Things haven't gone as well at North Carolina as Bill Belichick would like. However, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said facing one of the greats was a learning experience. He learned most from what he'd heard about the former New England legend.
During his Monday press conference, Freeman was asked if one of the reasons why the Fighting Irish struggled more against the Tar Heels than they had in any other game was because Belichick pulled something out of left field that caught the Irish flat footed. Freeman responded that simply isn't Belichick's style.
“He doesn’t need to. He coaches his guys well. The thing about Bill Belichick that I’ve heard and (from) the people I’ve talked to, he’s not going to try to trick you. He’s going to do what he does really, really well. You’re going to see more of it. And he’s going to attack some of the weaknesses that they’ve shown."
Freeman added that North Carolina had an extra week to prepare for Notre Dame and it showed.
Bill Belichick earns Marcus Freeman’s respect after exposing Notre Dame football weaknesses
“And you can tell they came off the bye week. They fixed some of the weaknesses, and they continue to do what they’ve done well. So, I’ve got a lot of respect for a coach like that.”
Belichick wasn't the only North Carolina coach Freeman spoke highly of. He recognized that the defense struggled mightily on Saturday, and while he knows some of the problems were execution issues, the Tar Heels' offensive coordinator game-planned well.
“Well, I don’t think we played great in the pass game. We wanted to be able to stop the run. We knew they were going to be able to try to run the ball, but I didn’t think we did great in the pass game for multiple different reasons, whether it can be lack of technique and man coverage. It can be some zone coverage stuff, just how we’re matching this..."
“I think [Bobby Petrino is] a good play caller. But our guys didn’t play crisp in the pass game, and their guys made some plays. And so, we’ve got to go back and get that fixed.”
The offensive play calling and lack of execution both showed up both in North Carolina's first drive of the game, where it took a 7-0 lead and then in the Tar Heels' last drive of the first half. That drive saw Belichick's offense start with the ball on its own 3-yard line and drive 97 yards for a score.
When North Carolina returned the kickoff to open the third quarter for a score, Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame led by just one point.
The Irish managed to recover and win the game, however now that Marcus Freeman has faced off against Bill Belichick and his staff, the Notre Dame coach came away frustrated, but also impressed by what he saw from the coach across the field.
Add us as a preferred source on Google