Marcus Freeman discusses criticism following comments on Notre Dame, Ohio State

Early in his coaching tenure at Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman learned an important lesson, everyone is listening to what he had to say, not just Notre Dame fans.

A former linebacker at Ohio State, Freeman drew criticism when he said that he couldn’t make the same mistake twice by not choosing Notre Dame. In the process, he implied he should have gone there instead of Ohio State. During an appearance on The Pivot, Freeman opened up about those comments and criticism that he received for them.

“That was an eye-opening experience for me, you know, but I needed it,” Marcus Freeman said. “You need to learn. You need those lessons to learn and I think about that article, that Player’s Tribune and you kind of do it where you’re being interviewed, they write it for you kind of like that, and so you’re thinking you’re talking to Notre Dame fans, right?”

As Freeman explained, he made a poor choice in assuming that only one group would read his words and forgot to take into account how others might see those words. He also expressed his appreciation for Ohio State and the lesson that the incident taught him.

“You’re not thinking about anybody else other than Notre Dame fans. And they say, ‘Why didn’t you choose Notre Dame?’ ‘Oh, man, I made a mistake. I don’t want to say no to Notre Dame twice.’ Poor choice of words because that’s all [that] people at Ohio State read. You regret your decision to choose Ohio State. That’s not, no, I wouldn’t be where I’m at without those years in Columbus, Ohio, and I value every part of it, you know,” Freeman said.

“And so it was a great lesson that you’ve got to be careful of the things you say, the things you write your interviews, because it’s not just talking to a certain group. Everybody sees it and everybody can take it a different way. So, that was a learning lesson, but if I would have never done that, I would never have learned it. So, everything happens for a reason.”

The recruits Marcus Freeman is looking for at Notre Dame

One of the most interesting things about Notre Dame is recruiting. While the Irish are traditionally a blue blood program, due to things like being an Independent, small Catholic school, and the academics, Notre Dame’s pool of players is limited compared to its aspirations.

As Marcus Freeman explained, this means he is looking for players who fit at Notre Dame.

“I think you always adjust to your kids, to the players. I was at Cincinnati for four years. Not all those kids were just ‘yes sir, no sir’ kids. But you have to adjust your coaching style to your kids and what do they need to make sure you get the outcome you want? So if you sit here and say, ‘Well, I’m gonna treat everybody the exact same,’ then you’re not going to get out of it what you need, right? There’s different individuals,” Freeman said.

“Notre Dame attracts a certain type of kid. There are certain requirements that it takes to get in here. A certain expectation. It takes, sometimes, a different person to chose this place. We’ve got a sign when you walk into our mud room downstairs, it says, ‘Choose hard.’ Choose hard. I believe Notre Dame is hard. There are some things that you have to do here that’s difficult. Not just in football. But you choose hard every single day, and it’s gonna become who you are. And the reward of that is going to be something you can’t even imagine.”