into what you are doing schematically and technically.”
Freeman said his “MO all season has been what can we do to change and enhance” our defense. Notre Dame is ranked 9th in scoring defense. They are 16th in third-down conversion defense and tied for 6th in sacks with 40. Their 15 interceptions are tied for 10th.
“I’m not going to wait until year two,” he said. “I know this defense is really good but we don’t have to wait. I’d strain our defensive staff in meetings and really challenge them. We sped up the process. In Cincinnati, it took one year. Hopefully, here it took half a year to feel like we were playing really good.”
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