[ad_1]

Marcus Freeman is nothing but honest and transparent. The Notre Dame head coach may sporadically slip into the coach’s speech in the fall, but far more often than not, he wastes no time dodging questions or trading in confusion.

If there was ever a time to shift to a more veteran mindset, it would be in discussing the tumultuous last few weeks as the Irish searched for a new offensive coordinator. Instead, Freeman didn’t mince words as he introduced Jared Parker in that role on Monday.

“The two biggest offenses you saw on film were Kansas State and Utah, and we interviewed both of them (Colin Klein and Andy Ludwig, respectively),” Freeman said. “We brought them both to campus. For reasons of their own, they decided not to come.

Freeman didn’t directly say that these were his top two choices, and if he did, that would be a slight exaggeration, but simply by pointing out those possibilities — unprompted, to be clear, since those mentions came in Freeman’s opening remarks — he broke away from nearly every coaching performance in recorded history.

Never before has anyone said that the eventual hire wasn’t at the top of their candidate list, wasn’t their clear and only choice. This soft-pedaling is almost always an obvious lie, so it accomplishes nothing. Freeman’s choice otherwise completely adds validity to everything else he says at such times.

“Two people decided it was best for them to stay where they were, big credit to them, congratulations,” Freeman said.

Freeman has repeatedly said those were the decisions made, not that Notre Dame was intimidated by a hefty buyout associated with Ludwig’s Utah contract. Between Freeman’s strong words and the email released late last week by Irish director of athletics Jack Swarbrick, the program has doubled down and tripled on the allegation with such force that if it was a lie, it would be too much of a risk to reveal more. late. The unequivocalness of Freeman’s words makes it clear: Notre Dame is willing to pay whatever it takes in the end.

“In our business, part of college football and the college business is that we negotiate buyouts,” Freeman said, a remarkable remark given the use of the word I negotiate, something that was not mentioned in Swarbrick’s email last week. “Every coordinator or position coach that has buy-in, we talk about those things. We discuss it. That’s not the reason anyone wouldn’t choose Notre Dame. Let’s make sure we reveal it.

“… Jack Swarbrick has never shied away from paying a ransom.”

In promoting Parker after one season as the Irish tight ends coach, Freeman said he has found an offensive coordinator who will focus on the professional approach Freeman wants. In other words, Parker will have an offense that can both appeal to rookies and change from week to week. Freeman described the offensive approach as “multiple” in almost every way, emphasizing his desire for flexibility while still having a clear focus.

“It still comes down to complementary football,” Freeman said. “That’s what I love more than anything, you can have different tempos, you can really control the clock if you need to, it’s still an offense based on being able to run the ball.

“I want to be able to control the ball. This will not be a first-pass offence.’

Parker obviously knows the Notre Dame staff a little better than Ludwig. He also spent the last two weeks putting the Irish first in a way that Freeman attributed to maturity. Parker could find a way to go to that infamous hockey game with Freeman and Ludwig on February 10th.

But when Freeman asked if he’d like to go, Parker knew it could help the team.

“The number one thing is to do what’s best for Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman,” Parker said. “That’s my job, to serve the head coach’s message. You do this and you do this job well. … When that changes, you also want to be able to say I’m not going to flinch at the opportunity to be the offensive coordinator here.”

Parker wanted the job Ludwig was interviewing for. After a while he got it.

Freeman wouldn’t have changed that part of the process at all by not including Parker in the informal inspection and not doing that sales job so publicly.

“I wouldn’t change it if I had to,” Freeman said. “We want to give our best. We’re not trying to hide and say, let’s interview guys (but) we don’t want anyone to know because someone might say you didn’t understand the person you’re going after.

“It’s okay, that’s life. We won’t hide it. In the future, if we’re interviewing someone else, guess what, we’ll do our best and show them everything great about this place.”

Tweet to @d_farmer

[ad_2]

Source link

Marcus Freeman on the interview process at Notre Dame promoting Jared Parker – Inside the Irish

You may also like