Irish Blueprint: Anatomy of Notre Dame’s Statement Win

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – This was set in motion long before the clock crowded nearer midnight back in South Bend, Indiana, and Notre Dame had polished off its host, No. 20-ranked Texas A&M – a three-point favorite – because the Irish had been faster, fresher, more physical in a captivating 23-13 win against a would-be SEC blueblood.

Marcus Freeman first began applying his fingerprints to this Irish-green blueprint way back in 2021, hired away from Cincinnati and having chosen Notre Dame over an equally if not more lucrative offer to run the defense at LSU.

Freeman, in 11 months as Irish defensive coordinator under Brian Kelly, began immediately to cast a vision to enhance the Notre Dame roster – first in his insistence the Irish beef up their personnel department with the immediate addition of Chad Bowden and eventually Caleb Davis, who had been linchpins in the roster assembly that eventually propelled Cincinnati to the College Football Playoff. They hired Zaire Turner, now the program's director of player personnel who recently was tabbed an industry rising star by the coaching community, Our Coaching Network, and elevated key cog Carter Auman.

Early on, Freeman engineered the signing of former five-star linebacker Jaylen Sneed, teamed with colleague and elite evaluator Mike Mickens to bring in Ben Morrison, an eventual freshman All-America pick, four-star Josh Burnham and, days after being named Kelly’s replacement, flipping now-starting right guard Billy Schrauth, the top player in the state of Wisconsin, to the Irish.

It set in motion an insistent, though not instant, roster upgrade. The Irish added two more consensus top-10 recruiting classes and worked with great efficiency within the school’s more rigid NCAA Transfer Portal parameters to selectively enhance the team’s lineup.

Sixteen offensive and defensive starters from this opening win, a triumph that sets up a benevolent stretch of games and unquestionably brings Freeman closer to a long-term extension from Notre Dame, are members either of Irish recruiting classes from the past three seasons or the team’s ala carte Portal selections.

So, too, are starting punter James Rendell and Mr. Cash App himself, Money Mitch Jeter, the placekicker, now 26 of 28 kicking field goals in his collegiate career, 3-for-3 in his Irish debut.

"I wish I could take credit, but we've got a lot of good coaches and good personnel that are able to attract the right kids to this place—that are either young kids or freshmen or redshirt freshmen, first- or second-year guys that are helping us,” an exhausted Freeman, moments after hoisting wife Joanna aloft for a celebratory on-field hug, told reporters. “Or, some transfers that have to fit into the culture we have, right?

"That's the one thing that when we talk about bringing in transfers, they have to be really good players, great players, but they have to fit the culture we have, right? That was a sign of what you saw out there is guys that are really good players that fit this place and this culture."

Those transfers could be deemed additions to the coaching staff as well.

While Freeman and Notre Dame prioritized retention of elite defensive coordinator Al Golden last December, lured noted strength guru Loren Landow, with steep NFL and Olympic experience, from Denver to the Midwest and pounced on the opportunity to snare FootballScoop 2023 Offensive Coordinator of the Year Mike Denbrock away from LSU; hired Alexa Appelman to run nutrition, kept veteran trainer Rob Hunt and sports performance director John Wagle.

Hours into a game that opened with the temperature 90 degrees Fahrenheit and a heat indexed that pushed triple digits, the Irish were indisputably the fresher fourth-quarter team.

To wit:

Notre Dame tallied 106 of its 356 yards’ offense in the fourth quarter, scored 10 points, tallied six first downs, had possession for 8 minutes, 46 seconds and allowed the host Aggies only 58 yards, only 21 on their final 10 offensive snaps, while it denied Texas A&M any points the game’s final 11:48.

The Aggies had all camp to acclimate to temperatures that remained steady into the 90s throughout August in their Texas region, but multiple players exited the game with cramps on both sides of the football.

“Our team was prepared; they were ready,” said Freeman, who singled out Landow and the Irish’s sports performance staff. “Like I said, there wasn't many guys that went down. I don't know if we had any guys cramping. We did one IV. I don't know. We had one guy who had to get some fluids.

“But, I mean, these guys were ready and prepared for a battle. That's what it was. It was a four-quarter battle.”

Notre Dame special teams coordinator Marty Biagi had said leading into the game at Texas A&M that Landow specifically had impacted the Irish specialists. In addition to Jeter’s field goals of 46, 26 and 46 yards – the last to ice the game, Australian James Rendell made his American college football debut with five punts that averaged 42.8, three of them dropped inside the 20-yard line.

“I really feel like, for both (Rendell) and Mitch, really even the long snappers, because we've been trying to get them faster, just so they can cover and whatnot,” Biagi said, “(Landow) really took pride in [an approach that], ‘OK, every single specialist might need something different. And I'm going to tailor their workout for that.”

Closing out in the fourth quarter had been of particular emphasis for Freeman & Co.

A year ago, Notre Dame squandered a late-game lead against No. 6 Ohio State; it was outscored 14-7 in the second half of a one-score loss at Clemson.

Coaches demanded that change.

“That’s our mindset. Going into last year, coaches said that’s us and we have to bring that to this season as well,” Shuler said, “and that’s what we’re trying to do.

“A huge tone-setter [for the season]. There’s no other place to play but here [at Notre Dame] and kind of the hype is kind of what we wanted, and we handled business.”

This game, this moment, matched Freeman’s signature ‘The Gold Standard,’ with T-G-S being how the Irish have broken down every team huddle since the 38-year-old former Ohio State linebacker ascended to the head coach’s seat.

"It's rewarding. A lot of work went into this first game from a lot of different people,” Freeman told FootballScoop. “To have it go the way it did. You say it's going to be a four-quarter game. It's going to come down to the very last minute, but it's never fun when it goes that way, but I'm proud of how we finished. But at the same point, it shows that we got a dang good football team, but the head coach in you says refocus and get back to work.

"You get 12-guaranteed opportunities. So, it isn't like you prepare a certain way for Week 1 because it's Texas A&M, and you don't prepare the next week for... I don't even know who we play next week. I'll figure it out, but we got to prepare to really make sure we're performing at a high level, and that's how I got to let them celebrate tonight. We got to get refocused tomorrow and get back to work."

The Irish host Northern Illinois this week. They visit rebuilding Purdue the following week, then reigning MAC champion Miami (Ohio), followed by Louisville, which last year handed Notre Dame a 33-20 shellacking.

There’s ample room for growth; more youth will play this week and moving forward.

But Notre Dame’s relatively young head coach, just 28 games into his career, has also evolved and positioned himself for a season that should result in an immense raise from his below-market $7 million annual salary in Year 3 of a six-year pact.

Prior to kickoff Saturday night, with a smattering of Irish faithful to his left and the roaring 12^th Man A&M student section to his right, Freeman allowed the incandescent fuse that helped him earn a shot at an NFL playing career to ignite his Notre Dame team.

He bounced in the tunnel. Screamed. Implored his players to meet the moment.

Part of a calculated approach.

“That was intentional. There’s a couple different reasons, but I remember when we came out, I’m looking at Anthonie Knapp, I’m looking at Sam Pendleton,” Freeman told FootballScoop. “It’s their first time. They’re freshmen and they’re playing this big environment. It’s almost you go into parent-mode and you want to take that pressure off of them.

“Put it on me. Let’s go man, this is what we talked about. I remember right in that moment saying ‘We’re right here. This is what we showed you in the meetings. This is what we talked about.’ That’s what I told them, ‘We’ve Been here! We know exactly where we’re at.’ Because that’s what I want them to feel when we’re going through that week of preparation that this is what the crowd is going to be like. I wanted to take a little of that pressure off of them and have that mentality of like ‘Let’s Go Man! Let’s go! We’re competitors!

“I didn’t want them to have any fear. “

Rather, it might be time for college football to again fear Notre Dame – something that hasn’t been consistently necessary since the Lou Holtz Era.