Notre Dame And Marcus Freeman Will Be Defined By Their Response, Not This Defeat

I will have plenty to say in our post-game show and in articles over the next two days when it comes to Notre Dame's Fiesta Bowl defeat at the hands of Oklahoma State. Simply put, it should not have happened. I will have a lot to say about what went wrong in the game, but that loss is just the beginning of Marcus Freeman's tenure.

Freeman ultimately won't be judged by this loss, and the Notre Dame program under his leadership won't be judged by this one game. He and the program will, and should, however, be judged by how they respond.

The year before Nick Saban won the first of many national titles at Alabama his team got dominated by Utah (31-17), which came just after it got whipped by Florida (31-20) in the SEC title game.

We know the dynasty that followed that down moment.

Speaking of Florida, just over two months prior to Urban Meyer and the Gators winning the national championship in 2006, they were convincingly beat by Auburn (27-17).

In 2016, Dabo Swinney Clemson blew a 42-34 fourth quarter lead, allowing Pitt to score twice in the final 5:17 of the game as the Panthers earned a 43-42 victory.

Just under two months later the Tigers won the program's first national title since 1981.

In 2013, Ohio State dropped the final two games of its season. It lost to Michigan State (a team Notre Dame beat that season) in the Big Ten title game. The Buckeyes were outscored 14-0 in the fourth quarter of that game, and their next and final game of the season was a 40-35 loss in the Orange Bowl to Clemson, a game in which the Buckeyes gave up 576 yards of offense.

A year later the Buckeyes beat Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinals and then beat Oregon to win its first national title in over a decade.

This isn't to say Marcus Freeman is Nick Saban, Urban Meyer or Dabo Swinney, or that Notre Dame is those programs. This stroll down memory lane doesn't at all justify, or excuse, Notre Dame blowing a 28-7 lead in its Fiesta Bowl loss by the Cowboys. There will be plenty of gnashing of teeth about that performance, and should be.

What this means, however, is that Marcus Freeman was hired to return Notre Dame to a position of glory, to bring home a championship. Nothing that happened today stops that from happening. It wasn't going to happen this year anyway, obviously. Believe this, there isn't a fan or writer or analyst out there that is more upset by how today went. But being upset doesn't mean a thing.

How you respond is what matters.

Notre Dame's future will be defined by how it responds to its present reality. What does Coach Freeman and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees learn from this loss? What changes does Coach Freeman make in the program moving forward, and how does this loss help him grow and develop as a coach? How does the leadership of this football team handle its performance, and does it sway anyone to return to the program in hopes of leaving it as a winner?

How the team responds to this loss and how Coach Freeman responds to this loss will be what we remember. How he responds will be what determines whether or not he is in fact the man to do what he was hired to do, bring glory and a championship back to South Bend.

If he is the coach I think he is, the response will be what we remember.

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