Notre Dame football head coach, Marcus Freeman, has a strong message for his team for the rest of this historic playoff run and it will fire Notre Dame fans up.
Notre Dame fans are currently soaking in all the glory and praise their Fighting Irish are getting, as it is not common for ND to get media spotlight in a positive way. Freeman had his Orange Bowl press conference this morning and he has had many one liners throughout the season, but he just made a headline message ahead of semifinal matchup with Penn State that will give Irish fans chills.
Marcus Freeman fiery message defines Notre Dame football mission
It is short and sweet from Freeman, but it is a powerful message to his football team.
Freeman sounded confident speaking to media this morning following a huge win against the Georgia Bulldogs on Thursday night. He coached this gritty Irish squad to a 23-10 victory and was caught screaming to the Irish faithful after the alma mater. Freeman energy carried to his press conference two days later as his fiery mindset is still showing.
“Stay in the moment and win the moment. You can’t win the moment if you are not in the moment.” Freeman stated on what his message to his team is.
Well, that loss to NIU has shaped this Freeman squad to be a hungry team with their eyes on history. Irish fans know they have been in a situation like this, where all is going well, but then a huge let down happened the following week. Freeman has expressed multiple times this season that the loss to NIU brought pain to the program that they don't want to ever feel again. So, his message now is simple. Stay in the moment.
“Yeah, we want team glory, yeah it’s one day one life, it’s one play one life, it’s one game. It’s all those different things, but understand most importantly, stay in the moment and win the moment. The only way to win the moment is to be in the moment.” Freeman stated in his fiery message.
Freeman explained he met with the team captains after the travel back to South Bend and the captains interrupted him and expressed that the team has to shift gears and move forward. The captains apparently spoke up and reminded him that if the team didn’t listen to the noise before, why should they start listening now.
Freeman expressed how proud of his team and of his captains, as he stated he loves having players leading the locker room and the captains are “an extended version” of himself. In a time where Notre Dame football is at the highest of highs, Freeman took some strong words to the media to show how important the culture is.
“The thing I respect about them most (ND captains) is the way they led when things weren't going so well." Freeman stated. "The ability to stand in front of the team and the ability to say this is our culture and this is what we are going to do and this is the work we are going to put in. I have a lot of respect for them. I have said this before, but culture is revealed in tough moments.” Freeman stated Saturday morning.
The NIU loss continues to build character in this locker room and demonstrates why it was a blessing in disguise. Marcus Freeman fiery message leaves Notre Dame football fans with chills as they now wait for Thursday night and the face off with Penn State.