Marcus Freeman on NFL Draft disparity between Notre Dame, Cincinnati: ‘That shouldn’t happen’
Make no mistake. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is proud of what his former employer accomplished at the NFL Draft last month.
The Cincinnati Bearcats had nine players selected in the draft. Only Georgia (15) and LSU (10) had more. Cincinnati even had more selections than Alabama (seven). Six of the nine Bearcats who heard their names called were defensive players. Freeman, of course, was the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati from 2017-20.
Freeman didn’t have a chance to truly affect the way Notre Dame fared in this year’s draft. He’s only been with the program for 15 months. But after the Irish only had two selections, safety Kyle Hamilton and running back Kyren Williams, Freeman added something to his long list of goal points he wishes to cross off as the man in charge of the Irish.
It’s hard to fathom such a proud program with as much pedigree and prestige having just a pair of draft picks and seven less than a group of five school that has 488 fewer all-time wins.
“That shouldn’t happen at Notre Dame,” Freeman said at the Rockne Gala in Chicago last week. “And that, hopefully for the future, won’t ever happen again.”
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If Freeman keeps bringing in the type of players who have committed to Notre Dame since he arrived, it won’t. The Irish currently have the No. 1 class of 2023 in the On3 Consensus Football Team Recruiting Rankings. Elite classes lead to wins. And championships.
And, ultimately, a substantial number of NFL Draft picks.
“Don’t think that talent didn’t have anything to do with that,” Freeman said on Cincinnati having more 2022 NFL Draft picks than every school in the country except for two. “That goes back to why recruiting is so important. Nine NFL players on that team, two on ours.”
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The Irish should have a bevy of 2023 NFL Draft selections led by tight end Michael Mayer and defensive end Isaiah Foskey. They could be the top prospects at their respective positions by the end of the year. Offensive lineman Jarrett Patterson and safety Brandon Joseph could double Notre Dame’s 2022 total.
But if those are the only Notre Dame players that go off the board, then it’ll still be less than half the number of Bearcats who went a few weeks ago. That’s a pretty enlightening proposition. Notre Dame is still a few years and a couple stacked recruiting classes away from approaching double digits in a single draft class.
Notre Dame has not had nine or more NFL Draft picks since 1994. The Irish had six in 2019 and 2020 and eight in 2021, but those classes — ones that led Notre Dame to two College Football Playoff appearances — gave way to a group of players not quite as talented.
Freeman is determined to restore talent level and let wins come as a byproduct. Maybe then Notre Dame won’t lose to the likes of Cincinnati on home turf and miss the College Football Playoff while the Bearcats waltz on in.
Remember: “That shouldn’t happen at Notre Dame.”
