"Trust me, I know the definition of insanity and, if that was the case, you've got to do what's best for the program,"
"That's not, to me, the issue when I'm evaluating our defensive play. It's not what we're calling, at this time, or why we're calling it. It's why aren't we executing it?"
"During tough times, like, there's two options -- you fight or flight -- and the guys that flight blame other people. It's the call; it's his fault; it's this coach's fault or it's that player's fault. That's the flight mode: you deflect and blame other people. But the fight mode is, 'Gosh, call man [coverage] again. Call man again. I promise you my man's not going to catch the ball.'"
Marcus Freeman compares Notre Dame's early defensive struggles to a fight-or-flight situation and insists on a collective fight rather than assigning blame. The Irish have surrendered 27 or more points in each of three games and rank near the bottom nationally in points allowed and yards per play. Freeman declined to remove play-calling from first-year coordinator Chris Ash and focused evaluation on execution instead of schematic choices. Ash succeeded Al Golden, who left for the NFL after winning the 2024 Broyles Award. Freeman convened a tough defensive staff meeting to confront performance issues and demand improvement.
Read at ESPN.com
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