Freeman is very impressive in interviews. And he did a nice job as defensive coordinator this season, similar to Elko and Lea, maybe not quite as good as Lea who had solid defenses throughout the season.
But Freeman is no where near ready to be head coach of ND. No other major program was considering him and Swarbrick bid against himself. It boggles the mind he didn’t go after Fickell or another proven head coach.
The recruiting fan boys (you know who I’m talking about) love this hire, which is a warning sign. So do the rah rah beat reporters like Sampson and Loy who struggle to see the forest from the tree’s. I’ll never understand the urgency to keep a couple high school recruits committed when you’re hiring a coach for the next decade. It’s shortsighted and the same trap USC and so many other AD’s have fallen into.
One of Lou Somogyi’s major rules in his lifetime of following Notre Dame football
was that no assistant coach has ever worked out as head coach at ND. He would always quote Ara and Bob Davie saying the same thing. Those who don’t remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Kelly had this program rolling, the infrastructure is as good as it’s been in 30 years, but predicting in 4-5 years Freeman will be an assistant coach in the NFL, and ND will be looking for a new coach to rebuild.
Really hope I’m wrong. I’m as diehard an ND fan as you’ll ever meet, but history and a lifetime of following college football tells me ND is about to regress.