Marcus Freeman admits fear of losing is a motivator in College Football Playoff

Marcus Freeman knows fear can be a powerful motivator and in the Notre Dame head coach’s case, it’s the fear of losing.

Notre Dame hosts Indiana in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Friday night, to kick off the first round. Hosting in South Bend might feel like a dream, but it can also bring nightmares.

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The Fighting Irish’s lone loss this season was to Northern Illinois, which happened to be at home.

“Fear is a motivator. It is what it is,” Freeman said. “A lot of people are motivated by fear agree, and there’s times that I have to remind myself, what’s the result of not preparing the right way? But sometimes it takes the performance that we have versus NIU to go back and say, okay, hold on. What lessons do we have to learn? If you knew exactly what it took, the perfect formula, you would correct it right? When it’s not right. But sometimes it takes going back and saying, okay, where didn’t we prepare the right way? And that’s after a win too.”

Fear of losing? Freeman definitely has it being the favorite in this first round playoff game. But perhaps that driving force is what made this team better than the others he’s had.

It landed him a contract extension after all.

“There’s situations that happen in a win that you got to go back and say, Okay, we didn’t perform the way we needed to in this situation, third down offense, third down defense, personnel, whatever the situation may be, special teams, hold on, is our preparation,” Freeman said. “Is this something that’s showing up in practice? If it’s not okay, was this a schematic thing that we weren’t ready for? And I think that’s the mindset I have. 

“I still believe in preparation. I choose to believe that is the number one indicator that gives your program a chance to have success on Saturday. And I won’t stray from that. And that’s what we’re going to focus on right now as we prepare for this upcoming game.”

Freeman was named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award and has been lauded for turning the Irish around after their early-season loss to Northern Illinois. The Irish rattled off 10-straight wins after NIU, nine of which they won by double-digits. Before NIU, Freeman picked up his biggest win at Notre Dame: A 23-13 victory over Texas A&M in College Station, Texas.