How has Marcus Freeman changed Notre Dame’s identity? Clemson series impact? Irish mailbag

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Welcome back to the Notre Dame mailbag.

Shout out to a question that didn’t technically make it. Michael S. asked about stories I wish I’d been able to tell during 24 years on the beat but never got the chance. There are some unsolved mysteries, like the Manti Te’o catfishing saga or how Notre Dame got itself into the George O’Leary fiasco. I once pitched the idea of golfing with Brian Kelly. Or embedding with the program to explain how a game plan comes together. I wanted to go to class with engineering major Joe Alt and try to eat the daily diet of Aamil Wagner. I’d be willing to sign the waivers necessary to work out with Loren Landow.

I’ve got a handful of these story ideas in the works for this season because I know that’s what you want to read (and I want to write). Spending the week at Miami (OH) last season, hitting the alumni circuit with Marcus Freeman and being an equipment manager for a day at Louisville all made for fun reads.

Which is all a way of me asking that if you’ve got ideas, post them below in the comments. I’d love to read them. And maybe write them.

OK, let’s get to the mailbag.

What would you say is the biggest identity shift by Marcus Freeman from Brian Kelly (2017-21) and how does that stick? Playing up in big moments? What else? It feels like the strengths of the team remain, but the depth and mentality are far superior now. — Colin K.

Freeman notched three top-10 wins in a row last winter. Brian Kelly had four top-10 wins during his entire Notre Dame tenure. We don’t need more evidence on big-game performances, although Kelly’s 42-game win streak against unranked opponents is more impressive than many are willing to acknowledge. Marshall and Northern Illinois can happen. Beating everyone you’re supposed to beat isn’t as easy as it looks.

The biggest change, at least when it comes to Notre Dame’s roster, is how Freeman manages the portal versus how Kelly did (or was allowed to). Look at this week’s highly scientific ranking of all 30 scholarship transfers into Notre Dame during the past decade. You’ll probably notice how many of those came on Freeman’s watch. Last year’s team had eight transfers. Kelly had nine combined in his final five seasons.

High school recruiting has improved under Freeman, but it’s not like he’s blown Kelly’s classes out of the water. The tectonic change in roster construction is what each has been able to do in the portal. That’s a durable change that should keep Notre Dame out of rebuilding mode in perpetuity. As long as the football program can attack the portal with NIL investment at its back, the success of last season should “stick.”

Yes, Freeman has an emotional intelligence that resonates with college football players in a way that Kelly did not. Kelly never had a Texas A&M tunnel moment. It’s not clear he could have. And that’s fine. He won a lot of games. Freeman needed to play catch-up in gameday management, though he took a leap last season in manipulating games from the sidelines. That was on display against Georgia and Penn State in a way that married football intellect with that emotional intelligence. And the end result got Notre Dame to the national title game.

On top of all this, there’s a maniacal edge to Freeman when it comes to winning that feels different from Kelly, although it’s hard to articulate why. To be truly great at this job, coaches need to be almost unhinged in their pursuit of winning. It’s not like Kelly didn’t have some of that. It’s just that Freeman seems to have it as his default setting.

What do you see as the future for Mike Mickens? He’s been an elite recruiter and coach, turning a historical weakness into one of the team’s biggest strengths. I was surprised to see him stay given he wasn’t given the defensive coordinator position. Is there a path to keep him on staff? — Matt P.

For starters, Mickens is compensated by Notre Dame as an elite defensive backs coach, which is exactly how it should be. To think about where the secondary has been during the previous 20 years to where it is now … I wouldn’t go as far as to call Notre Dame DBU, but it’s worth a conversation. We’ve come a long way from Notre Dame trotting out converted running back KeiVarae Russell to start at cornerback as a freshman.

There’s a perception among fans that elite position coaches are automatically tracked to become coordinators and then top coordinators should become head coaches. The idea that a school should automatically promote a position coach to coordinator or from coordinator to head coach because he might leave the program? It’s a terrible way to do business. Each of those three jobs is so different that the skill sets hardly carry over.

And yes, I realize Notre Dame promoted Freeman to head coach and he would have left if Jack Swarbrick had not … but that was hardly the reason elevating Freeman made sense.

Notre Dame finished No. 1 in defensive passer rating last year. (Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images)

As for Mickens, if he wants to be a defensive coordinator. It may require him leaving Notre Dame to do it. And that’s fine. If Freeman doesn’t believe Mickens is ready to be his defensive coordinator in South Bend, that doesn’t mean Mickens isn’t ready to be a defensive coordinator somewhere. My understanding is Freeman wanted a proven commodity as his defensive coordinator instead of rolling the dice on a first-timer calling the defense or leading the room. Will Chris Ash be better than what Mickens could have been? It’s impossible to know. Sometimes a first-time coordinator turns out to be Clark Lea. Sometimes it’s Corwin Brown. Sometimes an experienced defensive coordinator turns out to be Brian VanGorder. Sometimes it’s Al Golden.

The biggest question is how Mickens sees his own career arc. Will there be a coordinator opportunity at Notre Dame after Ash? Then it might be worth sticking around. Staying would almost certainly keep Mickens’ star high. It would also require the kind of patience few in the coaching industry possess, especially if Mickens wants to eventually be a head coach.

But it’s worth remembering that Mickens being one of the best defensive backs coaches in college football is hardly predictive of him being a successful coordinator. Freeman can continue to expand Mickens’ role to stress test his coordinator potential, but there are no guarantees it’s a leap a position coach can make.

Tommy Rees and Shedeur Sanders in Cleveland? I’m not even sure what the question is, I would just really like to know your thoughts. – Jared S.

How does a coach go from a quarterback room of Drew Pyne, Tyler Buchner and Steve Angeli to one with Deshaun Watson, Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel and Sanders?

How do you do that bleeping job? Godspeed, Tommy Rees.

Will this recruiting cycle be different from previous classes, where Notre Dame has started at No. 1 and a bunch of decommitments knocked the Irish down? — Toni L.

Short answer: Yes.

But it’s less complicated than how new general manager Mike Martin has reimagined the recruiting operation or how changes to back-of-the-house staff have updated Notre Dame’s talent chase. That stuff matters, but not as much as playing for the national title and having a head coach fully invested in recruiting. Notre Dame spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund its recruiting operation, never mind the NIL money on top of it. And that’s all important. It’s just a long way from that run through the College Football Playoff, paired with a head coach who resonates with top prospects because he forces the issue.

Notre Dame is no longer selling the idea of challenging for a national championship. It has game tape as supporting evidence. It’s the difference between showing a prospect blueprints of your new football facility and opening its doors.

Freeman opened the doors last season.

Will there still be decommitments? Of course. Notre Dame will never be immune to teenagers being teenagers. And the staff has to keep pushing boundaries of who fits Notre Dame and who can be convinced to try. It’s hard to imagine Freeman passing on the next Keon Keeley or Deuce Knight if he shows interest. However, halfway through this cycle, Notre Dame’s 14-man haul doesn’t include a prospect who feels like a reach. That’s a change from past classes entering summer. Some of that has to do with better identifying fits. But a lot of it comes down to Notre Dame selling a product that just played for the national title instead of only aspiring to get there.

Is anything like Peacock’s “Here Come the Irish” series from last year in the works for this coming season? — John K.

That will be an annual production.

Notre Dame just announced a 12-year scheduling agreement with Clemson, while also looking at scheduling Miami and Florida State more frequently. It seemed pretty clear last year the CFP selection committee valued win-loss records over strength of schedule. Fans prefer marquee games against big brands. Does this make sense when the goal is to consistently qualify for the CFP if the committee doesn’t value stronger schedules? — Daniel J.

It’s a fair question, although it’s worth remembering a couple of things.

1. The series doesn’t start until 2027, at which point the format of the College Football Playoff may have expanded to 14 or even 16 teams, which may include automatic access for Notre Dame based on its ranking.
2. Just because the CFP committee included teams based more on win-loss record than strength of schedule once doesn’t mean it will keep doing it.

I hear what you’re saying about the upside of making your schedule more difficult in an era of college football tilted to the postseason. As much as I love college football’s regular season, how we remember Notre Dame football moving forward will come down to December and January … not September, October and November. That’s not saying beating USC or Michigan wouldn’t resonate in this new era, just that it’s not the only thing that matters. Ask Ohio State how much losing to Michigan hurt … two months after the actual loss. It’s just a new world. A loss that used to be an existential crisis is now just painful.

As for Notre Dame specifically, the Clemson series (with Florida State and Miami more regularly) means there won’t be another schedule like last season, which was the worst I’ve covered in 24 years on the beat. There was no marquee home game and it felt like Notre Dame basically played a two-game schedule of Texas A&M and USC. Notre Dame needs a good schedule to sell tickets. It needs a good schedule to help NBC. Remember when the network paid up to help Notre Dame stay independent? Well, you’ve got to deliver better inventory to your broadcast partner than Northern Illinois, Miami (OH), Louisville, Stanford, Florida State and Virginia.

But on the topic of making the CFP, last year’s schedule meant Notre Dame was headed to a minor bowl at 10-2. The lack of quality competition removed a safety net that SEC or Big Ten schedules usually guarantee. Adding Clemson with Texas, Alabama and Michigan puts some slack in the system for Notre Dame. The bet is that future CFP committees will value schedules more than last year’s did. That’s not to say the CFP got it wrong, but every system has a first time through and an adjustment to follow.

Here’s hoping schedule strength matters more to the CFP moving forward. And you can enjoy a big-game weekend in South Bend (or Clemson), too.

(Top photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)

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