Marcus Freeman emphasizes the value of hard work in new era of college football

The world of college football is so different now than it was 20 or 30 years ago, and it is even vastly different than it was 10 years ago. The world of NIL and the transfer portal has changed the face of not just college football, but college sports forever, and it is a bell that can't be unrung.

For Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman he was playing college football back in the early 2000s from 2004 to 2008, and his playing experience was very different than that of his players now. On the Notre Dame talk show "Walk Up the Echoes," Freeman spoke about how, when he was playing college football, for the first month, he worked at Texas Roadhouse to have some extra money in his pocket.

With the way NIL is now, not a single player would be doing that because now players can make up to millions of dollars in certain NIL deals. Granted, every player isn't making that much money, especially if they are a backup, or someone that just doesn't play a lot, but they still have the ability to make money in a way Freeman never could.

Now, Freeman didn't share this story just to reminisce on his time playing college football at Ohio State, but to show his family, and also his players, that hard work still matters. Freeman grew up in a different time of college football, and he wanted his players to know the value of hard work, even though they are growing up in an age where making money in college is a lot easier.

"I wanted my kids to know that because they’re growing up differently than I [did]," Freeman said. "I want them to understand the value of hard work."

Now, Freeman is talking about his own kids in this instance, but it directly correlates to college athletes. They are growing up in a different age of college sports and they still have to work hard, even if they are earning millions from NIL deals because at some point, their careers will end whether it is later in life, or right after college and knowing how to work hard will always be important.