SOUTH BEND, Ind. — If the end result reminded Marcus Freeman of how long it will take to run down college football’s elites as the Playoff expands, how Notre Dame got to the early signing period should at least give the Irish coach confidence in his program’s orientation.
Because when Freeman unveiled Notre Dame’s 23-man recruiting class, six-man (for now) transfer haul and new strength coach Loren Landow, he did it with an earned optimism that cut against the postseason tumult that’s enveloped the past three weeks.
Last year, Freeman arrived at signing day with an NIL problem, a rash of decommitments and an uneven debut season at his back. His offensive coordinator was about to bolt after picking up a top transfer quarterback. And some of the framing Wednesday wasn’t that different, even if the departures of Tommy Rees and Gerad Parker aren’t the same, nor are the additions of Sam Hartman and Riley Leonard. But as Freeman offered a state of the union, he was comfortable in his own skin in a way he couldn’t be a year earlier.
Recruiting may still be a results game, and Freeman referenced that if someone’s keeping score, he wants to win. And Notre Dame’s results this cycle aren’t all that different from the year prior. Notre Dame signed another class ranked at the back of the top 10 that’s balanced but not overly starry at the top, even if CJ Carr, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and Cam Williams move the needle. Yet how the Irish got here feels a world apart. Maybe because Freeman had a full two-year cycle to make his recruiting pitch. Probably because of what he learned in Year 1.
“The best thing to me was the zero decommitments in senior seasons,” Freeman said. “That showed that these young people want to be here and they have close relationships to each other. It’s a strong class. And they’re a close class. And that’s also a credit to our coaches and (recruiting director) Chad Bowden and our recruiting staff, making sure that we keep these guys together.
“Because until they actually sign, there’s always people pulling at ’em.”
