Notre Dame Football: Marcus Freeman finds himself at coaching crossroads

Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman and Lincoln Riley were opponents last weekend. Both find themselves at a similar crossroads in the second year at their respective schools. 

Notre Dame football and USC played last weekend, and the game was a microcosm of two coaches at a crossroads of their coaching careers. The Irish routed the Trojans 48-20 in South Bend. Let’s give credit where credit is due: Al Golden’s scheme bested Lincoln Riley. The Irish did not sit back and allow Caleb Williams to pick them apart.

Golden consistently brought four, five, or six rushers, getting home consistently. Notre Dame football’s pressure forced three first-half interceptions in Williams’ worst performance in either a USC or Oklahoma uniform. Notre Dame football took advantage of the short fields and scored touchdowns.

That said, Notre Dame football’s non-turnover possession was nothing to write home about. These were the Irish’s possessions after a punt or turnover on downs:

• Punt: 4 plays, 16 yards
• Punt: 3 plays, 4 yards
• Punt: 3 plays, 3 yards
• Punt: 7 plays, 27 yards
• Field Goal: 4 plays, 9 yards

We saw a Notre Dame football offense with little variety or creativity without a short field or turnovers. Head coach Marcus Freeman needs to figure out what he wants to be as a head coach and — more importantly — what he wants the Irish to be. Recruiting has improved, and so has the depth and the talent.

Coach Freeman must figure out what he wants the offense to be.

A tight end is leading Notre Dame football in receiving…again.

This is no indictment on anyone, but the truth is the truth. Notre Dame did not ante up to hire offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig away from Utah. If you want to be a player on the national scene — or appear to be one — these are the moves you make. Dabo Sweeny had Clemson pony up and pay for Garrett Riley this offseason.

The results aren’t what the Tigers want right now, but signing him was a move that signaled to the fanbase they want to win. Freeman went internal and promoted tight ends coach Gerad Parker as offensive coordinator. The offense this season looks similar to what it looked like last season, vanilla, with no counterpunch when teams stop the run.

Notre Dame football’s four-game stretch against Ohio State, Duke, Louisville, and USC was difficult. That’s the price of doing business as the head coach of Notre Dame. However, all four teams played seven, eight, or even nine-man boxes to stop the Irish running attack, and Parker had no answer.

Coach Freeman needs to decide how he wants his offense to align with his team’s philosophy. Defensive coaches have a tendency to be conservative when it comes to offense, but you can’t run the football and win games 17-10 anymore, especially if you have National Title aspirations.

The offense needs to be more explosive. Converted wide receiver Chris Tyree, arguably the fastest player on the team, has 24 total touches, seven on punt returns.

Coach Freeman can take a page from Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, and Mike Elko. All three are defensive coaches who realized the need to score in the 30s and 40s when needed. All have also had offensive coordinators who could scheme offenses to win high-scoring games when needed.

Notre Dame football is still struggling to throw to its outside receivers. Tight end Mitchell Evans leads the Irish in receiving. A wide receiver has not led the Irish in receiving since Chase Claypool in 2019.

Rico Flores, Jaden Greathouse, and Jayden Thomas are all talented but young. However, an inability to scheme your best players open and make it easier for Sam Hartman to get the ball to them is a coordinator issue, not a player issue.

Coach Freeman then needs to decide what he wants this Notre Dame football offense to be and how badly he wants to bring a natty to South Bend.