BURLAGE: Thanks for the memories at Notre Dame, Coach Kelly, 'Appreciate it'

The contradictory images and events from those four memorable days at Notre Dame in late 2021 remain as vivid today as they did three-plus years ago. 

The saga began when Brian Kelly delivered a callous three-minute, 38-second farewell speech to his Irish players after news leaked that he was jetting to LSU. 

“I felt it was the time in my life for another challenge,” Kelly told his guys. “And I saw that opportunity in a short window.”

“There’s no one to blame,” Kelly said in closing. “Thank you guys, appreciate it.”

And with that, Kelly was whisked away up Leahy Drive, and off to the South Bend airport to go pick up the first installment of his $95 million LSU contract. 

Four days later, enter Marcus Freeman — complete with the video of him being wildly celebrated inside the Irish locker room by that same group of Kelly’s players. That moment remains a symbolic passing of the torch that changed the course of Fighting Irish football. 

The first message Freeman delivered to his players was one of selflessness, unity, honesty, openness, loyalty and pride. 

Freeman called it the “Gold Standard.” 

“And this standard will be unwavering,” Freeman said during his introductory press conference. “And this is the standard that will drive this football program to its 12th national championship.”

So here we are, barely three years later. And after beating Indiana, Georgia and Penn State, the new coach is only one win away from already making good on his title promise with a program the old coach said could never win one because all the pieces weren’t in place.

“I want to be in an environment where I have the resources to win a national championship,” Kelly said upon his arrival in Baton Rouge. “…That’s why I’m here.”

Two contrasting styles and two contrasting coaches are in two different places right now. 

Kelly muddled through a disappointing 9-4 season that included a three-game losing streak and an unexpected 27-16 upset loss to Florida that had LSU fans chanting “Fire Kelly” during the following home game. 

Meanwhile, Freeman has become a rock star and the face of the Irish program, and the Notre Dame administration is all-in. 

Even before this magical playoff run, Notre Dame liked what they saw from their skipper who turned just 39 years old the day after the Penn State win, and rewarded Freeman with a lucrative four-year contract extension that would keep him on the Irish sideline through 2030.

“And the commitment goes well beyond myself,” said Freeman, a multiple-time national coach of the year honoree this season. “[The administration] is dedicated to ensuring all aspects of our program are competitive within the upper echelon of college football.”

A $9 million head coach, two $2 million coordinators, one $1 million quarterback, and ground broken on a massive $100 million football facility upgrade … if you wanna play like the big dogs, you gotta pay like the big dogs, and Notre Dame is all-in with these important investments because of the hope Freeman provides. 

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman: Born to lead

Former national championship head coach Jim Tressel coached Freeman at Ohio State in 2007-08, and then launched his former player’s coaching career in 2010 with a graduate assistant position at OSU.

Tressel explained that the reason he offered Freeman an entry-level coaching job had nothing to do with any schematic knowledge, but it was more about a loyalty to the program, a dedication to his teammates, and a genuine relatability.

“Marcus [Freeman] always had a calm about him as a player. He was methodical, never too high, never too low,” Tressel said. “So, I’m not surprised that he’s carrying that same smooth approach at Notre Dame and that it’s working for him.”

Straying from that smooth approach would’ve been easy for Freeman early this season, given the high mountain to climb after the loss to Northern Illinois in Game 2.  

Following that defeat, Freeman’s task ahead was clear, and daunting. 

Ten straight wins to a playoff berth. Fourteen straight wins to a national championship. No slip-ups allowed. In other words, every game Notre Dame played after Sept. 7, was a CFP elimination game. 

But instead of shying away from the NIU loss that seemingly ended this season before it ever really began, Freeman embraced it, learned from it, reminded his players about it, won 13 straight games after it, and now finds himself as the first Black coach to ever make a national title game.

“I’m not surprised at all,” Tressel said. “Marcus wasn’t going to panic. He was going to figure out what went wrong, and take every opportunity to fix it. And look at him now.”

From entry-level grad assistant just 14 years ago, to one of the highest-paid head coaches in the business, to a coach who’s on the fast track to winning a national championship, that’s Marcus Freeman. 

Thank you Coach Kelly, appreciate it.