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This is Jack Swarbrick’s week to run a victory lap. Doesn’t matter where — around Notre Dame Stadium, past the Grotto or Touchdown Jesus.
The point is, the former Irish athletic director who hired Marcus Freeman should be ripping off his shirt, pounding his chest and whooping at the top of his lungs. It worked. The chance he took on a 35-year-old defensive coordinator with no head coaching experience worked.
To this point, it has worked spectacularly.
You might have noticed Notre Dame is chasing its first national championship in 36 years. It is playing for the title for only the second time since 1988.
Freeman might be the hottest coach in the country, right down to his debonair good looks that have ignited a different, um, base of fans. Because of all it, Notre Dame is likeable again. Or should be.
“I take enormous satisfaction in it having worked out,” Swarbrick told CBS Sports this week. “It’s not about all the people who thought I was crazy.”
And there were plenty of those, especially with bigger, sexier names available after Brian Kelly, the program’s winningest coach, departed for LSU three-plus years ago. The likes of Luke Fickell, Matt Campbell, Pat Fitzgerald and Jeff Brohm all had extensive coaching experience.
But suddenly, the coach who lost to Marshall and Northern Illinois in his first three seasons also has authored the nation’s longest current winning streak (13). The coach who was down to two years left on his contract now has an extension and is getting interest from the Chicago Bears.
With Freeman, Notre Dame matters again at the highest level despite all the time-worn obstacles that dictates it shouldn’t — its independence, its adherence to an academic standard, even its climate.
“In South…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/marcus-freeman-proves-notre-dame-right-as-irish-ride-nations-longest-winning-streak-into-cfp-title-game/
Author : Dennis Dodd
Publish date : 2025-01-15 19:08:00
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