Marcus Freeman Is Saying All The Right Things About The Notre Dame Defense

On National Signing Day we got our first chance to talk with Marcus Freeman since he was hired to run the defense for Notre Dame. Freeman was asked a number of questions about the defense, his scheme, terminology and philosophy.

I can't imagine Freeman's first press conference going any better. He was very measured with his comments, gave a lot of detail without locking himself into specifics about what he is going to do and he shared things about his philosophy that anyone who has studied his team at Cincinnati knows is what made him so successful.

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“In terms of schematics, I have certain philosophy on things, but I'm always changing," Freeman explained. "One, to be able to defend against the crazy offenses that we see. ... Everybody wants [to know] 'Are you three-down team, are you a four-down team, are you a nickel team?

"Again, it's 'Let's get the best 11,' and that's my job, and that's our job as a defensive staff," Freeman continued. :Figure out the best 11 and then the best 22 and say, 'Okay, are we better to have four D-linemen or better to have a nickel on the field?' What are we trying to take away, what are we trying to stop the offense from doing?

I'm a believer in philosophy first, scheme second, and Freeman's comments were those of a coach who has a philosophy he believes in, but that philosophy isn't tied to a certain formation, alignment or scheme.

Great coaches build around the strengths of their players and don't focus as much on trying to pigeon hole players into their scheme, which can often lead to a coach not playing his most talented players because they don't fit whatever scheme he wants to run.

Freeman showed at Cincinnati and during his first press conference that he has a firm grasp on the importance of being player-first with his philosophy, which means the scheme will ultimately be dictated by the talents of his players, not the other way around.

"I am big on 'Let's get the best players that we can find,' and we can tailor our scheme around those guys," Freeman explained. "... I'm not coming in here dropping a [playbook] and saying 'This is what we're going to do.'

"Let's evaluate our guys, let's evaluate the best players on our defense and put them in positions to be successful, and that's how I've always been," continued the first-year Irish coordinator. "I've never said, 'Hey, you have to fit this position.'

Freeman takes a different approach, and it's one his two predecessors shared and led to their success.

"What is his positive traits, What things does he do [well], and let's make sure that we tailor our defense around those strengths,“ Freeman said. “... Let's start with the things that are going to help us have success is the way we play.

That is the talk of a coach that knows what it takes to build a great unit.

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