Marcus Freeman's First Spring Is About Creating An Identity, Especially On Offense

The first 15 practices of Marcus Freeman's career at Notre Dame were about finishing what had already been established. His next 15 practices - well 14 practices and spring game - is about continuing to lay the foundation for what he wants the program to be about.

Of course that worked started in winter workouts, but the spring provides a much different opportunity. It's one where Freeman and the Notre Dame coaching staff establish what the identity of what the 2022 football team will be about.

Look, I love X's and O's as much as anyone, but that isn't what matters most for Notre Dame this spring. There is a time and place for that to become the focus, and of course they will spend time on scheme this spring, but it takes a back seat to establishing an identity.

An identity isn't your run-pass ratio, or your favorite run schemes or pass game concepts. It's not about your blitz percentage or the fronts you emphasize, it's not about your dime package or your go-to coverages. Identity is about how you play, not what you call. Notre Dame struggled to find an identity the last decade, and Freeman needs to address that immediately.

We began to see glimpses of that in the bowl preparation, with increased practice tempo and competition being more of a focal point. That, however, is just a small first step for Freeman and the Fighting Irish.

The need to establish an identity is especially true on offense. Freeman has made it clear he doesn't have a specific type of offense he wants, and he's giving offensive coordinator Tommy Rees the authority to build the offense the way he wants.

With Rees now in complete control of the offense, and with a brand new supporting cast from a staff standpoint, he has an opportunity to completely remake the offense in his own image. Rees must decide exactly what he wants the offense to be now and in the future.

Again, I'm not talking about scheme, I'm talking about what is at the foundation of how they play the game. It's about how the unit prepares in the offseason, how it goes about practice every day, how it goes through film sessions and the attitude with which the players and coaches go about their business in all areas.

Does Notre Dame want to be more of an up-tempo team that is focused on volume over precision? Or does Rees want the offense to be more about precision and efficiency? Both work, both can result in explosive offenses, but what is best for Notre Dame?

The answer to that question will dictate everything the offense does this spring.

Based on what we saw from Rees during the second half of the season and in the bowl game, it would seem he is more influenced by pro-style offenses as opposed to college spread offenses or Air Raid systems. If I'm right about that the identity on offense will be more about efficiency and precision.

What this means is instead of focusing on high-octane tempo, which requires practice to be about going as fast as possible, maximizing the number of reps and coaching on the fly and through film, the offense will be more about striving for perfection.

With the latter there is a greater focus on getting it right. It requires a focus on strong fundamentals, because how you play is every bit as important as what calls you make. That means if you need to repeat a rep over and over to get it right, you repeat it over and over. It means during individual periods there needs to be a much greater emphasis on fundamentals and technical precision.

Another key component to this type of identity is toughness and physicality, especially up front.

An offense with talent that focuses as much attention on how to play (technique, fundamentals, precision) as it does on play calls and scheme can be very, very dangerous. Notre Dame has talent, now it's about Rees getting that talent to turn into elite production.

We don't yet know what Rees will do when it comes to establishing an identity, but perhaps the coaching hires this winter give us a glimpse into what he is thinking.

Let's be honest, Rees knows what kind of coach Harry Hiestand is. He worked hard to get Hiestand back to Notre Dame, and that is not a move you push for if you don't expect physicality and an emphasis on technique over scheme, especially up front.

Deland McCullough is considered one of the best running back coaches in the business, and it's not about scheme, it's about how his players play the game.

Chansi Stuckey brings a NFL playing background to the offense, and if he wants to have success at Notre Dame he must focus far, far more on fundamentals and route technique than his predecessor.

That's three offensive coaches that come from the NFL (Stuckey was a player), which is telling.

If the staff is what I think it is, and Rees turns the offense into what I think he will, we are going to see a much, much different looking unit. The schemes won't look all that different, but how the offense executes will change dramatically.

That is the kind of identity that can lead to the Notre Dame offense going from being the middle of the road unit it was for the last decade to being an explosive, high-scoring unit that will give the Irish a chance to start doing damage in the postseason.

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