I'd urge you to step away from the ledge because I don't see the administration putting any heat on Freeman for at least a couple of years.
There was definitely a valid argument against hiring him to replace Kelly. Not only did he not have experience, but he was very young.
Other than the fact that he's not going to win a NC this year, in his third year, the one ND fans hold out as the bellwether of greatness, I don't see what I'd consider a fireable offense or offenses. I've seen growing pains and the kind of inconsistency you get with a young coach.
Hell, there was never any reports of heat on Kelly, despite a very inconsistent performance right up to 2016 and beyond. Even Weis and Davie escaped the heat until the bitter end. I think the only reason ND fired Willingham was because they got hoodwinked by Meyer's agent into believing he was theirs for the taking.
NIU sucks, as did Marshall and Stanford in 2022. You can add Cal to that group because we escaped in that game. Last year, Freeman screwed the pooch against Ohio State. And his team did not look good from Duke through Clemson.
I've followed ND long enough to see some real inexplicable performances. I remember sitting in the rain watching Missouri, a 35-point underdog, which had gotten walloped the week before by Nebraska, just take Ara's '72 ND team to the woodshed. And I remember watching an average Georgia Tech team embarrass a Devine-coached team in 1976. There were too many to list during the Faust years, and even the sainted Lou Holtz coached some stinkers, including losses to average Stanford teams and even Air Force.
Sorry for going on and on. I do think Freeman has the chance to grow into an excellent coach. I think he'll always be defensive minded, but I think he has the kind of makeup that would allow him to succeed, although it may not be at ND,
