Marcus Freeman reveals what he is most pleased with so far this spring

Marcus Freeman is in the midst of his first spring season as Notre Dame head coach. It sounds like it’s going well, and he revealed the part of camp that has pleased him the most so far.

Freeman said he’s been more than happy with the new coaching staff. Although there are some old faces still in the fold — notably offensive coordinator Tommy Rees — Freeman said the new additions are settling in well, too. Among the new faces is defensive line coach Al Washington and offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, who lead two units Freeman said stood out during a scrimmage earlier in the week.

“I’m really pleased with our coaches,” Freeman said. “We have some really, really good coaches at every single position. We challenged them to start the scrimmage today with a short-yardage scrimmage. It was great to see, man. A good battle between o-line and d-line and physicality. Being able to run the ball and stop the run is something I believe we’re going to have to be able to do.

“I think the ability for these position coaches to get with the coordinators and understand the new schemes on offense and defense, it’s been really, really great to see, man. I’m really happy with the progression this team is making.”

Marcus Freeman reflects on leadership qualities needed at Notre Dame

Marcus Freeman is looking for leaders at Notre Dame. This week, he reflected on what that means as he gets ready for his first season at the helm.

Freeman, who is already starting to instill a culture of toughness and physicality in the Fighting Irish program, spoke about the qualities needed to be a leader at Notre Dame. He broke it all down in his press conference this week during spring practice.

“I think you set standards and you’re very clear on holding them accountable,” Freeman told reporters. “To me, I don’t know if that means you mean business, but it means that hey, if you’re a leader, you set standards, but you’re willing to hold others accountable to that standard. If you don’t, then you’re just a good person or you’re a nice guy.

“But to me, the ultimate objective of being a leader is making sure we hold these guys to the standards that we set and we’re very clear on the standards that we want. That, to me, is how any great thing is accomplished.”