Notre Dame football: 4 Blue-Gold Spring game storylines
Notre Dame football: 4 Blue-Gold Spring game storylines
Just How Different Does Marcus Freeman’s Defense Look?
There are plenty of questions on the defense this season. How do you replace Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah? Can the Irish find a stand-out corner? The list goes on. There is just no bigger question for this defense than just how different does the defense look under new coordinator Marcus Freeman from what it did under Clark Lea?
By all accounts, the defense is looser under Freeman, allowing for everyone to play freely on the defense. This differs from Lea’s defense, which was incredibly structured. This has lead to some interesting and overinterpreted comments from players. People have largely looked too deeply into those quotes, but they do show that the guys on defense are happy with where the team is heading.
We do know a couple of things so far. Freeman, for one, likes to play a lot more man than Lea did, who was a zone defensive coach in coverage a lot. In a lot of ways, this allows for looser play, as it turns the game into a lot of one on one battles to win, instead of a blended effort. That isn’t to say that one is better than the other either, just that they’re different.
So, yes. Look for which players stand out on defense. Bo Bauer, Jordan Botelho, Jack Kiser, and Isaiah Foskey are all names to look out for, among their more obvious peers. Also, pay attention to how the defense flows and how they’re positioned and see how it has changed.