Notre Dame Football: Marcus Freeman explains portal evaluation approach

Notre Dame football head coach Marcus Freeman allowed people into his head to see his thought process when approaching transfers.

One of the most interesting things about this Notre Dame football season is how early Marcus Freeman announced that the Fighting Irish would be shopping for a transfer quarterback this year.

Earlier this week, Freeman continued a surprisingly open approach to the whole thing by sheding some light on his thought process, including a clue on why he and his staff likely zeroed in on Riley Leonard well before the Duke quarterback was even in the portal.

It appears that at least part of the reason why the Golden Domers decided so early that Leonard was the man they wanted to go after has to do with understanding that in the transfer portal world, things can move quickly.

That was evidenced this week when former Texas A&M quarterback Max Johnson announced his intention to transfer and then committed to North Carolina in just a couple of days.

“You’re always evaluating the top quarterbacks in the country,” Freeman said at his Monday press conference. “If you wait until every quarterback enters the portal… it’s going to be too late.”

Notre Dame football moving quickly

It’s also worth pointing out that if the Fighting Irish move quickly on someone like Riley Leonard, they can get ahead of the game as far as knowing whether they need to move to Plan B. Putting pressure on the former Duke quarterback, now that he’s made it clear he’s transferring helps if he chooses somewhere else.

There is also the argument that getting the foot in the door as fast as possible wins recruiting battles. And Leonard is a target worthy of trying to snap up.

While there are some who are concerned about his injury this season, critics of Leonards seem to ignore the kind of season he had in 2022. Last year he threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 20 TDs to just 6 INTs. He also ran for nearly 7