Marcus Freeman not kidding around about improving Notre Dame talent
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A fine catch was made by Blue-Gold Illustrated reporter Tyler Horka recently as he watched Marcus Freeman’s discussion at the Rockne Gala in Chicago last week. Freeman did a roughly hour long Q&A session with Notre Dame legend Chris Zorich and covered seemingly all things regarding Fighting Irish football.
One thing that came up was Freeman’s time at Cincinnati, Notre Dame’s loss to the Bearcats last season, and the fact the Bearcats had seven more NFL draft picks this spring than Notre Dame.
“Cincinnati had nine guys drafted, right, and we had two, and don’t think talent didn’t have anything to do with that, and so that goes back to why recruiting is so important.” Freeman said. “Nine NFL players on that team and two on ours and that shouldn’t happen at Notre Dame and hopefully for the future that won’t ever happen again”
You can check out the full interview below.
Next: Let’s talk about it…
This is exactly what we talk about when we talk about getting Notre Dame to the next tier of college football. Things are in a really good place but they’ve got a considerable way to go to get where everyone wants them to be and Freeman clearly understands the only way to get there is by recruiting the hell out of the high school ranks.
Cincinnati is the case here but take into account Notre Dame has had 12 first round NFL draft picks since 2000. That’s not a bad number, sure, and that covers parts of the Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis’s eras as well as Brian Kelly’s, but it is nothing in comparison to the programs Notre Dame wants to be considered among.
Alabama had six players taken in the first round of the 2021 draft and two more this past season. That’s the first round we’re talking, not all seven rounds.
Georgia had seven players have their names called through the first two rounds this past draft and 15 players in total. When you see it that way it’s hardly a surprise they were able to accomplish what they accomplished this past season.
In short, Freeman wasn’t at all disrespectful in talking about the program he used to coach in Cincinnati, but instead crystal clear about what needs to take place if Notre Dame is going to not only reach the College Football Playoff one day, but make some noise in it once they’re there.
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2023 College Football Recruiting Consensus Team Rankings
