Marcus Freeman addresses emotions of Jordan Clark spitting incident from Louisville game

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman addressed defensive back Jordan Clark‘s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and the spitting incident that occurred during the game against Louisville.

Freeman didn’t directly accuse any player on Louisville of spitting. Instead, he emphasized that it’s on Clark to respond better and remember to put the team before himself when he is in a situation like that moving forward.

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“You’ve got to put team glory in front of yourself,” Marcus Freeman said. “And Jordan Clark would be the first one to tell you that’s tough. Sometimes people test your manhood. But you still have to be able to put team before me.”

Jordan Clark was hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty about midway through the third quarter for headbutting a Louisville player. The optics on the play were poor with the broadcast catching him throw a headbutt away from the all on a play. He was then pulled where Marcus Freeman was seen speaking to him in the moment.

Here is the disgusting unsportsmanlike penalty from DB Jordan Clark.

Inexcusable. pic.twitter.com/gmvY4bPvI8

— Notre Dame Fighting Irish (@Insidetheirish) September 28, 2024

Later, Jordan Clark to social media where he claimed that his reaction was to being spit on and he was responding to that action in the moment.

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“I know we’ve had a long conversation. He regrets the penalty. He regrets his response. Nobody’s worth 15 yards. And it’s such a challenging situation to have to do that. We’re all innately selfish people. I think we’re all naturally that way. But in that moment, in those moments in every game, you have to put your team before yourself and you have to let things go,” Freeman said.

“And that was my message to the entire team and to Jordan. As you move forward in life, there’s gonna be times this is bigger than the game of football, you’re gonna have to let some things go because of what could happen in that situation. I mean, it’s not the outcome that you want.”

In the end, the penalty didn’t cost Notre Dame the game, which the Irish won 31-24. That makes the incident an excellent teaching opportunity.

“So, I thought it was a great teaching opportunity for a guy who cares about the team. He does. He had just a selfish moment. He knows that. We love him,” Freeman said. “As I said before, he owned it but we gotta continue to learn from it. But he has to understand that football is just a reflection of life. That, at times, you’re gonna have to let some things go, put maybe the greater good of your family, your kids, your wife, in front of yourself. Because what you don’t want to do is make a decision that’s going to negatively impact a lot of people.”

Notre Dame will look to avoid any other penalties like the unsportsmanlike conduct that Jordan Clark got hit with on Saturday when they take on rival Stanford.