A Strong Finish Equals A Great Start For Marcus Freeman

The day that he was announced to his team as the next head coach at Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman told his players the focus was on finishing strong. In that instance he was referring to finishing the season on a strong note, which means beating Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl.

Of course, finishing strong on the recruiting trail was a big part of that as well, which is why Freeman and his staff traveled thousands of miles in just a few days to ensure that the majority of the 2022 commits stayed in the fold and signed last week.

With the early signing period now in the rearview the focus turns to Oklahoma State, and then comes the next signing period in early February. Freeman also has to fill out his staff and has some decisions to make about who stays and who leaves from his current staff.

Finishing strong is important for Notre Dame as it looks to end the careers of its veterans on a strong note, but there is A LOT more at stake for Freeman than just a strong finish to the season. A strong finish equals a great start to his tenure, and that start will ultimately define the early portion of his career, if not more.

Notre Dame is riding a great deal of momentum with Freeman being hired. The Irish program is getting support from national circles it rarely gets, if ever. Lose the Fiesta Bowl and that disappears.

That's just a small part of it, but it matters. What happens internally is even more important.

Freeman must finish the season off on a strong note to signal to his team and his players that he is in fact the man for the job. This isn't as much about winning the bowl game as it's about the process that leads to whatever performance we see. Players and coaches will be evaluating how he goes about preparing the team, how he handles any bumps that come along, how he addresses the needs for the team and of course, finally how the team plays.

If the team plays well, win or lose, that's a positive for the program. Winning the game obviously is a much better option, but I don't want my comments to be confused for "win or it's all over." As you know, I'm process driven much more than being results driven, because if the process is what it needs to be the results will ultimately be what you want. Notre Dame could beat an Oklahoma State team that simply put can't match Notre Dame talent for talent, and it doesn't mean the process is such that a great start is in effect.

Winning ensures that almost all of the momentum and positives vibes surrounding the program will last into the fall. That would do wonders for Notre Dame from a team building standpoint, and it would have major ramifications on the recruiting trail as the Irish look to finish 2022 on a strong note and continuing building on what is already a strong start to the 2023 class.

But winning the right way, which means laying the right foundation, will ensure that the momentum turns into on-field results in 2022.

A strong finish for Freeman isn't just about the bowl game, it's also about recruiting. Notre Dame fell short at wide receiver in the 2022 class, and the position has been hemorrhaging players over the last year. Notre Dame lost four players to transfer after the season and lost another after just one game, and those aren't the only issues.

Now there are rumors (and right now that's all they are) about two more young players being unhappy. Perhaps this is nothing more than the usual freshman blues, which happens to the VAST majority of first-year players, but when you have this much drama at one position you are way past it being a coincidence or bad luck, it's a full-blown emergency that must be addressed.

Freeman needs to make the tough choice of moving on from a well-liked member of the coaching staff (among the coaches) and get that position back on track from a development, retention and recruiting standpoint.

That would be a tough finish to the season for him personally, to make that kind of move, and calling for a coach to be replaced is not an easy thing for me to do and it's a thousand times harder for the coach who has to make that decision. But it's the necessary move, and it's the kind of finish to the season that puts the program in position to make a big step forward. It sends a very clear message about expectations.

How he finishes off the staff is going to have major implications on how his career starts on a more official note, which is the 2022 season and the 2023 recruiting class. If Freeman nails both of those this program is going to go on a roll in a fashion that we haven't seen in South Bend in 30 years.

That means making great hires, which means adding coaches that are great teachers, great develops and great recruiters.

Don't finish strong and it puts Notre Dame in a tough spot, and the same people praising Freeman now will quickly turn on him and the program and look to hammer him, which alters the perception. In recruiting, don't kid yourself, perception matters.

Finish strong and the program builds on the current momentum, which ensures that Freeman has a great start to his coaching career. It would make Notre Dame the "hot" program for players and coaches, and it puts Freeman and the program in position to accomplish something he was adamant about being the standard when he was hired ...... win a championship.

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