Notre Dame DC Marcus Freeman Is Recruiting Like He's At An Elite Program
Notre Dame hired Marcus Freeman just over a month ago (Jan. 8), and in the short period he's been on campus the young coordinator has made a major impact on the recruiting trail.
Much of the talk we hear about recruiting at Notre Dame in recent seasons is how difficult it is, how many obstacles the program faces and how it's so difficult to land highly ranked prospects.
Someone forgot to tell Freeman how difficult it is to recruit the nation's best prospects. Since he's been hired the Fighting Irish have already landed two talented talented defensive ends, beating Oklahoma and Penn State for those players.
Freeman is recruiting like he's at a program that is competing for national titles ... imagine that!
The first pickup was defensive end Tyson Ford, the nation's No. 64 overall player and No. 5 strongside end according to Rivals. Prior to Freeman being hired it was assumed Ford would go to Oklahoma and Aiden Gobaira would go to Penn State. The combination of Freeman and defensive line coach Mike Elston quickly dispatched those two programs, and now the Irish have the makings of an elite DL haul.
Freeman is making a run at a number of the nation's top players. Look at what he's done with linebackers and defensive backs since his decision to come to Notre Dame.
Since he was hired, Freeman has already offered the nation's No. 19 overall player (Harold Perkins) on the 247Sports composite ranking, the No. 17 player (Shawn Murphy), the No. 63 player (Niuafe Tuihalamaka), the No. 78 player (Jaylen Sneed) and the No. 230 player (Lander Barton).
Within days of getting an offer from Notre Dame, Tuihalamaka de-committed from USC and the Fighting Irish are now considered a major player for his services.
It's not just defensive end and linebacker, Freeman and corners coach Mike Mickens are also going after many of the nation's best. Mickens already had Toriano Pride (No. 240) and Jaeden Gould (No. 141) on the board, but since Freeman was hired the Irish also offered the nation's No. 20 overall player (Kamari Wilson), the No. 61 player (Khamauri Rogers), the No. 65 player (Daylen Everette), the No. 98 player (Earl Little Jr.) and the No. 123 player (Jyaire Brown), all secondary prospects.
Brown is from Ohio and is currently committed to Ohio State, but reports are since Freeman was hired the Fighting Irish are now a legit player for his services.
Freeman will have to close, of course, but if he does many of the excuses and talking points about Notre Dame being able to recruit the best of the best will finally be gone.
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