One of the reasons that Marcus Freeman has had so much success at Notre Dame is that he has an innovative way of leading the young men under his charge. That approach includes what he calls a highlight reel he and his staff put together every week called "Wise Men Plays."
Freeman detailed these Wise Men Plays at his latest press conference ahead of this weekend's game against Pitt. It's become a weekly practice for the Irish on Fridays, and while it's a film review of a sort, it's not a film review of what his players have done.
Inside the unusual Friday ritual that’s fueling Notre Dame football’s success
Instead, the Notre Dame team sits down and watches a reel of plays from other football teams. The goal is to learn how to execute better, either from good plays or what not to do in a game.
"The Wise Men plays are just an accumulation of different teaching plays from non-Notre Dame games, right?" Freeman said. "And so it could be college, NFL, it could be CFL, it could be high school."
"If there are plays that our guys can learn from, then I want to use that time to teach them. And that's what we do on Fridays. We spend some time looking at teaching opportunities, but also sometimes mistakes of other players."
"And I always say any man can learn from his own mistakes. It takes a wise man to learn from the mistakes of others."
Sometimes, it's about better tackling form or running a route more crisply. Other times, it's about what happens after the play.
"Part of that is celebrations," the Notre Dame head coach continued. "Nobody's worth 15 yards. And, again, our guys have to learn what those 15-yard penalties are being called. And just so, in case one of your celebrations is... On this Wiseman tape, you better come up with a new one. And I always say, if you celebrate together, you're probably not going to say anything. And so it's just a way to learn and a way to try to be proactive with preventing a problem."