Marcus Freeman provides high praise on transfer safety Brandon Joseph

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman had nothing but good things to say about safety Brandon Joseph at a recent press conference. The transfer from Northwestern is acquitting himself well on the back end of the Irish defense and exudes confidence.

In three seasons in Evanston, Joseph was consistently around the ball, nabbing nine interceptions — six alone during his sophomore season — and breaking up a handful of passes. He also returned four punts last year at a 28.5-yard-per-return clip. He was an All-American in 2020. The assured, dynamic safety is already standing out to Freeman and Notre Dame’s coaching staff.

“I think he’s a natural leader,” Freeman said. “He’s confident, which is extremely important playing the defensive back position. Because, listen, if you’re not confident — I don’t know any defensive back, corner or safety that hasn’t been confident in what he does, that’s been successful. You’ve got to be confident. And B-Jo is very confident. He’s made plays. You’ve got to be a playmaker back there, he’s done that. He’s very vocal in making checks and making sure everybody’s on the same page, so that’s been good. He’s got to continue to improve just like everybody else. There was a play on the goal line I wanted him to make to end the scrimmage. But that’s why we’re coaching. That’s why he’s here. To make him better. But he’s been doing a really good job. “

While at Northwestern, Joseph’s best performance might have come in the 2020 Big Ten title game against Ohio State. Though the Buckeyes ultimately won, 22-10, the Wildcats defense gave Justin Fields and OSU’s passing attack fits. Joseph was integral to that, hauling in an interception and recording a quarterback hurry on top of four solo tackles.

Joseph showed up in big moments, something Freeman looks for in players.

“That’s something we evaluate no matter if you’re in high school or in college and you’re a transfer, we want to see how you play in those big games, right? That competitive spirit that you have to have. It’s easy to kind of show out versus, maybe, a lesser team. We want to see how these recruits, high school or college, perform in the biggest games. And if they don’t show up, we get a little bit worried,” Freeman said. “Brandon Joseph shows up in the biggest games that he played in and I’m not surprised he’s having success here.”