How an Interim Head Coach has turned a program into a top NCAA powerhouse.
Trust. It’s a word that’s thrown around sports so often. Trust your players, trust your coaches, trust those around you to get the job done. No one uses trust better than Coach Marcus Freeman. Coach Freeman started his career because of trust. His peers and the athletic director, Jack Swarbrick, saw Marcus as the right interim head coach when Brian Kelly stepped down. Coach Freeman utilized that trust to turn a rough start into a monster football program.
In an exclusive interview with former Notre Dame running back, Devyn Ford, he said, “Coach Freeman changed my perspective on coaching in general. I thought coaching had to be led by a firm hand over the program but it’s what you instill (standards). (Coach Freeman) let’s the people in the program take over and they follow by his leadership.” What Devyn was touching on is trust. Coach Freeman trusts his coaches to get the job done in all aspects of the game. Through this trust, Devyn said “(Coach Freeman) made us want to succeed not for ourselves, but for each other and Notre Dame.”
When players and coaches realize that the end goal is bigger than themselves, success can come easy. The 2024 Notre Dame football team leaned on a mantra of “Team Glory.” Each player and each coach would talk about Team Glory being bigger than the personal accolades, results, and statistics.
Devyn also touched on how Coach Freeman’s trust impacted the players on the team. Through the team’s mantra of Team Glory, “we were invested into each other/cared for each other and didn’t want to see failure, but when we did fail, we knew we had our teammates to trust to get the job done.” It was also Coach Free(man)’s leadership, as Ford went on to say, “Player’s morale or confidence couldn’t go down either, because Coach Freeman would bring you right back in and tell you to lock in and everyone/everything was back in order.”
When All-American hopeful Benjamin Morrison went down with a season-ending injury, the defense didn’t falter. There was trust that the pass defense was still strong. When Mitch Jeter was having issues after a leg injury, no one lost trust within the program. There was trust that he would hit the winning field goal against Penn State in the College Football Playoff Semi-Final. When Rylie Mills was injured and couldn’t play against Penn State in the same game, there was trust that the next man up mentality would prevail. Devyn Ford added, “Coach Freeman made us appreciate – fighting those feelings of feeling sorry for yourself and push past them reaching your full potential.” Trusting not only in your teammates, but in yourself that you can push past those feelings of defeat, is pivotal in growing a successful program.
The trust that has been built in the Notre Dame football program is something that every sports program should try to emulate. Trust can lead to so much success, especially when you have it being given and accepted across every aspect of the program. Coach Marcus Freeman is building a program based on trust, and it’s easy to see why Notre Dame is having the success they’re having.
Interesting, very nice words.