Reporter asks Marcus Freeman about his inexperience after loss to Marshall

It wasn’t the start Marcus Freeman envisioned to his time as Notre Dame head coach, falling to Marshall in the home opener on Saturday after a season-opening loss to Ohio State last week. Questions are rising, especially since this is Freeman’s first head coaching job.

He faced the question about his inexperience head-on after the Fighting Irish fell to the Thundering Herd at Notre Dame Stadium.

In the postgame press conference, a reporter asked Freeman about his lack of experience as a head coach and whether that’s a factor in Notre Dame’s rough start to his tenure. He made it clear he’s going to take a hard look at everything in the program — even himself.

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“I don’t know if it’s my experience at head coach. I don’t know if that’s a reason why or a lack of execution,” Freeman said. “But it starts with me. It starts with me as the head coach and looking at myself and saying, ‘What do I have to do to help this football team?’ And really look at everything we’re doing, because the performance isn’t where we need it to be.”

With the loss, Freeman became the first Notre Dame head coach to start his tenure 0-3, counting last season’s Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State. However, his predecessor also didn’t have a great start. Brian Kelly started 1-2 in his first three games before becoming the Fighting Irish’s all-time wins leader before departing over the offseason.

One of the big concerns after the game is the health of quarterback Tyler Buchner, who left the game late in the fourth quarter with an injury. That meant Drew Pyne had to come into the game to finish things out. Freeman said he didn’t know how serious the injury was during his press conference.

Notre Dame will have a chance to right the ship next week when the Fighting Irish take on Cal in South Bend.