Why Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman stands with Ara, Leahy, Kelly ... so far

We said the day Marcus Freeman was hired in December of 2021 to replace outgoing Irish skipper Brian Kelly that the two coaches would forever be linked in Notre Dame annals, and inevitably be compared to one another from that day moving forward. 

And as Freeman began his third season on the Irish sideline with the opening of spring ball on Thursday, the popular skipper already stacks up very well with Kelly — and others — at least through his first two years on the job. 

Granted, Freeman took over an Irish team that went 11-2 the previous year and had won at least 10 games in five consecutive seasons. So, the cupboards were anything but bare. 

Meanwhile, Kelly took over a fading program from Charlie Weis that went only 6-6 and lost its final four games in 2009. 

But on the field, Freeman has faced tougher competition than what Kelly did after two years on the job.

Kelly played only one top-10 opponent during his first two seasons, and lost that game in 2011, 28-14 to No. 4 Stanford. 

Freeman has already played five top-10 opponents and won two of those — 35-14 over No. 5 Clemson in 2022, and 48-20 over No. 10 USC this past season — not bad, but not good enough he said.

“The great programs find a way to win those games, and that’s what we’re all striving to be,” Freeman said. “We’re all striving to be that program that is on the mountaintop.”

Another important measure to weighing a coach’s worth is how they perform against all ranked teams. 

During Kelly’s first two seasons, he played only five top-25 teams, and went 2-3. 

Freeman has already played 11 ranked teams, and impressively won seven of those.  

Interestingly, Freeman’s seven wins already over the ranked is actually the most through two seasons by any of the previous 10 Irish coaches, dating back to Terry Brennan. 

Freeman is also one of only three of those 10 Notre Dame skippers — Brennan (6-2) and Dan Devine (4-3) — who had a winning record against the ranked during their first two seasons. And, that candidate list includes Lou Holtz and Ara Parseghian, both of whom won national titles in their third seasons. 

More measures

Another important metric to coaching value is winning the close games. 

Kelly went 4-6 in the 10 one-score games he coached in during his first two seasons here. Freeman’s Irish played in nine one-score games during his first two seasons and won five of those. 

And again, Freeman said that a 5-4 record in the tight ones isn’t good enough, and finding a way to consistently win one-possession games is what separates the great programs from the good ones.

In two of Notre Dame’s highest-profile games last season, the Irish lost 17-14 to Ohio State and 31-23 to Clemson. 

Finding ways to beat the elite and win the close games will remain ongoing challenges for Freeman, as they have been for every Irish head coach since Holtz left the building in 1996.

And even Holtz struggled in these settings during his first two seasons on the job in 1986 and 1987.

Holtz went 4-7 against ranked opponents and was only 2-7 in one-score games during his first two seasons, before flipping the script, going undefeated, and winning a national title during his third season in 1988.

Avoiding the head-scratching upset is another measure worth watching for any head coach. And after losing to Marshall and Stanford in 2022 as a three-touchdown favorite in each game, Freeman stayed clear of any unthinkable losses in 2023. 

In fact, Notre Dame was at least a three-touchdown favorite six times in 2023, and it won all six of those games by an average of 39.7 points. 

Since the upset loss to Stanford in 2022, Freeman has led Notre Dame to a 16-4 record, with only one of those losses (Clemson this year) coming against an unranked opponent. For the record, Clemson finished its 2023 season with five straight wins and a No. 20 final ranking. 

So, what exactly is Freeman looking for this spring as he tries to find the third year magic of some of his predecessors? 

“The thing for me is how do we progress as we go through the spring for 15 practices,” he said. “…I think we have a mature team. We have a very intelligent team, and we have an unbelievable coaching staff. And so, I look at this as a journey to Texas A&M in that it is just a progression, to consistently see this group get better and better.”