Marcus Freeman shares message to players after Matt Balis resigns as strength and conditioning coach

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman saw his coaching staff lose a valued member this week when head strength and conditioning coach Matt Balis stepped down after six seasons in South Bend, Ind. It came on the precipice of starter of the Fighting Irish’s preseason work.

Freeman addressed the media after the first practice of fall camp earlier in the week and explained what he told the group following the change in the strength and conditioning room.

“Change, it’s inevitable, and that’s what I told the group,” Freeman said. “I was as hurt as anybody by losing somebody I respect and enjoy working with. That hurts. But time doesn’t stop. That’s the reality of this thing. We have to continue to move forward. Leaders lead. Leaders continue to lead. I don’t care if Matt Balis is our head strength coach or Marcus Freeman’s the head strength (coach). Leaders lead and that’s what they’ll continue to do because time is not slowing down.”

Balis had been a head strength coach for over 15 years for four different programs before his resignation earlier this month. He had start as the head strength and conditioning coach at Virginia before taking jobs at Mississippi State, UConn and then Notre Dame.

His departure comes at a difficult time for the Fighting Irish. Not only did it occur right before fall camp but it also happened the season when Notre Dame opens it season Week 0 versus Navy in Ireland. The team doesn’t have a bye week until Week 8.

“We understand that we have an objective in front of us in making sure we’re ready for Dublin, Ireland,” Freeman said. “Our guys did a great job of refocusing themselves. It’s not saying like it doesn’t affect them. But we have to continue to move forward. This won’t be the last change or this won’t be the last thing that happens to this group. I don’t know when the next thing or change will happen but time doesn’t stop. We have to move forward and we have to do a good job as coaches to be there for players. I’m not saying we’re not there for our players like hey, you got to move on. No, we got to be there to listen to them and be there to support our guys. Coaches got to support each other. But we have to continue to move forward.”