Notre Dame Notebook: Marcus Freeman Talks Not Looking Ahead, Collaboration, Scout Teams

Notre Dame plays its second home game of the season this Saturday and the opponent is Central Michigan. The only potential problem with that is that the opponent is Central Michigan and not that team that team from Columbus, Ohio that comes to town a week from Saturday.

There’s a big difference between Central Michigan and Ohio State. Fans know it, the players know it, the media knows it, and the coaches know it. It sets this week’s first-ever meeting with the Chippewas as a...Big. Fat. Trap. Game.

So, has Irish head coach Marcus Freeman sniffed any signs of his team looking ahead this week?

“No, absolutely not,” Freeman said on Thursday. “We put a lot of emphasis on staying in the moment, winning the moment and again that's been my message to the team, and it’s been that way all year. Because every Saturday we have one goal and that’s try to continue to play at our full potential and in order to do that you have to win these moments in the day. So, I remind them if their mind ever starts to drift or somebody tries to talk about the future, it’s just a great reminder for us to refocus and get back in the moment. So, we’ve had two really good practices Tuesday and Wednesday, and we need a third today.”

A Collaborative Coaching Approach

Offensive coordinator Gerad Parker said earlier this week that his offensive coaching staff is big on collaboration. Input is welcome during the week and each coach has different assignments to prepare for game day. One coach has preparation for the run game, another for second downs. He mentioned specifically that receivers coach Chansi Stuckey is responsible for two-minute drill planning.

“There’s so many different ways to lead and I would say Coach Parker is similar to me in terms of leading as a collaborative effort amongst the staff,” Freeman remarked. “I do it as a head coach, Coach Parker does it as the offensive coordinator, I did it similarly as defensive coordinator. You have to embrace the really tremendous minds that are around you. We have great minds on our offensive staff, great minds on our coaching staff and the ability to take some of those ideas and say, ok, does this fit? To me the leadership comes in. Everybody has ideas. Everybody has great opinions. So, true leadership, to me, is being able to take some of those ideas and say, can I filter this so it fits what we want to be on offense or we want to be as a football program and then implement it. So, I love that Coach Parker has been able to do that, really just to use those great and brilliant minds we have on the offensive side of the ball and you’re seeing it come to fruition on the game field.”

Scout Team Standouts

Freshman Devan Houstan was named scout team player of the week for his work leading up to last week’s NC State game. It’s the second time Houston has earned the honor already. Freeman says the scout teams give players like Houstan a great chance to catch the eyes of the coaching staff during the season.

“We made it a big deal in our team meeting that Devan won scout team player of the week twice and I’ve had a couple of guys walk into my office and and say, ‘What do I have to do to win scout team player of the week’, and I said you’ve got to impress the coach that you’re going against because those are the ones that vote and tell me who the scout team player of the week is,” Freeman explained. “So, you try to create that...almost that competitive desire to want to be recognized, but also it has to be important. If you don’t watch it as a coach with your players, if they’re not held accountable for their performance on scout team, then really, to me, you won’t maximize the results of what you can get. So, those scout team guys have to understand how important it is that we get a great look.

“I love to use this story. They said Tom Brady one time was in practice and he stopped, because he said I’m not going to go against an unprepared scout team of players and coaches,” Freeman continued. “So, that’s the standard that I think our entire program has set that the scout team has to take, coaches and players have to take as much ownership as the guys that are traveling. So, we love that because it’s going to make the offense and defense better, but also it gives us a chance to really develop some of those guys on scout teams. If you don’t watch it and you don’t coach them, they’re not going to improve.

“Can those guys catch our eyes on scout team and say, hey let’s see what he can do going against a non-scout team,” said Freeman. “Let's see what he can do against an opponent. So, we will utilize some of those guys. If we can get them in the game we will. But I think the biggest thing we have to make sure we understand is that the importance of having a great scout team will help this football program truly reach its full potential.”

Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge

Irish Breakdown Content

2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule

Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2024 Commit Rankings - Offense
2024 Commit Rankings - Defense

2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

———————

Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.

BECOME A MEMBER

Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!

Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @SeanStires
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook

Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter