Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly sent a shot across the bow of college football Friday evening when the school announced the hiring of former Cincinnati defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman as Clark Lea’s replacement at the same position.
Please welcome Bob Hinton Defensive Coordinator/LB coach, @Marcus_Freeman1. āļø
š° https://t.co/ZMIEQvRhun#GoIrish x #Rally pic.twitter.com/Ovy89FyBBb
ā Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) January 8, 2021
Big move. Huge.
By itself, this would’ve been huge; Freeman was maybe the most sought-after assistant coach in the country so far this off-season after what he’s done over the past few years, transforming a lower-level Bearcats outfit into a top-5 defense in the nation by yards per play in 2020, and a top-10 one in scoring defense. But the news coming at the end of a day in which reports increasingly indicated that Freeman was headed to LSU (on a 4-year, $10M deal, no less) made the move even sweeter for Irish fans.
(Those reports that Freeman was bayou-bound don’t appear to have been unfounded: Football Scoop even reported that Freeman had gone as far as telling his players he was going to LSU before ND convinced him otherwise.)
It wasn’t just about getting a very highly-regarded coach. It was about what it represented: Brian Kelly is not screwing around. Three years after ND lost Mike Elko to a lateral move to Texas A&M for a pay raise, Kelly beat another team in the richest conference in the country – the reigning national champions, no less – for the services of the top DC on the market.
Whether it was current ND secondary coach Mike Mickens (who worked under Freeman at Cincinnati until the Irish snagged him last off-season) or certain other factors that convinced Freeman to apparently change his mind and come to South Bend, Kelly backed up his exasperated words from the Rose Bowl postgame press conference: The Irish aren’t going to stop knocking at the door separating them from the current reigning standard-bearer programs in America. Moves like this are how you keep knocking.
What will Freeman’s defense look like?
Scheme-wise, word from Cincinnati is that Freeman, like his predecessor Lea, isn’t entirely married to one particular formation and prioritizes versatility. Frankly, that’s the only way to go in today’s college football, where offenses are capable of doing so many different things. And since Lea has been recruiting those kinds of athletes the past few years, it should be a pretty straightforward transition to a new coordinator.
One interesting nugget came from ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, who indicates that Freeman’s defensive staff might not look much like Lea’s.
Expecting new #Irish defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman to have a mostly new staff on that side of the ball, Iām told. Cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens, who worked with Freeman at Cincinnati, might be lone holdover.
ā Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) January 9, 2021
That would point to a departure for longtime DL coach Mike Elston, who was considered a favorite to get Lea’s job and has been with Kelly for a long time. Safeties coach Terry Joseph has already left ND for a similar position at Texas, a move The Athletic’s Pete Sampson termed an anticipated one.
One more thing
We’ll see how Freeman’s staff shakes out, but there’s one particular area of college coaching in which Freeman is probably an upgrade over Lea: Recruiting. Freeman is widely considered an ace recruiter, helping the Bearcats reel in the top Group of 5 class in the country to date this season and getting them started on a 2022 class that was ranked (granted, it’s early) 6th in the nation.
It was no coincidence that it only took until the third quoted Brian Kelly sentence in the press release announcing Freeman’s hire for him to specifically bring up recruiting. It’s no secret to Kelly, this fan base, or anyone in the country that ND needs to bring in more elite talent to compete with the current titans of college football. Freeman, who was playing for Ohio State merely 15 years ago (he told the SB Tribune’s Eric Hansen last year that ND was well ahead of anyone else for second place in his recruitment), knows what big-time college football is like and will be able to relate to current players and future ones. Relationship-building was a Lea strength as well, but as someone who lived elite college football, Freeman can offer first-person insights.
(Incidentally, Freeman is the first African-American coordinator in the Kelly era. Better late than never!)
I’ll give the last word to Pete Sampson, who sums this whole hire up in one Tweet.
Letās call Notre Dameās hiring of Marcus Freeman what it is.
Notre Dame just made an incredible statement, a massive show of intent that itās serious about taking the next step as a program. And it beat last seasonās national champion to do it.
ā Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) January 9, 2021
Is it September 5 yet?
Very, very exciting hire! If Elston truly does leave, will be interesting to see who is nabbed to replace him. Also, been seeing Kerry Cooks’ name thrown around as Terry Joseph’s replacement. Would not be opposed.
I don’t totally understand the Cooks/Kelly relationship with Cooks leaving his Co-DC position in 2014 to be DB coach at Oklahoma, but at the time he had a good reputation for recruiting. Since we brought him back as an analyst it seems like he should be nearly a shoo-in to replace Joseph.
Wowza. Outstanding.
Wow, great news! Also, it might be good to get a fresh coach in for safeties. I wonder if having some say in coaching changes was part of the deal to get Freeman?
The only downside it seems is possibly losing Elston.
Wow, awesome move! LSU’s deal was for 2.5 mil a year. Does that mean we beat **that**???
So glad to hear he’s an ace recruiter – he may be worth more than Elko would be then. I also wonder if having such a high salary will make it more likely he sticks around longer. To go to a lower-rated head-coaching job would be a pay-cut most likely.
The defensive coaches were Lea, Elston, Mickens, and Joseph. Joseph is on his way to texas, Mickens staying, Freeman replacing Lea so the biggest question then is what happens to Elston. Didn’t I see earlier that he was connected to some DC position somewhere (like purdue)? I wonder if this is Freeman’s doing or if Elston is looking for a promotion.
Who takes over as recruiting coordinator than from Elston if he leaves? (Which would be kind of a bummer since he’s been so loyal and done such a great job with the DL)
Also who would Freeman bring in?
I think that Polian is the recruiting coordinator. But, if Elston leaves for a DC position, I have no clue who they would bring in for d-line
Best possible offseason news for this year.
Really exciting news. Lea was great and this is a criticism I made in real time, but defensive recruiting was not good enough the last 2 years. Given the on field success, nfl draft picks, plus Clark Lea perception and scheme I though be much better. Off the top of my head only Rubio, Kollie, bothello are too 100 talents from last 2 years (offense has baker, Johnson, mayer, tyree, spindler, fisher, Buchner, styles and colizie). Needless to say defensive recruiting needs to and should get much better. Iām really excited to see what freeman brings and perhaps brings out of kelly in the recruiting front.
yea i was just analyzing this and it’s true I was disappointed in the talent level on the D. CB cupboard is crazy bare. Outside of Bracy the rest are fresh/soph and there is only 1 4 star (true freshmen Riley at #313!). Weakest recruited position *by far.*
As for top 100, there’s only 3 on the defense next year (9 on the offense): Simon, Pryor, Hamilton. And of the players on defense only 45% are 4+ stars (of the players on offense 65% are 4+ stars).
DE is the next weakest spot (on the team) since this year we only brought in 3 3-stars this year (not good). Safety also only brought in 2 3-stars.
Mickens needs to step up his game too (since 3 out of the 4 freshmen corners are 3-stars).
The only thing keeping us afloat in the secondary next year is Hamilton. We need to pull a couple of elite guys in the secondary for the following year – some instant contributors.
So yes this is all to say, I agree, we need a *major* bump on D overall.
I am really happy to hear that ND has decided to get back to its roots and become one of the
Big Boys. No more Mr. Nice Guy, huh?