Notre Dame Recruiting Notebook: Marcus Freeman Talks 2022 Class, NIL, Recruiting Plan
Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman talked with the media on Wednesday about the incoming 2022 class. Here are the highlights of Freeman's press conference.
On how to deal with the NIL issue
"You got to show them that you have a plan. But there are certain roles within the NCAA that you can't do. And we can't say we're providing this name, image, and likeness deal for you and things of that nature. We know it's real. And they know we have a plan to try to help promote it. But we can't break the rules. And we won't break the rules. But we know it's a part of recruiting in the future and recruiting in the present."
On how Notre Dame will deal with other schools who are aggressively selling the NIL against them
"We do things Notre Dame way. And I've told this staff that we're going to do everything we do with integrity and do it the right way. And we're going to win by outworking people. And that's going to be our mindset in football in recruiting. We're going to outwork our opponents. So, I don't want to do anything that has to do with breaking the rules."
On pushing back against negative recruiting
"My answer to every kid that might have something planted in his head is, 'Hey, we're going to do things the hard way here.' That's the only answer there is, is that whatever question they may have about Notre Dame, it's, 'Hey, is there an easier way to do it?' I don't care if it's a living situation, I don't care if it's the location. Is there an easier way to do it, and make sure these kids understand we're going to do things the hard way. That's what makes us unique. That's what makes us special is that everything here is a challenge.
"If you're here for three, four, or five years, and every day you wake up and you're willing to pursue that challenge, you're going to be better because of it on the long end, right? Because you're willing to wake up and challenge yourself in the classroom, challenge yourself in society, challenge yourself in a football program, when you get finished here after four years, you're going to be better and more prepared because of it."
On his linebacker class
"But, man, it was a position of need. Well, Nolan Ziegler was committed, obviously, when I got hired. Josh Burnham, I think, was the next one, and then Junior (Tuihalamaka) and Jaylen (Sneed), they were back-to-back kind of in this summer. Those are huge additions to this class. We needed it.
"You know, we're losing three, maybe four linebackers as we move forward. We knew that was a position where we had to bring in some guys that can be of immediate help, and the guys that can develop, and that's still to be determined, which of those guys are. But I think the talent level is there, the skill set is there for what we need in the future.
On if he could’ve signed Sneed if he didn’t have a long-time relationship with BJ Payne
"Yeah, I think so, because he's a kid that is intelligent and cares about academics, right? You have to care about your education if you want to make it here at Notre Dame. You don't have to be a rocket scientist. You don't have to be a 32 ACT. You have to care about school. You have to care about doing things the right way. You have to want to work hard and understand it. I'm not always going to take the easy route, and that's who Jaylen Sneed is. And that's where you got to dive in to see, 'Hey, does this person care about his academic future? Does he care about life after football?' If you do, then Notre Dame is going to be a great opportunity for you."
On how Notre Dame improves at wide receiver recruiting
"I know the minute we got done with the press conference, obviously, we had to go see Tobias (Merriweather). That's the first place we got to go. We stopped and we saw Billy (Schrauth) first on our way to go see Tobias. To get him a part of this class is huge, it's huge. We were in his house in I think 9:30 West Coast time at night. So, it was almost midnight here or after midnight, that was a very important gift for us.
"We will go back after the season and we'll address and will look and say, 'Hey, where are we at with the guys that can possibly come back for another year versus are those guys leaving?' What numbers-wise do we need to address in the wide receivers room? If we need to go and look at the transfer portal, we will. If we need to start recruiting more high school kids for the following '23 class, we will. Those are still something that's an ongoing process in terms of our current roster, in terms of guys leaving, and then, 'Hey, is it a transfer portal situation or is it a high school recruit situation?"
On how he kept the class together after Brian Kelly left
“It's different in terms of these kids were committed. Right now, when you talk as a defensive coordinator and try to get some of these guys to commit, you had to utilize that, right? I don't know if Jaylen Sneed and some of those guys were just dying to come to Notre Dame until you could explain to them, 'Hey, here's really what Notre Dame can do for you.' Right? 'Hey Junior, here's the things that Notre Dame can do for you that will change the rest of your life.'
"That's, to me, the ability to just try to get into their head, 'How can I communicate this so they can see what makes Notre Dame different?' Now, when you talk about being a head coach, these kids were already committed. It was about, 'Hey, nothing's changing, right?' The leadership might be changing, Notre Dame's not changing. You committed to Notre Dame because it's Notre Dame. The location's not changing.' And so, it was just trying to get these guys to understand that, 'Hey, it's okay. Stay committed. Let's sign. You made the right decision.’"
Did he ask recruits to wait until February to sign?
"No, we wanted all of our guys signed right now, and get it done in December just so we know who's coming in mid-year. I think we have 12 mid-year enrollees. And that's huge for us. We wanted to get the guys that were committed signed. If you weren't ready to sign today, we weren't probably going to view you as committed to this place. That was our intention, and that's what happened."
On selling Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman at the same time
"Well, I hope they know that one, there's always in college football the uncertainty of, 'Who's gonna be the head coach?' Hopefully, they know that I plan to be here for a long time until maybe Jack (Swarbrick) or somebody forces me out of this place. And so, I want them to know that ‘Hey, you're going to know the head coach on a personal level, you're going to know the leader in front of the room. But also, that's not why you come to Notre Dame. You come to Notre Dame because of the things Notre Dame will do for you, and the things that Notre Dame will do for you on the football field."
"That's what I've always sold since I've been here. Right? It's not me. Maybe I'm the one communicating it, but it's this place and the football championships and the greatness you'll achieve, and the NFL development you'll achieve here, but also, the minute you're done, and that's what you have to be able to get these guys to see is that at some point, this game is over, and it's hard to see. I remember being 17. It's hard to see the point where this game is over because they don't. They see national championship and they see the NFL. But if we can get them to see this point where it's over and the rest of their life, which we're all experiencing right now, they'll understand Notre Dame will do things that nowhere else in the country could do."
On the picture, he gives offensive recruits about how the offense will grow under Tommy Rees
"I think if you're not enhancing, you're going to get passed by. To me, it's showing them what our offense did from the start of the year to the end of the year, the enhancement that it showed, and that's going to be the same enhancement we do as we move forward. That's not scheme in terms of run, pass, this exotic scheme. It's more, 'Hey, we're going to put on a field a really, really good product, and you can see it because of what Tommy showed this year from week one to week 12.'
"They're confident, right? Tommy, you can tell these kids trust Tommy, right? They already have a relationship. You talk about Steve Angeli at quarterback, I've met Steve once, right? The ability to go in there and say, 'Hey, I'm your new head coach,' he's not committed to Marcus Freeman. He's committed to Notre Dame and obviously because of the relationship he has with Tommy Rees, and so, that was very evident that these kids on the offensive side of the ball truly trust Tommy and truly trust the future of our offense.
On starting this class as an assistant and finishing it as the head coach
:It was a little different. You wore a little bit different clothes. On Sunday, right after the Stanford game, were in Tyson Ford's home, myself and Mike Elston, as the D-Line coach and defensive coordinator, right? The next time I saw Tyson Ford, I was the head coach. It was different in terms of speaking to them in a different role. But who I am isn't changing, and that's the thing that I'm realizing being in this position, the perception of you is different at times, right?
The requirements, the responsibilities are different, but who you are as a person is who you are. I thought maybe when I'd become the head coach, I'm going to feel different. No. It's the same person. I wake up the same person every day. I go into these homes with the same personality. I might be the head coach, but it's the same personality I was when I was the defensive coordinator, or when I was linebackers coach at Purdue or Kent State. I am who I am, although, my responsibilities and my position have changed.
On the best way to recruit in 2021
"Having a relationship, an authentic relationship. You know, a personal relationship, not this figure that is very inaccessible. I want these guys to be able to access me at all times, communicate with me directly on my phone, and understand this is going to be a very personal relationship. This isn't going to be one of sell, sell, sell. I want them to know me, and to trust me as the leader of this program."
On why he has to be the lead recruiter for every prospect
"I think, one, your staff will follow the leader, right? If I'm the hardest working, and I hope we're all hard-working, but if I'm the most aggressive in trying to form relationships with these recruits, I hope I set an example for the rest of our staff that this is how we're going to do things. Right? We're going to outwork everybody in the country. We're going to do things that no one else has done. We want to be unique in how we develop relationships.
"I hope to set the standard of the example. I'm not a guy that wants to just say, 'You do this, you do that,' instead of, 'Hey, I want to be the example.' So, that's my main thought process in doing that. But also, if these kids don't know who the head coach is and have a personal relationship with the head coach, you're at a disadvantage.
"I've seen, obviously, people I've been around and have shown they have a relationship with the head coach, and they have a really good one, you've got a chance to not only land the recruit but to get the most out of them. That's what I want to do. That's the example that was set for me, and that's what I strive to do.
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