Notre Dame Coach Marcus Freeman Foresaw Devine Run With Heavy Dose Of Self-Help

So there was Marcus Freeman, sitting across the way on a podium at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta Saturday, and I reminded the University of Notre Dame football coach of a telephone conversation we had in early November.

It involved destiny.

Let’s put it this way. After our chat more than two months ago, Freeman continued to take his Fighting Irish on a fantasy run through the rest of the regular season and into the first round, quarterfinals and then the semifinals of the College Football Playoff before Notre Dame pocketed $20 million for reaching Monday’s championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium against Ohio State.

The last few days, weeks and months have been this miraculous for the Irish: Northern Illinois.

No way Notre Dame was supposed to recover from that brutal loss at home during the second week of the season to a 28-point underdog to do anything worth mentioning.

According to VegasInsider.com, the Irish went from +2000 to +1600 and the seventh choice to reach the CFP “to +6000, down to the co-15th choice.” And VegasInsider.com added back then “if the CFP committee has to make a selection decision based on which team had the worst loss, then Notre Dame might already be in a class by itself.”

Instead, not only did the Irish refuse to lose after “Northern Illinois,” but they mostly dominated opponents, mainly on defense. They finshished second to Ohio State in points allowed per game (14.3 to 12.2), and they were in the top 10 in yards allowed per game while leading the nation in producing turnovers with 32.

On offense, quarterback Riley Leonard became good enough with his arm, but he mostly used his legs to help Notre Dame’s top 10 rushing game led by the best tandem in the country of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price.

Many Irish eyes have been on Love’s injured right knee that has been problematic since Notre Dame’s last regular-season game against Southern Cal. But Irish running backs coach Deland McCullough told me Saturday that Love is healther now than he was before their semifinal victory earlier this month over Penn State when he battled and shoved and willed his way through four defenders for the most spectacular 2-yard run to the end zone in CFP history.

Speaking of McCullough, he joins a Freeman coaching staff — which includes veteran coordinators Al Golden (defense) and Mike Denbrock (offense) — that is adept at adjusting throughout the game, especially in the second half.

Ask Penn State.

The Irish had 13 carries for 15 yards in the first half while looking listless on offense while trailing 10-3 at halftime.

“First of all, we knew we had to tap into what our strength is, which meant we had to establish the run, and given how they were lined up in certain siuations, we made the adjustments,” McCullough told me of his team that began the second half with seven rushes for 44 yards, including Leonard’s 3-yard touchdown run to tie the score at 10-10.

Then Notre Dame “ran” from there to prepare for a national title matchup against Ohio State.

Those football things for Notre Dame were already in progress when I spoke with Freeman in early November, but I also wanted to know about something else about the Irish who were 8-1 at the time along the way to their current 14-1.

As somebody who was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana, just a few punts away from the Notre Dame campus, I wanted to know if those Notre Dame things were helping Freeman and his team along the way.

Knute Rockne.

George Gipp, as in “Let’s win one for the Gipper” (FYI: I was born in the same St. Joseph Hospital in South Bend that Gipp died).

The Four Horsemen.

Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, Lou Holtz.

The Golden Dome and Touchdown Jesus.

Which brought me to my conversation Saturday with Freeman, sitting across the way during Media Day for the CFP championship game.

How’s it going, Marcus?

“Fine,” he said, easing into a smile.

When we talked in November, I asked you about the mystique of Notre Dame, and you said that you did not believe in ghosts. The way the season has gone, do you think there’s some kind of mystique that’s helping you guys along the way?

Freeman’s smile grew wider, along with his eyes.

“I said I don’t believe in ghosts?”

Yes, you did (laughter).

“I don’t believe in ghosts, but I do believe in God,” Freeman said. “You know what, I’m a faithful person, so there’s a part of me that feels like God has His hand in everything that goes on in life. But what you can’t do is sit here and say, ‘I’m just going to let God handle everything and not do the work.’

“That’s the reality of what we focus on, is putting in the work that gives this program the best chance to have success. And that’s what everybody has been committed to doing, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”

Those Notre Dame things would say, “Amen,” to that.