What ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said about Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman on Pat McAfee Show
ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit is saying what everyone else is social media posting and thinking out loud or to themselves. He can not get enough of the way Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman led the Fighting Irish onto the field in College Station last Saturday.
If you haven’t seen the video, you live under a rock. If you have, well, here it is one more time, for the zillionth time, for good measure.
“I love that,” Herbstreit said on the Pat McAfee Show this week. “I love that.”
Turns out, Herbstreit loves a lot about what Freeman is doing for the Irish in South Bend. He called Notre Dame’s 23-13 win over Texas A&M, and he’s definitely been keeping as close of an eye as he can from afar.
“I don’t know if there is another coach that relates to the players better, genuinely, authentically, than Marcus Freeman,” he said.
Here are some other tidbits from Herbstreit’s time spent talking about Freeman and Notre Dame with McAfee. He was not shy to praise what Freeman is accomplishing for the program.
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On Freeman’s coaching in Week 1
“He’s got Jim Tressel and his style, playing with him. He even told me before the game, ‘Hey, a punt is OK. We’re breaking in a freshman left tackle. We got some new people up there.’ And then look in the fourth quarter; ‘I told you!’ He told his guys, ‘We’re going to find a way to win in the fourth quarter.’ They’re only going to get better with Riley Leonard at quarterback. And that offensive line is so young. When they come together, I like the skill.”
On what Freeman has done for Notre Dame in recruiting
“You know when a team comes on the field, like Pat, you’re big on that, ‘they’re big,’ Notre Dame, through recruiting, through the portal, they look so different than where they were a few years ago. They used to always have big linemen, big tight ends, big D-linemen, big linebackers, man, their skill just looks different. They’re long. They’re bouncing. Athletic guys.”
On what is ahead for Freeman and Notre Dame
“You look at their schedule, probably going to be favored in every game they play. The game at the end of the year all of a sudden with USC at the LA Coliseum is a game to put at the back of your mind, but Notre Dame is mature, they got a great group together. I think they’re a team that’s going to be in the playoff without a doubt. It’s just a matter of how much better can they get and can they stay healthy because I don’t know what kind of depth they have right now.”
On the overall job Freeman is doing
“That’s your first head job, you’re the head coach at Notre Dame. That’s as tough an ask in the college game as there is. But I tell you what’s great, he’s being himself, but when you talk to him, you become a bigger fan. A way bigger fan. He is as good of a guy as there is. It’s no wonder they’re recruiting well. The program is [going up] with him. They’re only just beginning, in my opinion, of where they’re going with him as a head coach.”
