What Makes Marcus Freeman a Refreshing Change in College Football

Freeman sounds nothing like some big-name Big Ten coaches after recent defeats

Sep 27, 2025; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman leads the team in celebration after the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Notre Dame won 56-13. / Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Notre Dame has certainly had an attitude change under head coach Marcus Freeman, and its no surprise expectations for the program have gone up since his hiring. Sure, the recruiting is on the uptick and Notre Dame does as well as just about anyone in the transfer portal game, but it's something beyond that where the program has changed as well.

The Big Ten's Big Time Travel Excuses

Oct 4, 2025; Pasadena, California, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin (middle) looks on after defeated by UCLA Bruins 42-37 at Rose Bowl. / Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Pick a week once the conference slate of the Big Ten football season begins and chances are extremely high you can find a head coach complaining about the travel.

Last week it was James Franklin noting how difficult it was for Penn State to get to Pasadena for a bout with what had been a downright awful UCLA squad.

The week before that it was Lincoln Riley of USC, who probably complains that the sun comes up in the east, who blamed the travel for a Trojans' loss at Illinois.

There have been and will continue to be more. However, it's funny that Dan Lanning at Oregon, who could have as many travel complaints as anyone if he wanted them, doesn't dip into that.

Marcus Freeman's Lack of Excuses is Refreshing

Sep 27, 2025; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman reacts with a player during the second quarter against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. \ / Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

If any coach nationally can complain about the demands of an absurd travel schedule, its the head coach at Notre Dame traditionally.

For example, Notre Dame closed last season with a night game against an always incredibly physical Army team in New York before traveling cross-country to Los Angeles to take on USC a week later.

Although planning was done to make for as smooth a travel as possible, complaining was never done in front of a camera or microphone. It was just factored into planning and handled, as Notre Dame beat both squads and moved onto the College Football Playoff.

Notre Dame's Hectic Travel is Nothing New

For longer than teams have been flying to games, Notre Dame has been making annual trips to both coasts. It started early on with games in New York and Los Angeles and has grown to include regular ventures to Florida, Texas, and more.

Entering the 2025 season, of the teams given the best betting odds to win the national championship, Notre Dame trailed only Oregon and LSU for miles to be traveled this season. In fact, Penn State travels nearly 1,000 miles less than Notre Dame for road games this fall.

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Takeaway

There might not be anything in sports, besides LeBron James' retirement rumors, that I'm more sick of hearing about than the crazy travel Big Ten teams have to make.

They can't wait to tell you all off-season about how great the conference is and how it truly goes from coast to coast. Each year, the excuses for travel grow, though, with this one being no different.

It's refreshing to hear Freeman, who, if he wanted to, could make excuses about a lot of things, choose not to do so, and instead simply plan on fixing whatever problem the Notre Dame football program is facing.

Even last week, when the officiating was clearly awful all afternoon against Boise State, Freeman directed his postgame comments regarding it towards praising the work the officials put in.

In a college football world full of excuse makers, Freeman reminds me of my high school coach, Lenny Onsen, and his "Excuses justify failure" philosophy.

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