Marcus Freeman details decision not to cancel Notre Dame spring game
Several programs around college football are cancelling their spring games. Notre Dame will not be one of them, head coach Marcus Freeman confirmed Wednesday morning, even if it might not look exactly like it always has.
The 94th Blue-Gold Game is set for 2 p.m. ET on April 12.
“We will have a spring game,” Freeman said. “It will be a version of a spring game. It’s important to me to use that as an opportunity, one to let our players, yes, perform in front of our fans. But two, it’s a chance to really integrate our community and our fans with this football program.”
The annual showcases are being cancelled for several reasons, outlined by On3’s Pete Nakos in a story in late February. Nebraska was concerned about tampering. Texas acknowledged the “wear and tear” of the extended College Football Playoff. USC did not want to risk injury, which Notre Dame dealt with when running back Gi’Bran Payne tore his ACL in the 2024 edition.
However, Freeman decided that the pros — specifically integrating the program with the community — outweighed the cons.
“I think that’s so important to me, to give the opportunity to fans that maybe typically don’t get the opportunity to come to a Notre Dame game,” Freeman said “Or, if they do, to give them another opportunity to come and engage with our players. I don’t want to take away from that.
“That went into my decision of keeping our spring game. I want to use this opportunity for our team and our football program to make sure that we are really interacting with our fans.”
Freeman did, however, change the start date of spring ball. He said Wednesday that he altered the beginning of Notre Dame’s spring practice schedule — originally set some time in 2024 — back by about two weeks.
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Obviously, he made the change due to the 16-game season, which ended Jan. 20, that the Irish just endured.
“The reality is I did not want to cheat the strength and conditioning phase, the development phase of our team,” Freeman said. “I think it’s really important, and there was an integration of different guys based on the amount of plays they played last year in terms of when they started that strength and conditioning phase. That’s why I decided to push it back two weeks to get started.”
Ten of Notre Dame’s returning contributors will have their workloads modified in spring practice. It’s one of many changes the Irish had to make to their offseason protocol following the CFP run.
The spring game still might be one of them. By using the phrase “a version of a spring game,” Freeman indicated it will likely be altered in some form. But unlike other schools around the country, the Irish won’t completely do away with theirs.
