Five best quotes from Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman on The Pivot Podcast

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, as many Irish fans know, had to retire from football after his rookie year due to an enlarged heart valve. He then called Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, his college coach, and asked for a graduate assistant job.

Freeman explained on The Pivot Podcast that he called Tressel because he loved football, he loved winning and he wanted to remain part of the game. One moment in his lone season with the Buckeyes, though, made Freeman realize what he now believes coaching is all about.

“I coached the drop end position, and I remember making these tip sheets,” Freeman said. “One of my guys made a sack in the first game. He came over to the sideline, we’re hugging and we’re just celebrating, and at that moment, I said, ‘That’s what it’s about.’ It’s about young people helping young people have success.”

That’s still Freeman’s motivation today, as the head coach at Notre Dame.

“This is a great platform for me, but those dudes, I love them,” Freeman said. “I love them, and I want to see them succeed, so that’s really what I gained a passion for.”

Here are four more of Freeman’s best quotes from his 55-minute appearance on The Pivot, a podcast hosted by former NFL players Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder.

“Utilize these connections.”

Taylor asked Freeman what would’ve happened if Tressel had declined his request to add him to Ohio State’s coaching staff, and he acknowledged that his life might be completely different. That brought the second-year Notre Dame coach to a larger point.

One of Freeman’s recruiting pitches to the network of Notre Dame alums is that they can be resources for current players or younger alums, both in football and life after football. But that doesn’t matter, Freeman said, if the players don’t actively use them.

“We have to utilize these connections that we have,” Freeman said. “That’s what I tell our players now. I can talk all about this Notre Dame network, and the people that we have, but if we’re not tapping into it, really utilizing it, it’s gonna be for a waste.”

Freeman talked about the stigma behind asking for help, and that college players might feel like they’re putting themselves in a vulnerable position by doing so.

“I tell our players, ‘That’s foolish,’” Freeman said. “‘Utilize these connections that are all around us.’”

“It’s who I am.”

Freeman is the second Black head coach in Notre Dame history, as well as the second Asian-American head coach in major college football history. He went to the White House with his mom, who is Korean, in April for a state dinner hosting South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol. 

“I have so much pride in my heritage, and where my mom has come from,” Freeman said. “It’s who I am.”

Freeman remembered looking up to Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Hines Ward, who is also half Black and half Korean. In addition to working as hard as he can for his players, Freeman said he aspires to be the same kind of role model as a prominent sports figure.

“I remind myself that there’s some young people that look at a half-Black and half-Asian man and say, ‘You know what, I want to be like him,’” Freeman said. “So I want to have success because I want people that are growing up and me, that look like me, to realize, ‘There’s opportunities to do whatever the heck you want.’”

“Say yes to winning and no to money.”

Freeman made $42 thousand as the linebackers coach at Kent State. He said the best decisions he made in his career involved turning down a higher salary.

“I always tell coaches, ‘Say yes to winning and no to money,’” Freeman said. “It’s easier said than done, but if you can associate yourself with a winning program, that’s gonna take you longer than taking a job that’s gonna give you a little bit more money. That’s what I’ve learned. Money will come. If you can provide for your family, that’s what really matters.”

“They don’t bend here.”

Much has been made about an advantage other schools might have over Notre Dame in recruiting due to its academic requirements. Freeman talked about the fact that it takes a “certain type of kid” to play for the Irish, which prompted a follow-up question from Crowder: “You’re okay to miss out on a five-star, future Heisman candidate that’s not Notre Dame material?”  

“Yeah, okay, I’m gonna try,” Freeman said, smiling.

The four of them had a laugh before Freeman gave his serious answer.

“You gotta be able to say, ‘No,’ because that kid won’t have success here and you’re doing him a disservice,” Freeman said. “They don’t bend here. You gotta go to class, you gotta study, and they’re gonna hold you to these high academic expectations. We have to understand that.”

However, Freeman also said the conversation about a recruit can be more nuanced than all-in or all-out.

“Our job is to go find, maybe the next Cam Newton, or that next kid that’s gonna be a Heisman Trophy winner, that might not think he’s a Notre Dame kid, and say, ‘Oh yeah, you are,’” Freeman said. “‘You’re a Notre Dame kid.’ That’s my job. That’s our job as a staff.”